How to Effectively Connect With Your Employees
Did you know that there are as many as six generations represented in some workplaces? Typically, it’s four to five generations, but still, that’s a lot! Today’s professional leaders face a unique challenge in creating connections with colleagues of varied backgrounds and generations.
Creating a sense of connection in the workplace is harder than it once was. Is it something to even prioritize? Do you really need to get along with your subordinates?
Well, if you want to retain and engage a loyal, dedicated and hard-working staff, then, yes, you do.
It’s been widely documented in recent research that people desire more than a paycheck from their places of work. They want to feel like they belong. Many workplaces have already taken measures to help create cultures of comfort and belonging by including things like weekly staff happy hours, unique work-rooms with bean bags and hammocks, a coffee station where employees can catch up at various times throughout the day, monthly game days and more. Each of these initiatives helps employees and leadership to relax and have fun together, which creates connection. Today’s workers can choose between workplaces where colleagues don’t speak and their boss takes no personal interest in them or a place where they are personally known and valued.
Which one do you think they’ll pick?
Hopefully, you’re now convinced that connection in the workplace is a good return on your investment. But maybe this is new to you and you don’t want to break the bank with some crazy new addition like an indoor trampoline park or daily lunches. Consider starting with the following:
Talk to a Different Employee Everyday
You may have the habit of speaking with the colleagues who are close in proximity or relationship to you already, but it’s time to branch out. The individuals who work on a different floor or side of the building to you were hired for a reason, and you don’t want to lose that person because they don’t feel valued. It’s well worth the extra ten minutes to walk around the office at least once a day and stop by people’s work stations to strike up a conversation. Find a point of connection in a shared commonality and consider taking notes afterward of the conversation and put it in your contact list so you can refer back to it. Follow-up with those people until you know the names and a few facts about everyone working around you.
Give Shout Outs
And encourage your colleagues to do it with each other! Some Starbucks stores keep a corkboard in the back where each employee has their own pocket. In those pockets, coworkers can leave notes of encouragement for the pocket owner to later find and keep. Things like this or sending out group emails to thank someone for their hard work or new idea make people feel appreciated, and who doesn’t like that?
Make Work More Fun
I get it, work is work. But there are plenty of ways to lighten things up without decreasing productivity. And, in fact, many people are more productive when they feel like they can loosen up at work. It’s why Google lets its employees work sitting on bean bags and some workplaces have organized outings away from work-such as working together for the afternoon at the local Food Bank. These things, which make work feel less stringent and more comfortable, make for happier, appreciated and loyal employees.
Feel free to get creative! Each workplace has its own culture, and there may be other ways of facilitating connection that fit better in your environment. But if you don’t know where to begin, start with the above tips. The smartest business move you can make this week is prioritizing connection with those in your camp.