Five simple ways to get the best from your staff

How to ensure your teams enjoy the work they do and feel valued and appreciated for it

It’s estimated that the cost of a disengaged employee could be 34 per cent of their annual salary.

According to analytics company Gallup, 85 per cent of the global workforce is disengaged. That may sound like a grand solution is required, but in every relationship, it’s not the grand gestures that win the day, it’s the little things.

I’m a great believer in learning how to create micro-moments.

When we foster the ability to actively take charge of our situation and emotions in the moment, we can bring more empowerment and enablement to the workplace and help people create positive momentum for themselves and their teams.

Each micro-moment intervention is designed to be actionable in a minute and I’ve written three books on these micro-moments for life, work and family.

If you want to get the very best from your staff, here are five simple things you can do:

1. Encourage alignment of purpose and values

Corporate mission statements and annual reports are chock full of discussion on mission and values, but encouraging employees to understand their own purpose and values is an untapped gold mine.

When we feel our purpose and that of our employer are aligned, we tap into higher levels of motivation and discretionary effort. When we can see the synergy of how our personal values align with the values of the company we work for, there is more connection and enthusiasm in the workforce and engagement goes up.

This also helps with recruitment, resilience and performance.

If you recruit for aligned values, retention is less of an issue. Employees are much more resilient in navigating the inevitable ups and downs of work life because they see the bigger values-based picture.

They’re better able to recognise the importance of their work in the corporate context because that work also fits for them in a wider personal context of what is important to them.

Performance improvement is a happy by-product of greater alignment of purpose and values.

2. Say thank you (and sorry)

We’re all busy. There’s a mountain of stuff to get through, but a heartfelt thank you can go a very long way in building relationships, trust and motivation.

Specific appreciation is always more powerful than generic praise because it proves you’re paying attention. When someone goes the extra mile, acknowledge it and make sure your people know you’re grateful for their effort. This intervention usually doesn’t even take a minute.

It’s worth noting that a very close second in terms of quick interventions that matter is a heartfelt sorry when one is needed.

Never shy away from an apology, especially when you know you were in the wrong. Showing humility and honesty also helps to build trust.

3. Take responsibility: give praise

If you’re the boss, the buck stops with you. Take responsibility and don’t apportion blame – even if it’s warranted.

Certainly, never pull people up for any performance issue in front of others. Those conversations need to be one-on-one. Acknowledge the shortfall and work as a team to put it right – and no finger pointing.

Conversely, when things go right don’t take the glory. Make sure those involved are thanked and do that publicly as well as one-on-one. Again, these are quick actions, but they bond the team and build trust.

4. First things first

Work with your team, so everyone knows what you’re striving for and who will benefit. This will increase motivation all round.

Empower each person to focus on their most important work first and make sure they have the access, responsibility and resources to make it happen.

Encourage everyone to do first things first and only move on to the next priority when they’ve finished that first thing or have progressed it as far as possible at that time.

Productivity always takes a nosedive when employees are unclear of their role, their priorities or the scope of their decision making powers.

Taking a few minutes each day to help clarify that can make a huge difference to productivity and efficiency.

Even better, encourage your team to create focused time when they can be free of distractions, which helps us get into a flow and achieve more.

5. Foster the ‘beginner’s mind’

Shoshin is the concept of the beginner’s mind. It’s practised in Zen Buddhism and refers to an attitude of openness, anticipation and lack of assumptions and preconceptions when learning a new subject – even when that learning is at an advanced level.

Encourage your people to adopt this mindset. Perfection is not required: effort and openness are far more important.

Purposefully take some of the pressure off, especially if you’re asking your people to learn something new or use a new system. Aim for curiosity and engagement and give some leeway in the spirit of experimentation.

When learning something new, make sure everyone has the opportunity to demonstrate the new skill without judgement. Adults learn by doing, not talking about doing.

But make it fun. Have prizes for the worst initial effort or the most insightful learning. Mastery is not the initial aim – engagement and just trying something with an open mind is.

By taking just a few minutes a day and following the suggestions above you can ensure your teams enjoy the work they do and feel valued and appreciated for it.

Enjoyment, which comes from aligned values, appreciation and support, are the keys to retaining the best people and it doesn’t have to take a lot. It’s the small micro-moments that make the biggest difference.

The author

Sid Madge is the founder of Meee and author of the Meee in a Minute series of books.