The difference between boiling water and steam is only one degree and steam can easily power a train. Likewise, it only takes one degree to boost your employees to their next level, which in turn helps the entire team move forward successfully. Here are 3 keys to unleashing employee potential:
Align: Belong
Everyone wants to belong within a community or organization. This is about coming together, in agreement, to create impact. To align for impact requires the involvement of the whole company and the employees. It starts with:
Who are we?
- What are our core values? What does our company stand for?
- How do we reinforce these core values consistently?
Why do we exist? – Why was our company created?
Where are we going? – As a company? As a team? As an employee?
How do I contribute?
- Why does a leasing agent lease an apartment?
- Why does the maintenance team keep up apartments?
- How does my job contribute to this bigger picture?
What do I need to be successful? – What are my tools? What are my resources?
Empower: Become
“You must create the conditions of both personal and organizational trust before you’ll get any true empowerment or release of human potential.” –Stephen R. Covey
You can create the conditions to empower your employees to realize their potential with the following tips:
Connect for Engagement
Build Trust
- Employ behavioral adaptability
- Lead by example
- Exude high tolerance
- Allow innovation and creativity
- Catch them when they fall
One great way to connect with an understand your team is through personality assessments. There are several options within the personality assessment world that will allow you to understand yourself and your employees better. Below are some options to consider:
- DiSC
- Myers-Briggs
- Kolbe
- Discovery Insights
You can use the results to adapt to the unique needs of your employees.
Reward and Recognize
“Employees who are meaningfully recognized tend to surpass the duties required of them.” – HR Magazine
To be successful, the reward and recognition must be genuine and real. It will allow your employees to see how they are positively impacting the company and will also increase employee engagement, thereby nurturing their desire to go above and beyond. Use the tips below to effectively reward and recognize:
- Invest in your team, both with time and money.
- Provide frequent training and webinars. (EPMS offers great short, but impactful webinars.)
- Challenge them as doing so will decrease the chances your employees will be or feel limited.
- Promote “classroom time. This will allow your team to discuss and get through issues together.
- Make resources available. These resources can be available online or in person to help expand their knowledge base.
- Encourage mentorship, both from you and outside resources. Your involvement with your staff is invaluable.
- Remember to coach. Help them your employees tap into their genius and develop it.
Being a great coach involves asking powerful questions, such as:
- What is possible?
- How would your “ideal self” create a solution?
- If I was in your shoes and asked for advice, what would be the first thing you’d tell me?
- What would you try now if you knew you could not fail?
- What is the experience you are looking to create?
- What am I not asking you that you really want me to ask?
- If you could do it over again, what would you do differently?
You can come up with other powerful questions to help move the conversation in the most productive direction. Qualities of a powerful question include:
- Open-ended
- Curious
- Thought-provoking
- Able to challenge assumptions
- Considerate
Once you’ve determined your employees point of view, you are ready to provide effective coaching. Successful coaching involves:
- Listening in a profound way
- Identifying limitations in the other person’s speaking
- Asking questions that cause new thinking, self-discovery and action
- A place where people can think out loud, experiment and play with ideas
- CONFIDENTIAL
- Acknowledging people for who they are and what they produce
- Providing a way of allowing people to change how they relate to something
- A supportive relationship
Your employee may be more willing increase engagement if your team implements the above strategies and information. Learning how you and your team think as individuals, through personality assessments, is key to their growth.
Presented by:
Maria Lawson
EPMS, VP of Training and Development