As a workplace leader, you’re called on for more than just spearheading projects and assigning tasks. Your employees lean on you to foster a positive, structured workplace that promotes productivity and success. Unfortunately, building a healthy workplace presents some of the greatest, most complex leadership challenges you may face. If you’re like most leaders today, you’ve had your fair share of struggles and failures.
With so much uncertainty, disruption, and negativity in the workplace, the trials you encounter have probably never been greater. The key is to learn from your failures and grow as a leader. If your leadership struggles are hurting workplace morale, bringing down results, or costing you employees, it’s time to find out how to overcome the challenges you’re facing.
It goes without saying that these are polarizing times. From politics to the pandemic to social unrest, there’s no shortage of topics to drive a wedge between even the kindest of coworkers. Although you can’t avoid all office squabbles, you can adopt some policies that help you move past them:
Conflict is a two-edged sword. Yes, it can cause some discomfort and emotionally charged situations. But it can also show you and your team new ways to solve problems. Instead of avoiding conflict altogether, instead think about how you can better manage it and channel that discord into some creative solutions.
If you held a leadership role during the start of the pandemic and managed to guide your team through it unscathed, congratulations. You’re the exception. For everyone else who struggled to adapt, COVID-19 ushered in an unprecedented period of fear, uncertainty, and change that we still haven’t totally recovered from. Fortunately, there are concrete steps that can help you lead through times of crisis:
Keeping your employees motivated can be challenging, even in the good times. If your office is running smoothly, you may be tempted to think everything’s on auto pilot. This can lull you into believing that your employees have it easy, too. It’s common to overlook all the hard work your team members pour into their role, particularly if you’re not involved in the day-to-day operations.
It can also be difficult to keep your employees motivated during challenging times. Sure, results may be down, but that doesn’t mean your team isn’t doing all they can to turn it around. Unless you tell them otherwise, team members may feel personally responsible for outcomes that are beyond their control. What’s worse, it can be financially challenging in these lean times to reward strong employees with bonuses, promotions, and raises.
Although you may not be able to motivate employees with monetary recognition, you can use appreciation to keep your team happy. Instead of throwing cash you don’t have their way, it simply takes a little more time and effort on your part as a leader:
Lack of employee motivation often stems from an employee disconnect with the mission and results of a company. By using these tips, you will illustrate how vital they are to the team.
When employee motivation suffers too much, employee turnover isn’t far behind. The “great resignation” has exposed much of the discontent in the workforce, and many of the reasons that employee resign are the same as why they feel demotivated, just ratcheted up a few levels.
To get to the root of why so many of your employees are handing in their letter of resignation, ask yourself some important questions:
If the answer to any of these questions is “no” or “I don’t know,” you have a problem. Some employee turnover is natural, but a rash of resignations may indicate some deeper issues in your company, communication, and leadership style that need to be addressed. The important thing is to remember that retaining great employees takes effort on your part.
Over the past 18 months, building a cohesive team that works well together has never been harder. If your workplace went remote due to COVID-19, the physical separation of employees probably put a damper on the sense of teamwork. Without the time to talk before meetings start, quick greetings in the hallway, and breakroom chats, informal encounters that used to bring your colleagues together have evaporated. Add to that the higher-then-usual number of employees who may have left your team and it’s easy to see why everyone may feel just a little more distant.
You never want your employees to feel like they’re just clocking in for a job. You want them to feel invested in their role, and a huge part of that is enjoying the colleagues they work with. Sure, much of that starts by picking the right people during the hiring process, but you can also take steps to build team cohesion during these tough times:
The benefits of a cohesive team include stronger trust, greater motivation, higher productivity, and more success. Plus, you’ll be rewarded with greater employee autonomy, which may take some pressure off of the leadership to solve challenges and assign work.
If you’ve struggled with any of these elements of leading a team, you’re not alone. It takes an entirely new skill set that few people naturally possess. Fortunately, USF offers leadership and management training that can help you overcome your struggles and gain the skills you need.
From communicating to leading multiple generations of employees to recognizing your strengths and weaknesses, our programs offer the specific leadership skills that will help your team succeed. Learn more about our certificates today.