8 Tips About How to Get Results From Your Employees

8 Tips About How to Get Results From Your Employees8 Tips About How to Get Results From Your EmployeesWhen people think about becoming a manager, they may have unrealistic expectations about how they can get results from the employees they will manage. Sometimes people who havent ever been managers imagine that being a manager is somewhat like sitting in a big leather chair and issuing proclamations. The modern-day equivalent of being a king. The reality is there might be a leather chair involved, but proclamations are few and far between. Managers need to learn quickly how to get results from their employees- proclamations wont cut it. The responsibilities are serious and heavy. Even if youre the CEO, theres someone youre reporting to in- the CEOs case the stockholders or the board of directors or just your own bank account- and all other managers have managers above them as well. If youre a manager, you need to get good results from your employees or youll find yourself out on your ear. How can you do that? Well, its a lot of hard work, but doable. Here are eight tips for getting the best work and results from your employees. Hire People Who Are Better Than You Are You need to hire the best people you can find. Not that you must hire perfection- perfection doesnt exist. You need to look for great people who will ask you questions, who will point out errors and who will work without you hovering over them. If you pay well, youll find it easier to recruit high-quality people. When youre interviewing candidates, be painfully honest about the problems and the benefits of the job. Dont say that everything is peaches and cream when, in reality, you have demanding clients, unpredictable schedules, and everyone has to take a turn cleaning the bathrooms. You want someone who understands what they are getting into when they take the job. Youll get better fits if youre honest about the positives and negatives of the job. Give Great Training Lots of managers are super busy and often new hire training gets a back seat. Sure, someone sits down with a new employee and shows the employee how to log on to the system and such, but make sure you have a dedicated trainer that the new employee can question whenever needed. Train about company culture as wellas how to operate systems. If necessary, send the new employee to a training course to learn your systems. Its worth the time and effort to get the new person up to speed as fast as possible. Set Clear Goals How can you expect your employees to be truly productive and effective if you never explain exactly what they are supposed to accomplish? So many managers let employees flounder and then discipline when the employee doesnt live up to expectations that they never knew existed. For instance, if you expect your employees to respond to all emails within an hour, say that explicitly. Dont say, Hey, we believe in a eingabeaufforderung response to our clients. That can mean anything.Ifyoure goin g to hold an employee accountable, you need to let them know what youre judging them on. Additionally, if you have financial targets, productivity targets, or anything else that youre required to do, let your employees know. Every year when you do your performance reviews and goal setting make goals that are measurable and applicable. Follow up in your regular one-on-one meetings (you do need those), and youll see results clearly. Youll also see if someone is struggling and you can either fix it or terminate the employee promptly. Either way, youll get great performance. Be Fair Do you want employees that give you great results? Dont think about playing favorites.Judge people based on their work. Give fair schedules. Reward results. If an employee reaches her goals dont pull back a promised bonus. If an employee exceeds her goals, dont respond by increasing the goals for next year without a corresponding rise in salary and/or bonus. Provide Feedback Did your employee resolve a complex client complaint satisfactorily? Let her know youre grateful. Did she screw up? Let her know the same day (and privately) so that she doesnt make the same mistake again. Give your employees feedback and theyll know how to improve and what works best. Give Employees Leeway to Do Their Jobs When youmicromanage, you may get exact results, but you wont get great performances. If your reportingemployee says that she needs X training in order to solve a certain set of problems, arrange for that training. If another employee says that she wants to revamp the monthly reports to make them consistent across the organization, dont say, But weve always done it this way If you think its a bad idea, ask her to explain her reasons and then listen to her. Chances are she knows her job better than you know her job. Unless you have extremely strong reasons (like changing the reports would involve implementing a new $25,000 system), let her do what she does best- her job. Listen For the love of Pete, please listen to your employees. Listen to their ideas. Remember that you worked hard to hire the best people you could hire. Theres no point in hiring good people if you are going to treat them like robots. They arent robots. Listen to their ideas. Talk to them. Get their feedback. Give Credit When your boss praises your department for something, say, Thanks so much. Jane, John, and Horace did an amazing job. Im super happy to have them on staff. That can inspire your employees more than a bonus can. (Although you should give bonuses as well.) Dont take credit yourself. Your boss will know its your leadership that helped Jane, John, and Horace do a great job. You dont need to pat yourself on the back. Likewise, when theres an error, take responsibility. Yes, you have to take responsibility for the bad and give credit for the good. Your employees will know that you have their back, and theyll work hard to keep the trust youve given them. Its the best way to go about it. Suzanne Lucas is a freelance journalist specializing in Human Resources. Suzannes work has been featured on notes publications including Forbes, CBS, Business Insider and Yahoo.