By Justin Osborne
Are you a small time business owner looking to influence your employees, but don’t know how? Owning a business is no easy task and making everyone in the workplace motivated to work is an even bigger obstacle. However, with the right tips you will be able to influence your employees to get more work done without creating a stressful environment. Read this article to find out what the top 9 strategies are to influence your employees, especially if you’re a small business owner.
1. Trust Is Key
Your workers are more likely to follow you if they trust you, because trust allows bonds to be forged where they care about you. To get someone to trust you takes time and effort, which including a genuine attempt to get to know them. When employees notice that you are trying to help them, then it leads to them being more open with you. For example, if they were to encounter any work related problems they will ask for your advice, rather than hiding it.
2. Be a Leader
Nobody likes to be bossed around, which is why you must be a leader. A leader is someone who you can trust and talk to, but a boss is a person who says, “my way or the highway”. Meaning they only think their decisions are correct, which is far from the truth. Listen to your employees and maybe they can suggest some ideas to help the business.
3. Make Work Stress-Free
A stress-free environment will lead to more progress being done, which is definitely something you should focus on if your business is still in the early stages. Stress is the leading factor in why most businesses fail, why? Well, it’s because workers hate going to work, thus they slack off and are unmotivated.
4. Be Flexible
As a small time business owner being flexible is going to help you out in the long run, since co-workers are more likely going to want to work with you. For example, if an employee gets sick then give them time off. Don’t be stubborn, because if you are then they are more likely to quit their jobs.
Also, showing how open you are as it will display to your employees that working with you will be a huge plus.
5. Be Personal When You Can
Talking to employees on a personal level not only shows that you care, but makes them trust you a lot more. Talk about your past experiences and how they can help them. In addition, it doesn’t have to be work related, it can be about anything, but make it somewhat related to their problem.
6. Keep Your Ears Open
Listen to what others have to say, because a colleague can come up with an idea that can double or even triple your sales. Also, ignoring what your fellow workers have to say will only hurt your business, since co-workers might have more insight than you regarding certain aspects of the business.
7. Reward Hard Work
A lot of small time companies have prizes for competitions like employee of the month, which you can do too. Rewards allow employees are more motivated to work, increasing the progression of your business. Also, you can reward them for giving out excellent ideas, which will make other employees more active.
8. Don’t Jump to Conclusions
If you see some weird activity going on in your business don’t lead to conclusions straight away. Ask for information about the matter and when you see concrete evidence then confront the employee. For example, if you notice them slacking off investigate why that’s the case. Don’t go right in shouting about how lazy they are, because it could be the complete opposite, maybe they did all the work and now are taking a break.
9. Raise the Bar
Raise the bar not only for your business but for your employees. Try to motivate and inspire them to do better in their lives. Not only will this help grow your business, but you will also be helping out people.
Owning a small business is hard, but rewarding as you get to work with a wide variety of people. To be a great leader you must try and implement all the advice listed in this article, because it can help you with the flow of your business.
