Managing employees is by no means easy and people often have to do it without any previous formal training. So I wanted to share ten essential tips that will enhance how you treat your employees, ranked from the least to the most important:

  1. Employees are persons
  2. Given the above, it’s worth pointing out that employees are persons
  3. Just as a suggestion, bear in mind that employees are persons
  4. After doing the above, I might mention the idea that employees are persons
  5. Have we grasped that employees are persons yet?
  6. This tip I learned on my last Masters: employees are persons
  7. I’d also point out that employees are persons
  8. For those of you who may be a bit absent-minded, try to remember that employees are also persons
  9. The most important thing is that employees are persons
  10. The last point is crucial; we are all persons

It might seem a bit daft, but you should never forget these tips. Employees are persons with values, beliefs, dreams, relatives and so on, and every day you need to align the tasks you ask them to do with company strategy.

Once you’ve taken this decision, you can then follow the steps set out in any good leadership manual:

  • Pay well and offer incentives (even if they are intangible). Not everyone is motivated by money and other benefits such as telecommuting or variable remuneration get very good results. Of course, everything depends on the industry, but some recent studies have found that teleworkers can be up to 13% more productive than people who work in the office. In other cases, many employees prefer to work in the office to enhance their social circle. The main value is that the employee can choose and feels free.
  • Find motivation in their work, because otherwise they’ll just be thinking about their personal problems throughout the working day. You need to be able to align your employees’ skills and motivation with their daily activities.
  • Respect their free time, because if the work/personal life balance is just an idea and not a reality, then sooner or later they will weigh up their personal and working life. As much as you might like the idea, it is ridiculous to think that an employee has the same motivation as the business’s partners or owners.
  • Get them involved in decision-making by asking them for advice, because a good boss should always be open to suggestions, especially if they are well grounded and on the same page as the strategy set by the company.
  • Listen to and meet their expectations, because trust takes a long time to win but only a second to lose.
  • Try to develop empathy. If you don’t understand their problems, why do you think they will understand yours? You don’t have to be their friend, but you do need to build their confidence to talk to you and discuss their concerns or suggestions.
  • Make them feel they are an important part of the company, even explaining the KPI that will improve if they achieve their targets.
  • Set an example and don’t correct them in public. Employees have a very high opinion of the advice of more experienced or influential people, especially if they are an example for them, but they also don’t need to be humiliated in front of others.
  • Listen to their ideas, even if expressed anonymously through social media. It is a fact that young people are increasingly at home with new technologies. Every employee, no matter how shy they are, should be heard.
  • And do not forget that employees are persons.

Original Spanish version “Consejos para tratar bien a un empleado“.



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