Being a strong leader isn’t just about holding strong opinions and leading your team out of a tough situation. You need to be present at all times and be willing to help your employees whenever they need you.
You need to ensure that your employees feel heard and appreciated. It will improve their productivity and make them feel like their role in your corporation matters. Read on if you are wondering how to make your employees feel heard and why it matters anyway?
When employees don’t feel heard, they don’t show up to work with a positive mindset and get stressed out easily. It significantly affects their performance at work, and they feel like they’re being taken for granted. This is why it’s critical to make sure your employees feel heard and are satisfied.
You can do this by making regular efforts to make your employees feel truly seen. Read on to find out how to make your employees feel heard.
Ask Questions and Follow Up
When your work environment is conducive to listening, your employees feel a lot more comfortable voicing their concerns. If they come to you to ask for help or share their ideas, then you must devote your full attention to them.
Maintain eye contact so they can feel like they’re being listened to, and don’t hesitate to ask questions. When you ask them for details, they’ll feel like they have a voice and their words hold weight in your eyes.
After they’re done talking, you can express your gratitude to them for being more open with you. Also, tell them you look forward to hearing more from them. If what they’ve shared with you interests you, then you can always follow up with them and make them feel included.
Schedule One-on-One Meetings with Them
Your employees want to be heard, so you need to provide them with opportunities where they can shine a light on things that are bothering them. You can get in touch with them over email, but it’s a lot better to schedule one-on-one meetings with them so they can feel a lot comfortable going into details.
This will be your chance to see how satisfied they are with the environment and if they feel motivated to come to work and give their best performance every day. As a result of these meetings, they’ll feel like their efforts are being acknowledged, and their work is valued.
Give Them Feedback
You need to have feedback channels in place to let your employees know that their efforts aren’t going down the drain, and the time they spent at your company is appreciated. Positive feedback will encourage them to do better and feel happier about their decision to work for you.
Feedback can also be a way to recognize where your employees need to improve. But instead of criticizing them, you need to help them figure out ways that they can do better. This way, they will know that you are looking out for them and that you want them to do their best.
If you don’t give them feedback regularly, they’ll have no sense of direction and won’t know what else they need to do to get recognized for their capabilities.
To Conclude
If you want your business to be more productive, then you need to keep your employees happy and make them feel heard. Devoting your time and energy to really listen to them will encourage them to meet your expectations and start their days with a positive attitude.
