Email is an important form of communication in the workplace.   Companies do have policies on email, though mainly to protect the assets of the company.    I’ve rarely seen in an employee’s handbooks etiquette for creating emails.

Email is one dimensional…you can’t see the other person and they can’t see you.   What does this mean?   It means that whatever you write, the other person will put in their own meaning.   This is true even on the phone, yet this form allows the receiver to hear the tone in your voice and to ask additional questions to clarify.  In person, they can also see your eyes and how you position your body.   This information provides the receiver with additional information.

Most of us have tunnel vision and believe that what we do is more important than what another person contributes.   Customer Support feels that they make the company successful because they keep the customers happy.  It’s true, they do.  Yet the department is one of many other contributers who make up the whole…a successful company.

Without development, sales, marketing, finance, human resources, Customer Support may not have customers.

It’s important to be passionate about what you bring to the department, yet, step across the hallway and find out what the other important players of the company are doing.

In managing employees, should you be concerned if they are happy?   Since most businesses are knowledge based, it makes sense that your employee’s well-being is important to the success of the company.  Granted employees are not happy all of the time and that isn’t your goal.  Rather creating a working relationship and environment where your employees feel their needs are recognized, along with the needs of the company, will build a strong culture.

There are many reasons that employees leave, though one of the top reasons is the manager/employee relationship.   Your role is to be aware of each of your employee’s strengths, weaknesses, career goals and other nuances that help you support and develop each person.

Do you ever think about the core knowledge that each employee has that adds value to the overall success of the company?  This knowledge can be nurtured and developed in order to compete in the worldwide business environment.

Do you have a plan in place to focus on the growth of each employee so they continue to build their knowledge base?  What happens when an employee leaves?  How do you capture long-term knowledge?  How do you develop and grow the current knowledge levels that embraces innovation and creativity?

“Knowledge is competition:  How to manage employee branding,” by Kian Kok Lim on Sinapore Business Review.

Employees want to trust their manager because it allows them to grow and contribute to the success of the company.   Stephen Covey expresses the importance of an “emotional bank account.”  Either your account is loaded or barely meeting the minimum.   A well-funded emotional bank account allows you to be human and make mistakes because you have built trust with your staff.

There are other skills you need to manage employees, though your employee’s trust is a key component to your success as a manager.

“Top Tips for Managing People” on Australian Institute of Management’s website, provides 5 steps to the “art of people management.”