Attaining And Maintaining A Passionate Team
Every business leader dreams of hiring a passionate and motivated team. You don’t want an office full of detached worker bees; you want a professional group of people with the same aspirations as you. You might be the innovator behind the company, but you essentially want a workplace full of your equals. In reality, of course, it’s hard to keep your workforce excited about their jobs. Even a highly skilled professional working in their dream industry can become disengaged and apathetic after a few months or a few years in the same job role. The best of us can easily lose interest in something if it becomes repetitive and monotonous. If that’s become the case for many of your employees then it’s time for you to reignite the spark in your workplace. These are the things to remember if you want to attain and maintain a passionate team.
Improve the office environment.
One method of attaining and maintaining a passionate team is to improve the office environment. Your employees are massively influenced by the appearance of the place in which they work. Nobody wants to work in a tiny cubicle or a workplace with a dull and grey design, for example. A combination of both would be even worse. You need to improve your company’s office environment if you want to engage your workers. Give the walls a fresh coat of paint; opt for brighter colours. Even white walls would be better than grey ones; it would allow light to be reflected around the office and create a more pleasant environment. You should also give your workers ergonomic chairs and keyboards. This would give them a more comfortable working environment. It’s about physical comfort as well as visual comfort.
Of course, the design of your office is only one way in which you could improve the environment for your employees. You should also think about perks you could include to make the workplace more engaging for your team. For example, not everything needs to be work-related. It’s good to encourage your employees to bond and unwind during their lunch breaks. That’s why you should include some opportunities for fun and recreational activity in the breakroom. A pool table could lead to some friendly competition, for example. And throw in some sofas so that members of staff have somewhere to sit down and get comfortable whilst they drink their coffee or eat their sandwiches. You could even create a proper recreation area for your employees if you really want them to relax and have fun during their breaks. It’s about fostering the right kind of company culture. Value your team as people, and they’ll value your business in the way you do. Think of how you like to be treated as a professional. That’s how you should be treating every single one of your employees.
Be an engaging leader.
If you really want to attain and maintain a passionate team then you need to lead by example. Be an engaging leader if you want your employees to take your business seriously. Otherwise, they’ll see their job as a means to an end. It’ll just be a paycheck to them if you show them no recognition other than paying their wage at the end of the month. Connect with your team. Talk to your employees throughout the day. Ask if they’re fulfilled with their work. If they’re not fulfilled then challenge them by presenting them with new projects. Keep the idea of the company exciting for your team. That’s when it becomes a career rather than just a job to them. You could consider studying for a management course to improve your leadership skills. With some Project Management exam prep, you could be ready to offer the guidance and help your team needs in order to succeed. Don’t underestimate the importance of your position in driving your workforce forwards. You can’t expect your employees to be engaged if you aren’t either.
Nail the hiring process.
As we’ve discussed in this article, it takes more than hiring a highly qualified set of individuals to create a passionate team. Even a smart and well-educated professional can lose interest in a company and fail to put in the necessary effort to deliver an exceptional standard of service. That’s why you need to focus on the mindset of an individual during the hiring process. Yes, you have to guide your team in the right direction, as we’ve already discussed, but you also need to hire the right people for your team in the first place. Certain people will have the potential to fit well in your work environment and other people will not. It’s your job to deduce who is right for your business when flicking through CVs and interviewing candidates in person.
The point is that your team members need to have a shared attitude in order for your business to flourish. If you end up hiring an unmotivated worker then their negative mindset could adversely affect other people in the office. They might frustrate their colleagues who are working hard, and this could lead your team to stop trying. You have to show your workforce that you uphold high standards when it comes to hiring people. You have to choose candidates who will work well with your current members of staff. This is crucial to maintaining the right attitude in your workplace.
Motivation comes before credentials. If you can nail the hiring process then you’ll be one step closer to attaining and maintaining a passionate team.
Don’t arrange fixed and formal meetings.
This might seem like a strange piece of advice, but the suggestion isn’t to stop holding meetings. Rather, you should change the idea of a meeting in your workplace. The goal of gathering your team in one room is to fill them in on updates to the company’s plan or new protocols that employees must know. However, this ends up impeding productivity and is an incredibly boring waste of time for everyone. Instead, you could try to get information out in a much more time-efficient manner. Emails and quick informal chats in the working area are examples of ways to update your team on important information. It’s much more enjoyable for everyone, it’s much quicker, and it’s also more effective. Your team will be more likely to listen if you get everyone’s attention for a few minutes every day rather than holding a dull 15-minute meeting a couple of times a week.
© New To HR
