Uncommon Ways To Let Employees Know You Care
1. TRUST THEM BEYOND THEIR COMFORT ZONE
Your people are heroes… that may not know it yet. Trust them with decisions and projects beyond what they’re now comfortable with. Be there (but don’t grab the wheel) when they hit the wall. Lift and reassure that not getting it right isn’t the same as getting it wrong.
2. GIVE A STEADY DIET OF PRECISE PRAISE
The morale and training value built into “thank you for <specific thing>” cannot be overstated. A leader’s regular and precise appreciation creates golden-podium moments that good employees live for (but sadly, rarely get).
3. BRING THEIR FUTURE INTO REACH
Talk with your good people about what they hope to accomplish in their life and career. Get them to share the “big, hairy, and scary” (dreams that seem out of reach right now) then find ways to weave attaining those dreams into what they’re doing now.
Jason Petersen owns Hansen Lighting Inc. a lighting company with multiple showrooms in Utah.
Jason acquired Hansen Lighting out of near-bankruptcy in 2004 and turned the company around by implementing outside-the-box systems and ideas. The company is now one of the fastest growing companies in America (#3087 on the Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Companies list) and has been recognized as one of the most profitable privately-owned retailers in North America.
Jason is also the co-founder of XOLogic and Lit Living Inc.