Many entrepreneurs and businesses of all sizes will struggle with their employees at some point in their business’ life cycle. Whether it’s growing pains, underperformance or issues retaining workers, a true leader will do their best to address the root cause of the issue instead of allowing the door to continue revolving.
While no single employee may be able to match your own skills and work ethic as a leader of your business, there are ways to inspire, motivate and cultivate excellence among your employees through effective leadership.
Executive and Leadership Coaching expert Chris March has travelled the world managing and mentoring teams and business owners. With a colorful career of senior management positions in various multinational companies across 3 continents, Chris relished the journey of empowering people from all walks of life to unleash their potential and flourish in their work and life. Chris has joined us today to share some advice for business owners and leaders to succeed in their endeavors.
Well-being is the key to success!
Across all my various corporate leadership roles, I found that the most consistent method of generating success for a business was ensuring the well-being of its employees was held to a high standard. The short of it is that companies with happy workers performed well, and when workers weren’t happy, the results were tangible.
As a leader, you can’t expect your employees to be as passionate as you are about their work, but if you can lead by example while inspiring and rewarding greatness, you’d be surprised at how far your employees will go for you. Take care of your workers and they’ll look after you back. It’s as simple as that.
Short-Term vs Long-Term
During the pandemic, companies had to rethink how they protect and support the well-being of their people while balancing that with their bottom line. Some larger companies cut costs by outsourcing labor and standing down their own skilled workers. While this might be a good cost-saving tool in the short term, their own services suffered as a result, alienating both their workers and loyal customers in the process.
Other companies took more heart-felt approaches when adapting to the situation. Many businesses recognized that employees preferred working from home due to the flexibility and freedom it gave them to attend to their personal and family needs. It allowed for more permanent and hybrid working models that gave employees more agency in their work and life balance.
Other businesses have been trialling 4-day work weeks to varying degrees of success. These options may result in a decrease in productivity in the short term. Still, they would go a long way in ensuring their employee’s well-being is secure and they can continue working satisfactorily throughout the pandemic and beyond.
Wellness for all
You’ll see the companies that are thriving right now are the ones with the best work culture. Some people think ‘work culture is just an abstract concept that employers use to sound fancy when hiring, but good work culture is the foundation to happy employees and, therefore, a successful business. Shifting policies to include practices, services and benefits to employees that help them find balance in their life, and feel heard, respected and valued will work wonders in promoting sustainable performance from them.
Examples include health and wellness seminars, personal development training, having independent counselors onsite to help employees navigate tough mental health situations, incentivizing healthy and balanced lifestyles with catered food days, maternal and paternal leave, scheduled mental health days, etc. Give your employees the environment and tools to be their best selves, and watch the benefits it brings to your business as they flourish.
Connect with Leadership Coach Chris March through his website, and his Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter social media pages to learn more about how you can become a powerful, passionate, and impactful leader.
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