When employees are proactive, they are productive. They tackle issues head-on, never ask for advice, and use their time effectively. For a boss, this is the Holy Grail of an office. Unfortunately, not every person is motivated to go the extra mile at work. Some people want to do the bare minimum, others are unorganized, and there are others that can’t decide without a sounding board.
To get employees to be change orientated and anticipatory, you need to give them the tools to succeed. Otherwise, they’ll never evolve and adapt. Here are four things you can do to get the ball rolling.
Micromanage
But not in the traditional way as it’s destructive. Instead, you want to encourage them to take care of the small things to instill a proactive attitude. Then, this will permeate throughout their entire approach to their job. Take their desk as an example. To be proactive, a person needs to be organized, something which is tricky to do when space is cluttered. By getting them to clean their workspace, they should see the benefits of decluttering their work life. Think of it as a domino effect that will knock down anything in its path.
Take Away Responsibilities
As a rule, employees want more responsibility not less. However, it’s about the quality and not the quantity. If they spend their day dealing with mundane tasks, they are never going to take the initiative. No matter what they do, they’ll still be bored and uninterested. With this in mind, think about removing the non-challenging jobs from their plate. There are great outsourcers out there, such as https://www.hudsonvalley-it.com/services/managed-it-services/. All you need to do is find one and strike a deal. Alternatively, you can mix up people’s workload so that they share tasks as a team no matter how exciting or run-of-the-mill.
Set Deadlines
Some bosses see them as restrictive, but they give employees a routine to follow. Because they like to slack off at times and a break, you can’t always trust them to be productive. A time-sensitive project is an excellent way to add a level of culpability to their work. If they don’t deliver on time, they are the ones who have to suffer the consequences. And, because workers don’t like getting in trouble, they will try their hardest to hit a deadline. Once they get into a routine, they will do it on autopilot without any encouragement from the boss.
Celebrate
It’s easy for employees to feel disillusioned. They do something positive and it never gets rewarded. All the boss does is to carry on as if nothing happened. If he/she does react, it’s to say that it was expected because it is part of the role. Of course, this isn’t a good way to build confidence and morale in the office. Instead, you should celebrate their achievements, big or small. This method will persuade them to be proactive more often as it gets results.
Rather than taking the bull by the horns irregularly, they’ll do it more often than not.
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