“None of us is as smart as all of us” – Dr. Ken Blanchard
A lot of managers say that employees are their company’s most important asset, but why do they still screw up employee relations?
The key to employee relations is open and honest communication.
A lot of the time, so many of these issues can be fixed through proper communication. If an employee is unhappy, you need to find out why.
In my experience, the main reasons for employee unhappiness is that they don’t have a clear understanding of their work, what they’re supposed to do, how they’re supposed to do it, etc… which again, comes from lack of communication.
Before I explain the 4 pillars of employee relations, I want to look at some of the ways that companies ruin their employee relations.
How Companies Ruin Employee Relations
I’ve seen this happen so many times, if you do these things, or you know someone that does these things, please get them to stop.
It is destroying your company, because top talent will continuously leave you if you keep this up.
Micromanaging
This is one of the worst ones, because it wastes both people’s time. What often happens is when a leader is micromanaging, the employee will become disengaged, and then their work starts to suffer, which actually leads to more micromanagement, and creates sort of a vicious cycle.
Playing favorites
It’s so obvious when an employer is treating someone as a favorite, and it completely demoralizes the rest of the team.
I’ve seen this one first hand, trust me when I say you should be treating all employees equal.
Being Unclear
Again, this ties back to good communication, but employees need to clearly understand their job roles, and what’s expected of them.
Then you can work with them to meet those expectations, but a lot of the time, this confusion leads to stress, which will lower their engagement.
Not Collecting Ideas
You want to make employees feel like they are part of the team, and part of the decision making process.
You should be asking employees to submit their ideas. Forewarning though, you need to be ready to implement some of these ideas.
Don’t just collect ideas for the sake of collecting, this will have an even bigger negative effect.
Not Sharing The Vision
When Dan Pink talks about the three motivators that drive us, one of them is purpose. Employees need to feel like what they’re doing is important.
They need to feel like they are part of something bigger than them. If you want to get that passion out of employees, share the long term vision with them, and don’t be shy to communicate this frequently.
Lack of communication
If you want employees that are happy and engaged, you need to communicate with them frequently.
I personally would get rid of annual performance reviews, and go for frequent “check ins” instead. This is actually what software giant Adobe did, and it worked out great for them.
Here’s more mistakes within employee performance reviews.
The 4 Pillars Of Employee Relations
Now, let’s take a look at the ways that managers can ensure positive employee relations.
1. Open Communication
If you notice a lot of the items I mentioned in the list of things that managers get wrong, have to do with communication.
In any relationship, communication is the key, but in the work relationship, it gives employees the transparency that they need, it can help them understand their role in the organization better, and make them feel like you trust them.
2. Show Gratitude
I’ve seen so many leaders make the mistake of not saying please and thank you enough.
Those simple words really do mean a lot to employees, and it reinforces their good work. When an employee finishes a project on time and on budget, you should really celebrate it, and reward them properly.
3. Consistent Feedback
The key word here is consistent, make sure you’re always touching base with employees, and giving them feedback on how they can improve.
Make them understand that you’re trying to help them grow as a person, which is exactly what they want.
Employees crave feedback, so don’t be shy about giving it to them very frequently. In fact, 77% of employees are starved for recognition.
4. Invest In Your Employees
“People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care” – John C. Maxwell
Show employees that you care about them, and that you want them to be better people, both personally and professionally.
The truth is, more and more we’re realizing that if an employee is happy in their personal life, they’ll be much more productive at work.
You should find out what would make your employees happier, and then invest in them. Allow them to pursue side projects, subsidize their gym membership, subsidize their guitar lessons, it honestly doesn’t matter.
What matters is that you’re investing in their growth.
How Do You Maintain Positive Employee Relations?
I think it all comes down to communication, and showing employees that you care about them and respect them. Do you have any tips to share? Let us know in the comments!
Read more: How to Conduct a Thorough Employee Relations Investigation