How to empower your employees

Imagine a work environment where every employee feels valued and empowered to do their best work yet- as well as representing their company in the best imaginable way possible.

Sounds good? Well, this could be your company’s new reality- Discovered People are here at Sydney Startup Hub to help you and your company achieve just this. Here at Tank Stream Labs, we believe that empowering employees is a sure way for your business to excel and strive for all our members to feel valued and empowered.

Whether you are looking to empower your employees or increase creative contribution along with exciting work culture, Tank Stream Labs newest addition Discovered People are passionate about just this.

If you are looking to empower your employees, scale up & grow your business, keep reading for Discovered Peoples top tips.

Help them forge their path in the company

Starting from the top-down, employees want to know the vision for the company they work for. More importantly, they want to know how they can be a part of that vision.

Beyond pool tables and Friday drinks in the office, now more than ever employees want to feel like they’re actively contributing to the wider company and community. By empowering your employees you can not only create a better company culture and increase productivity, but you can also help grow your team to their fullest potential.

-Nobody wants to feel like just another cog in the machine. So the best way to empower your employee is to communicate effectively with them and let them know exactly how they can help contribute to achieving company goals and visions, as well as helping them set a clear path to achieve this.

Collaborate to Create Achievable Goals

Most roles have set KPIs and goals for employees to work towards, that is often set by upper management. While any good employee will try and meet these if you want to get the best out of your team be sure to create these objectives collaboratively with them.

By involving employees in creating their own goals and KPIs, it creates a shared sense of accountability and ensures that the goals they have been given are achievable. Engaging that part of your employees helps them explore what their future career with your company will look like and help retain them to stay with your business for longer.

Encourage Communication

More than anything, employees want to know that their opinions are being heard. By creating an environment with open communication and space where they’re not judged or criticised, it will allow for a safe space for them to share their ideas, and to make them feel valued.

By doing this in a team setting it also opens the potential for team bonding and the ability for potentially amazing new ideas to be implemented within your business. By encouraging your teams to collaborate and communicate ideas, you’ll be empowering them to continue doing their best work. If an idea is not implemented or taken onboard it’s also important, to be honest, and communicate the exact reasons why so they can continue to learn and grow.

Recognise Effort & Achievements

It feels really good to know that other people appreciate the effort you’re putting in at work. Acknowledging not only your employee’s results, but the effort they put in prior is an easy way to boost morale and encourage innovation. This doesn’t even have to be through bonuses or perks (while it can definitely help!), just being honest and open with your staff can help motivate them.

By showing you appreciate their effort, it also makes it more likely that they’ll do it again, which can only be a good thing!

Remember they’re only human

Nobody is perfect, and mistakes happen. Sometimes life gets in the way and that’s completely normal! When an employee feels trusted and supported, they are more likely to put in their best efforts for the company that’s treated them well.

While not all companies can have remote or flexible working hours, being understanding of each individual’s life circumstances and accommodating to their needs will assist them in becoming productive. It’s important to remember why you hired the person, that they are competent and trusting them without micromanaging them every second.