10 Simple Tips for Creating Successful Employees

10 Simple tips for Creating Successful Employees

Employees are the ones that make things happen in any organization. They make good things and bad things happen. They can make magic or rain down a curse of epic proportions on any organization. That is why as a leader you have to ensure you are doing everything you can to ensure success with every employee, volunteer, intern, internal stakeholder on an individual basis, as well as a group.

Here are 10 simple tips that I recommend you use to develop successful employees, either one-on-one or as a collective.

1. Dialogue
Always ensure that every conversation is a DIALOGUE (a two-way conversation) and keep the monologue to an absolute minimum. Better still, leave the monologue for Jimmy Fallon and David Letterman.

2. Listen
Be an active listener. Do not stand there and nod your head. Really listen. Take notes if you have to. Hey, taking notes worked when you trying to pass Calculus, it can work when you are trying to ensure you really understand somebody. 

3. Ask
Ask Questions. Ask lots and lots of questions. Do not tell yourself you have no questions. You have questions and you must ask them.

4. Get to know them
Get to know your employees. Do not take any of your employees for granted. Never take any stakeholder for granted. Who knows that employee may be your boss or your competition one day. Then you will really have to re-think how you could have made the relationship better when you had the chance.

5. Ensure they have the tools to do their job
Every one wants to do a good job. How can they do a good job if they don't have the tools. Go out of your way to make absolutely certain they have plenty of paper, pens, chalk, dry erase markers, surgical tools, and whatever they may need to do the job. If they refuse to do a good job then that is on them and not on the lack of tools and supplies.

6. Ensure they know you have their back
Go out of your way to make certain that each and every employee knows you have their back. They need to know it and see it everyday. Then again, they also need to know that you will have their back provided they are always truthful and forthcoming, and not behaving bad just because they know someone has their back. That's not what having their back is about. Having their back is based on mutual dialogue, understanding and clear expectations of and from each other.

7. What are their expectations of you
You cannot lead what you do not know and understand. If your employees do not share what their expectations of you are then how will you know if you are a great leader? Ask them what are their expectations of you, then move heaven and earth to achieve, maintain and exceed those expectations.

8. Ensure they know your expectations
You cannot expect success if the ones that follow you do not know what you expect them to do and not do to achieve that success. Be crystal clear when you are explaining your expectations. Even if you have to draw them an infographic make absolutely sure they understand.

9. Train Them
Training is everything. Train, Train, Train and then train some more. Training is how the Seattle Seahawks won Super Bowl XLVIII and training is how Germany national football team won the FIFA World Cup in 2014. Everyone, every organization and every group that has ever won something or become the best at something does so by training. Train your employees every chance you get. Remember, everything is training and training is everything.

When I was serving in the US Army we had a saying, "If it's raining, we're training." Get out there and get them trained, maybe even cross-trained.

10. Get Yourself Trained
Speaking of training, be sure you take some time to get yourself some training. As a leader, the first thing you should always admit is that you do NOT know everything. Remember, it is managers and supervisors that say things like "I know this job like the back of my hand" and "you don't need to tell me how to do this job" and of course the old, "I'm in charge so I know it all." Yeah, don't be that guy.

Take time to learn the latest trends in your industry. Find out and know what is just over your organization's horizon. Read a book (my book), attend a seminar, take a three day course, do something! When you are done getting trained tell everyone about it. Share it the next time you train your employees.


Thank you,
Dave Guerra

I invite you to follow me on Twitter: @daveguerra • visit my website: www.daveguerra.com
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