According to the Great Boss Assessment survey done by The Purposeful Culture Group, only 45% of respondents say their boss inspired their best efforts each day. And, it gets worse. A survey conducted by The Social Workplace reveals that 75% of employees don’t quit their jobs, they quit their bosses. Don’t fret just yet – with patience and time, you can learn how to be a better boss, bring out the best in your employees and boost your business productivity. Check out our 5 tips below.
1. Foster a relationship of trust and respect
Results from the Great Boss Assessment survey revealed that 48% of employees feel trusted and respected by their boss. That means that 52% of respondents believe their boss treats them with distrust and disrespect. That’s definitely not how a good workplace should run. Fostering trust and respect within your team is incredibly beneficial for boosting workplace productivity, including employee engagement and better job performance. Here’s a few ways to build and foster trust with your employees:
- Be honest and transparent with your team. Even if the news is bad, finding out that you lied or skewed the truth will only result in distrust and a feeling of betrayal.
- Don’t ever gossip or say anything untoward about your employees – whether they can hear you or not.
- Be a team-player. Finish your work on time, stay back late if everyone else is and don’t palm off the jobs you don’t want to do to someone else.
- Be empathetic. Know when an employee is having a hard time and ask if they need any help.
2.Inspire your team
An inspired team is a productive team. If your employees love what they do and are inspired to do great work, they’ll only need a small amount of guidance from you. There are many ways you can inspire your team, and the most important one is making sure you’re inspired. If you love what you do – it will no doubt rub off on your team. Share with them your vision – employees love to be a part of something important. If your employees do good work or come up with a great idea for the business, praise them and encourage them to keep thinking.
3. Ask for feedback (and accept it!)
Asking for feedback isn’t easy – you have no idea the kind of responses you’ll receive. However, if you acknowledge there is no such thing as a perfect boss, it’s much easier to be open to feedback. Open and honest communication is key for small business productivity so don’t be shy in asking your employees for their thoughts. Research shows that people who can handle negative feedback tend to be more successful. If you don’t feel comfortable asking for feedback in person just yet, you could always start with a survey. An important step for this tactic to work well, is to accept the feedback and to then implement the necessary actions required.
4. Keep up with the latest technological advancements
According to a survey commissioned by PR firm Hotwire, 28% of male respondents wanted to see more innovation from their bosses, where 20% of female respondents were looking for more vision. Innovation comes in a variety of forms, but perhaps the most important is staying up to date with the latest advancements in technology. Your employees want to know that the business they’re working for is up to date, and that they are gaining skills in new and advanced technologies.
In order to continually optimise your business, you need trusted technology solutions to support your office productivity and automate your business processes.
For example the Fuji Xerox Smart@Work business solutions enable you to transform a manual, paper-based work process into an automated, streamlined, business workflow.
5. Be flexible
The survey from Hotwire also asked respondents which traits they wanted to see in their boss, with 35% of respondents suggesting they want a more flexible workplace. Flexibility can mean a range of things, from working from home or on the road, to having the freedom to fit their work schedule around family needs.
In our own consumer insights survey 61% of respondents said they work remotely or outside of the office. And when asked if they would you like to be able to print from their smartphone or tablet 56% said yes, but only 7% said they have access to a wifi/mobile capable printer from their workplace.
Keeping up with mobile business solutions is a great way for bosses to offer their employees a more flexible workplace. For example, the Fuji Xerox Mobile and Wireless Printing range allows employees who need the flexibility to work from home, another office or while traveling to stay connected and on top of their work no matter where they are.
