Actively engaged employees and teams are the backbones of successful companies. In order to build and maintain a productive workforce, a company needs loyal employees who are fully engaged in their work and role in the company. As the lure of other opportunities increases, retaining excellent employees is increasingly difficult. Below are a few concepts to keep in mind when attempting to improve the productivity of your workforce by clearly communicating your expectations for your employees:
Share information freely with your employees.
Employees need to be educated on the way things work for your organization. They need to be informed on the products, services, policies and procedures they will encounter when working for you.
Provide written literature for reference if possible.
Take every opportunity to remind employees of their rights and responsibilities. Be specific and concise.
Get employee buy-in or agreement of the expectations.
Employees need to understand and agree with your expectations for them as well as the overall rules and/or guidelines of your organization.
Solicit questions.
Employees should be asked to share their opinions and express their level of understanding of what is expected of them by your organization.
Remember, employee expectations and needs can vary
Each employee should have different expectations depending on their role and abilities, however, they should also be expected to live up to organization-wide expectations.
Let employees know are the consequences
Employees need to be aware of what the consequences are if they do not follow the expectations that are required of them.
Establishing Expectations
We all have expectations of our employees and they have expectations of us as managers. Likewise, our customers have expectations of us and the level of service they will receive.
Think about Please complete the following questions as you think about your role as a manager in your organization.
- What do you think your employees expect of you as their manager? How are these expectations set?
- What do you expect from your employees?
- How are these expectations established?
- How are these expectations communicated?