When you first take the position as a leader, your employees will inevitably look up to you for some improvements in the office. You may have even be chosen because of your ambition and visions for the company you work for. If you have some ideas, but no particular visions of what you would like to improve, it’s a good idea to start working on these and being specific. Your employees will value your leadership if you can be precise about what you want to change.
Better HR communication
Many employees resent their HR department because they feel it doesn’t truly listen to them. The HR department should be the go-to place for grievances and requested improvements. This may not be happening if the department is working with a limited number of employees, however. Online communication and feedback systems such as Inpulse.com make the process much easier by providing a portal to work through.
Screen breaks
While there is an ideal of working flat out for hours on end, this is very rarely possible. Screen breaks provide your employees with a mental break from their work. Providing employees with regular rests has been found to improve productivity and boost their overall functionality.
Make an effort
Becoming a leader doesn’t mean it’s now time to kick back and let the rest happen beneath you. It is vital that, as a new leader in the workplace, you start to form a meaningful connection with those who work for you. A leader who is distant and unwilling to put in the effort can cause resentment and may even lead to a higher employee turnover.
A culture of praise
There’s nothing worse than putting your all into a project, only to feel as if you weren’t truly rewarded for your efforts. Having an office space with no culture of praise can be incredibly demoralizing for all employees. You don’t want the break area chatter to be about how unappreciative the management team are. Rewarding and praising employees for their work is one of the best changes you can make.
Embrace delegation
If you have managers who are reluctant to delegate, and would prefer instead to do the work all by themselves, then this is something to be incredibly wary of. While completing work by yourself can give an illusion of control, it can also imply that you don’t trust your workforce. Delegation always comes with its risks, but the pay-off is a highly-experienced and trusted team. It will also save your managers some extra stress and workload in the future.
The best way to develop yourself as a leader is to strive to improve the workplace you work under. As you are now in a position of responsibility, you will need to demonstrate that you have your employees’ best interests at heart. One easy way to demonstrate this is to continue to improve their work environment and embrace feedback.
