Employee motivation is a significant driver of performance in any organization. A motivated employee will be more productive, consistently improve performance, and contribute directly to the growth of the organization. But keeping employees motivated isn’t as easy as it sounds. It requires putting in conscious efforts every day, and the ability to identify and correct the mistakes management often makes.
Need to understand how to motivate your employees? Below are all the mistakes that you, as a manager, must avoid.
6 Common Management Mistakes You Should Never Make
Ignoring Employees’ Growth
Employees no longer work for just a paycheque; they want to continue learning and ensure growth. Therefore, employers who do not offer their employees learning opportunities or opportunities to climb the organizational ladder may end up losing their valuable employees.
Talk to your employees and try to understand if they prefer training and development programs or on-job training. Knowing what they expect will make your job of contributing to their growth a lot easier. Moreover, transparent two-way communication will also improve the employee experience.
Micromanaging
Micromanagement is a huge reason for diminishing employee motivation since it sends employees a signal that their managers do not trust them. By micromanaging their every move, managers can limit their team members’ thought processes and creativity. And when they’re stuck in a monotonous schedule in which they just punch in, complete the tasks, and punch out, their productivity also takes a serious hit.
If your organization is familiar with this problem, encourage managers to delegate work to their team members instead of micromanaging them. A good manager is open to changes and is willing to share responsibilities for the overall good of the business.
Not Recognizing Accomplishments
There is nothing more demotivating than not being able to eat the fruit of a tree you planted. And this is exactly how employees feel when they do not receive the acknowledgement they rightly deserve.
Recognition encourages a person to do even better. It is a human tendency. And when there is a lack of encouragement, you can’t expect improvement, or even consistency, in work. And that’s not it, employees who go unrecognized for their efforts and good work for a long time even end up with nothing but contempt for their employers. As a manager, it is your responsibility to identify efforts and reward them to make sure that your team members stay motivated and productive.
Rigid Workplace Environment
Rules are important everywhere but employers should never go overboard with them. Employees shouldn’t have to work under pressure, thinking that their professional life is just defined by rules. They should be able to enjoy it. Therefore, it’s your responsibility as a manager to cut them some slack when needed. Here are a few things you can do:
- Allow working remotely.
- Have flexible break timings.
- Postpone deadlines, if needed.
- Allow early punch-out if an employee has some commitments.
Mishandling Conflicts
In diversified workplaces, employees from different backgrounds have different perceptions, which can lead to conflicts. But as a manager, you should be able to identify the differences in opinions and come up with solutions that are justified and fair to everybody. You should get to the root of a problem as soon as it arises and switch to a mediator in order to resolve the conflict.
Make sure all your team members act as a team and work cohesively so that they can achieve a common goal. You can also introduce some team coordination activities to do the same.
Abusing Power
Dictatorship never works well because every employee wants to be valued and treated fairly. Hence, managers should have no right to misuse their powers and expect team members to follow their orders even if that means going out of the way to do the same. If dictatorship is a common trend in an organization, the employer will end up losing their valuable employees. Moreover, it will scar the reputation of the company.
Try to ensure transparency and hold each employee responsible for their actions despite their position in the company. Set good examples of a leader so that your team members obey you out of respect and not out of fear.
Analyze your actions and identify the mistakes you may be making. It’s you who can bring a change to engage and motivate your workforce.
