Businesses and employees alike have faced numerous challenges this year.
Many of us have had to change the way we work, taking into account new processes and protocols. These changes may have shifted the way your team communicates or interacts, which may have had an impact on the broader workplace.
Facing a global pandemic and widespread uncertainty, it has become imperative to cultivate a workplace environment that inspires team members and encourages them to work with confidence.
Creating workplace with empowered and confident staff often comes down to retaining a motivated employee base. No matter how educated or experienced an employee is, without the encouragement and confidence to put their skills into action, those talents will be wasted.
Across the HVAC industry, companies should set their sights on facilitating systemic empowerment. Motivated employees are happier employees – they play to their team’s strengths, demonstrate company loyalty, and are increasingly inclined to show resilience.
How can businesses create this feeling of empowerment? It all comes down to fostering an environment focused on trust, autonomy, and positivity.
Here’s how you can empower your team and inspire a confident workplace:
Avoid micromanaging and strive for autonomy
Effective leaders know that micromanaging seldom works. It suppresses creativity, instigates stress, and soaks up valuable time that a manager could be dedicating elsewhere.
With that scorned concept thrown out the window, the accountability immediately shifts to the employees’ shoulders. It is this newfound accountability that paves the way for harder, smarter, and more proactive work systems.
As staff learn to call their own shots, their confidence begins to build, allowing them to make impactful decisions on their own.
Provide tools for self-improvement
Every business owner wants their team to bring their A-game to the table each day.
As technology advances, however, the reality is that skills can decrease in relevance over time. While this can be a serious motivation killer, there are ways to turn the situation around.
A surefire way to promote ongoing relevance – and in turn, boost confidence – is by providing the means, resources, and time for staff to continuously advance their skill sets.
Whether this be through departmental training, company-sponsored TAFE courses, or extracurricular activities, leaders have the power to keep their staff eager, energised and ready to tackle any challenge.
Before a workplace can become confident as a whole, its employees need to have confidence in themselves, and that starts with leaders actively encouraging self-improvement.
Be ready to listen
Honesty, trust, and communication are key within any workplace. To truly make an employee feel empowered, they need to know that their opinion is not only welcomed, but valued.
The phrase “my door is always open” is a cliché for a reason – it’s a pivotal philosophy for building positive workplace relationships.
When an employee, whether an apprentice, veteran, or anyone in between, feels comfortable approaching management with an idea, then their overall mindset in the work environment improves. They’ll no longer view their position as just a cog in the machine; they’ll see themselves as a respected and crucial part of the business.
Prioritise work-life balance
Positive mental health is crucial to the success of any company. Those aren’t just words; the science says it all.
The way to manage stress and optimise mental wellbeing is by creating strong work-life balance.
Encourage team members to find time to blend social activity, relaxation, and exercise into their weeks, and this will ensure their general workplace outlook improves. If everyone enjoys their time at work, it’s only a matter of time before a positive work culture begins to blossom.
Business owners and managers should also ensure that employees regularly take the holiday leave they’ve accrued. This will give your team a well-deserved break and allow them to return to work feeling rested and refreshed.
Be open and positive
The best workplace communication is a two-way street. Team leaders need to be willing to answer questions, address concerns, and take into consideration any new ideas an employee may have. This develops a mutual respect between employers and employees, and creates a communal sense of trust.
It’s also the responsibility of upper management to give open and honest feedback, provide constructive criticism, and praise a job well done. Ideally, positive feedback should be delivered as often as possible to increase morale.
In no time, you’ll spot a newfound confidence emerging from your team. By indicating that you trust them to take risks, they’ll feel empowered to do so on a regular basis.
The benefits of team confidence
When employees are allowed to work and thrive independently, they can play to their strengths and their creativity can shine through.
The benefits of confident employees are indisputable – they’ll take initiative, believe in their decision making, become more self-reliant, and lift the spirits and work ethic of team members around them.
Would you like to measure the wellbeing of your team or workplace? The Wellbeing Lab is running a survey to see how your levels of thriving and struggle are currently shaping your wellbeing and performance. Take the survey here.