Are you the type of manager that concentrates on the strengths or the weaknesses of an employee?    It’s important to know how you are evaluating your employees.   Are you a demanding manager who focuses on those areas the employee doesn’t perform as well?    Or do you recognize an employee quickly when they are contributing to the team.   You will build a stronger team when you manage employees from their strengths.

To build a strong relationship with each member of your team ask yourself:

• Do an employee’s strengths meet the essential functions of the job?

In managing employees, you role is to understand the strengths and weaknesses of your team members.    The more you know about them, the more you can coach them to higher performance.    High performance employees are usually satisfied employees.   So how do you go about creating the ideal work environment to create high performing employees…given your strengths and weaknesses?

You need to be honest about your own strengths and weaknesses.

If you resisted the thought of evaluating yourself,  it’s really to your benefit to do so.  The more you know about yourself, the more you can manage your behaviors, learn new skills or hire the right talent to handle areas you are not as skilled in.

Being positive in any life situation brings about the best results.   Viewing employees with a positive orientation adds value to the bottomline.    Yet, why are so many managers frustrated and negative towards employees?  Why do managers fear giving positive feedback to employees?

“5 Quick Ways You Can Bring Positive Psychology To Your Workplace” by Alexa Thompson on Forbes.com.

According to many reports, employees who feel satisfied, valued, and happy at work typically do far better than those who feel disgruntled or overlooked. These findings have led many corporate officers to implement “positive psychology” techniques in their workplaces. Some of these techniques require professional expertise to carry out, but the majority can be done by anyone, in any type of office setting.

If employees are not performing, it’s up to the manager to change it.    Yes employees are responsible for producing quality work, yet if they are not, then you as the manager need to find out why.    The bottom line is that you are responsible for employee’s performance.

Managing employees could be the hardest part of your responsibilities as a manager.   If you are not producing results with your team, start at the beginning and identify what team members are not performing to their best.    Then you need to ask yourself, have you given them clear direction and follow up to insure they understood the goal and what is expected of them.    Are your coaching them as they take on new responsibilities.

The Generation X (between 1965-1980 approximately) is a small, though powerful group of employees.   They are highly educated and what motivates them is different than previous generations.   Managers can find this generation of employees difficult to handle because their needs and demands are different than traditional workplace employment.

“Gen X” employees were raised by career-minded parents (Baby Boomers) and are not necessarily impress with authority.   This group of employees are not loyal to the employer unless they sense that the employer is there for them, respects their needs and creates an environment for them to grow their careers.