Monica Roddy

HR is Key to Culture

Improve Employees’ Confidence Levels and Watch Productivity Go Up

 

Employees are people with basic needs and desires; it doesn’t take a lot of money to help improve their confidence levels.   

How about taking a short mini-quiz today? 

What should managers or supervisors do to improve employee productivity? 

1. Keep employees in the dark and don’t share any bad news.
2. Set unrealistically high or unattainable goals.
3. Apply techniques that will serve to help improve employee confidence. 

If you answered by selecting number three, you are right! 

By definition, a confident person is one who is self-assured; one who believes in himself or herself; one who is not as likely to make numerous errors in judgment or actions. It stands to reason, then, that employees with improved levels of confidence will also be more motivated to produce. 

If you or your managers are interested in improving employee confidence in order to improve productivity levels, there are some common practical and economical steps to take. See if the following make sense to you:

1. Make sure you involve your employees in an open, ongoing dialogue.
2. Encourage their involvement in making decisions and providing suggestions, especially the quiet people.
3. Figure out ways to engage and motivate employees by showing an interest in their opinions and viewpoints.
4. Create a positive work environment by showing as much concern for your employees as you do the bottom line. Then, focus more on what they can do to help the company.
5. Keep your employees informed. Communicate with them and let them know if any changes are coming.
6. Explain the rationale for leadership decisions. If there was a problem or setback, let them know what happened and why the problem is being handled in a certain way.
7. Set realistic expectations. If employees believe they can never reach goals, this can eventually kill motivation.
8. Reward and recognize employee achievements and accomplishments. For example, this recognition can take the form of an e-mail or a group announcement.
9. Treat employees fairly and equitably. In other words, don’t play favorites and alienate or isolate others, which tend to further feed insecurities. 

If your business or team environment’s morale is low, which is certain to affect productivity, it may be worth your time to see how working these nine steps can help.   

As further evidence, you also might be interested in a recent experience I had working with a company. This business had very high turnover and the morale was correspondingly low. When co-workers see their peers leaving in droves, employee morale can get pretty bad. Here are the steps we took to remedy the situation: 

1. Focused on firming up the recruiting process. We needed to get the right people into the right positions, in the first place.
2. Set clear expectations by engaging employees in an ongoing dialogue.
3. Asked employees about their pain points. We asked questions such as, “What’s working for you? What is not working for you?”
4. Examined the issues to find common denominators between the employees.
5. Coached employees so they better understood expectations and requirements.
6. Evaluated reporting structures and leadership behaviors. In other words, we needed to find out if the leaders also needed additional leadership training.
7. Developed rewards and recognition programs.
8. Established teambuilding activities and an employee appreciation program.
9. Provided training and developmental tools and aids for employee growth and career development. 

Employees could see that positive steps were being taken and that management was committed to believing in them and helping them grow in confidence. These initiatives, as you can tell, did not cost a lot of money and yet they were real confidence boosters.  

The information contained in this document is for general, informational purposes only and is not intended to be legal advice. This information is not a substitute for the guidance of a professional and should not be relied upon in reference to any specific situation without first seeking the advice of a qualified HR professional and/or legal counsel regarding applicable federal, state or local laws. HRTools, Insperity and their respective employees make no warranties, express or implied, and make no judgments regarding the accuracy of this content and/or its applicability to a specific situation. A reference or link to another website is not an endorsement of that site or service.