Turn around your team like a true leader

Hiring the right talents matter and retaining them matters even more. Businesses are building workspaces exclusively for their employees – catering to every single need so that they can concentrate on maximising performance.

Managing your team holds a greater degree of responsibility nowadays, as people choose to leave and join better employers if they are not satisfied. Your business turnover is always directly proportional to the number of “happy employees” in your company, and how, you, as their leader, manage the team.

To begin with, a typical employee can start job hunting for want of better compensation, benefits or to further his/her career with some new experience. Just recently, I interviewed a talent who was looking at a new job because she had had enough of her work timings. One could easily tell she was disgruntled that her job offered her no flexibility and the company wasn’t ready to offer her another role with timings that suit her. This is a classic case of how an employee will leave your company if you don’t make flexible adjustments.

Managing individuals is one thing. Teams are even complicated. Every organization places strong emphasis on building teams and working together as one. Back in 2001, when we had just started the company, it was a task finding the right kind of people to fill my team. Picking talents who truly believe in the company’s vision and core values was hard to come by. To me it was important they understood that by belonging to a team, they were being part of something bigger.

We are a company founded on respect, approachability, teamwork, commitment and integrity. Spelling out what was expected from them was imperative. They had to understand why they were hired, what they were expected to do and what outcomes were expected. In short, they needed to know why they were a team.

Integrity has been a major factor in team building. There was never a grey area when it came to making the right choices — whatever was right was right and whatever was wrong meant a quick redressal. Mutual respect also accounts for better relationships. A good leader always has an attentive ear.

You must always remember that your talents bring forth numerous ideas, knowledge and workable solutions. Shaming them or ridiculing them in front of others would account for negativity that may affect the team. Offer performance feedback and praise good efforts and results. People want to enjoy their work. Make work fun. Engage and employ talents of every individual in your office.

Career growth and learning opportunities enable team members to perform better. So, enhancing opportunities for progression should be top on the agenda. Teams can also be encouraged to participate in training sessions, presentations, mentoring programmes and other assignments. People love to know that they have room for advancement.

Flexibility and work-life balance are what Millennials at the workplace look for. Team leaders should be able to meet their requirements as long as core business hours are adhered to (Yes, your employee’s kid’s school fest is important as well). Minimising overtime by providing adequate staffing is good for all departments. After all, no boss wants tired team members reporting for work the next day.

Whenever there is an opportunity, it’s always nice to involve employees in decisions that affect their jobs and the overall direction of the company. Likewise, nurture and celebrate traditions at your company with your team.

If you treat your employees well and they feel valued by you, you will never lose them.

Manish is the Co Founder at Propay Partners and a frequent contributor for New Straits Times, SME Magazine, The Edge & others.