How Can I Raise Enthusiasm Among My Staff?

I have clients with employees who, let us say, have not built their organizations with a rich culture among their workers, and they wonder why their staff is not excited about fully supporting the organization. So, the question is, “How can I raise enthusiasm among my staff?”

You undoubtedly have already heard about the importance of building a business culture that attracts enthusiastic and dedicated staff. It did not just happen overnight. You have seen these employees who would do almost anything to support their organizations. If yu want some of that, here are 4 ways you can light a fire under your staff.

Having an empowered and enthusiastic staff can make the difference between failure and building an impenetrable sustainable business. Of course, you could just let everyone go and do-it-yourself, but for how long? Why not use the team you already have in place, and just incentivize them to support you fully?

You may know of managers who just naturally lead their teams in this manner, so you could hire this out as well, or you could stretch your own sensibilities and seek to exercise and build these kills yourself. If you do you will be rewarded exponentially. It’s worth giving it a go.

If you would like to try it, here are 4 ways you can start to change the way your employees think about you and the company they work for, and puts them in the mindset that shifts them from just doing the m9inimum just to get by to enthusiastically going the extra mile for you and your organization which changes everything.

4 Ways to Enthuse Your Staff

1. Positive Reinforcement

Especially when employees are falling short of your expectations, written warnings, reprimanding, threatening, belittling, and calling them out is seen as barbarian in today’s employee space. It is so important not to react, but to have a plan and to execute the plan effectively in a fully supportive manner.

To do so, in private, accumulate a list of where the employee is falling short of the expectation(s) you desire. Before you request a meeting with the employee who is not meeting your expectations(s) reframe your complaint to a positive. For instance, if your complaint is that he/she is “always late,” reframe your expectation in a positive and supportive way like, “I’d like to see you coming in on-time more.”

Practice your reframes so that they don’t come off as phony when you deliver your lines. Now, you are ready to schedule your meeting with your employee.

Don’t think that you are going to start off your conversation with his or her tardiness. No, instead you are going to reinforce how much you appreciate this employee by complimenting them on three areas of their work that pleases you. Examples could include, “I like the way you keep your workspace so organized.” And “Your interaction with clients is always professional and reflects the goals of this organization.” And “Your paperwork is always orderly and in on time.” You get the idea.

If you are having trouble understanding what this employee is doing right, you can check with management to see if they can give you any ideas. If you can’t find anything, compliment their shoes, jacket, and hairstyle.

Once you have done that, you can proceed with your reframe, “I’d like to see you coming in on-time more.” Then ask them if they have any ideas how you (or we, the team) could help support you to make that happen? Remind them how fantastic this would be if they could support the team in this way.

You will be surprised that they may not even have noticed and just overlooked it, or the situation could be easily resolved if he or she had a new alarm clock or need someone else to help get their kids to daycare on time. You may never know if you do not ask.

2. Be Tolerant

To be tolerant is to be empathetic and compassionate. This is where you imagine what it must be like to be the other person, to in a sense, walk a mile in his or her shoes. Even though you might feel like it, you just can’t burst out and shout, “You are an embarrassment to this organization!” No, this is the barbarianism of yesterday that you are trying to avoid. Plus, any time that you express yourself in this manner, you are distancing yourself from your staff, and they will not respect you, as expressing yourself in this manner is considered weakness and does not build confidence with your employees, and they will start looking for greener pastures.

So, you want to be concerned about your employee’s welfare, being certain not to feign being concerned, because your employee may be able to tell, and you don’t want to be considered as a fake, though you are encouraged to fake it until you make it. It will come easier, as you practice these new methods. Now, you will ask, “Are you okay?” And “Is there anything I can help you out with?”

And the truth is, you don’t really know what is going on with your employee, so saying, “I just noticed that it seems like you are not your regular self these days, I was just wondering if there’s anything that you might like to talk about?” Then be prepared to listen to your employee’s concerns. If their concerns are too lengthy, apologize with, “I am so sorry, I have to get back to the office right now. Can we pick u this later?” Then be sure to follow up and get the rest of the story.

If you see their production numbers slipping, let them know that you are here to support them in any way you can, then allow them to pledge to tend to the issues that may be getting in the way of those production numbers.

3. Magic Leadership

I grew up with a local magician, and in my opinion, all the best magic tricks that he performed were the ones when a random person made all the moves and the magic just happened in the presence of the magician. That is the way you should perform your leadership, by allowing the magic to happen in the ranks to achieve the miraculous feats you desire and give them full credit for it.

This is how it works; you call the brainstorm meeting and call in your team. You tell them what the situation is and tell them you are looking for answers about how we are going to approach this challenge. You already have an answer in mind, and encourage the answers as they come, and when you hear the answer you want, you celebrate their genius. And every once in a while, they will offer up a solution that is even better than the one you had in mind.

It takes a bit of skill to learn this management sleight of hand, but it is well worth the effort. You stack the deck, and everyone wins.

4. Empower Your Team

Empower your team to come up with their own solutions, take responsibility for their decisions and the execution thereof. You do not need to turn them loose like wild horses, but you do need to manage the reigns when necessary but avoid laying down the law.

This is not the dark ages, and it is this empowerment that is a winning component in the new business community where the culture of the organization includes empowered leaders to rise up within all ranks.

Your employees are your eyes and ears with their feet in the trenches. No one knows what is happening in the front lines more than they do. They have the data, experience, and ideas that are priceless when empowered to serve the greater good of the organization.

So, ask them what they think, and treat it like gold, when warranted.

Now you are connecting with your staff in an unprecedented manner and building the company culture that will take you into the future.