Being the leader of a company is a big responsibility to shoulder. However, being a leader is not enough. It is also about hitting an important corporate goal: employee retention and for the people who work for you, it’s about having another reason to achieve greatness at work and not just for the company, but for you. You have to be a great leader in order to pull the staff along to achieve the company goals and objectives. Here are some tips on how to be a great boss.
1. Be Clear About your Expectations.
You should be able to point out to your employees what is expected of them in the company and what the company seeks to achieve. Before you assign new projects or tasks, be sure to set clear expectations, and follow up with emailed instructions, if necessary. Then, schedule regular check-ins to ensure that you are all on the same page. Let your employees know what you want from them, and let them deliver it even if you think you could have done a better job yourself.
2. Develop your Talent
Employees are often loyal to managers who help them advance their skills and in turn, their careers. A good boss should always take time to engage employees around their professional growth and goals. It will give you a much better chance to retain your employees. So encourage your team to attend industry conferences and take courses to improve their skill set, and give them challenging work that will help them develop those new skills.
3. Adapt to your Employees
You’ll be a more effective boss if you adapt to your employees, rather than expecting your employees to adapt to you. (If they’re good employees, they’ll be trying to do the same thing.) Adapting to your employees means understanding who they are as people in order to be the right kind of boss to them. Some people on your team crave autonomy, others respond well to regular feedback. Some will want to have a very formal relationship with you, while others work better when they feel like they’re your peer rather than in a hierarchical relationship.
4. Give Good Feedback
Your workers can’t improve their performance if you don’t tell them where they’re going awry.
If something isn’t working, tell your employee it isn’t working, and let them know how they can improve.
Remember that you are all in this together and being a great boss is the sure way to achieve company goals!