Find the Time by David M . Anderson , MCA , Mayer Tree Service
As busy professionals we all have way too much to do every day . Selling work , scheduling work , managing our people , etc . Sometimes we are busy being busy . How do we make time to engage our employees ? Whether it is a formal training event or just brief conversation , how do you make your people feel important ?
Find the time to be with them . Nothing makes people feel better then when “ the boss ” takes the time to be sincerely interested in how they are doing . It ’ s not easy but it is important . The best way to do this is to block off half a day a month to think strategically . Get away from your phone and laptop so you cannot be distracted . You can use this time to think uninterrupted on many subjects , but an important part of any company strategy is to spend time with your team . By deepening your relationship , it makes it easier to have the difficult conversations about attendance , punctuality or worse .
Set up check-ins which should be informal but still a meaningful conversation . This is a great time to ask open ended questions about how they feel about the company . Ask specific questions about how they feel about safety , scheduling , their career path and any other subjects you want to discuss . I strongly suggest you have a specific script . You need to be brave enough to listen to their thoughts and ideas without taking it personally . This makes them feel important and more importantly makes them more comfortable speaking with you . This should not replace an annual review but it ’ s a great way to stay in touch and gain a different perspective .
Plan and schedule formal training events . This is a great way to build camaraderie . Whether it is climbing training
“ You need to be brave enough to listen to their thoughts and ideas without taking it personally . This makes them feel important and more importantly makes them more comfortable speaking with you .”
for new people or aerial rescue for the whole company , it ’ s time and money well spent . Come up with a serious , safe and challenging event and celebrate after with dinner . Obviously , this is an opportunity to delegate to people to organize and run the training event . However , “ the boss ” should be there and make it a point to say hello to everyone and thank them for being part of the team . Delegating is very important because it not only frees up a manager ’ s time to do other things it empowers others to move up into important roles . Always remember you cannot delegate face time with your people . Granted with all the responsibilities of running a company it ’ s not easy to find the time but the best bosses make it a priority .
Almost everyone considers finding and retaining staff one of their greatest needs . However , we all need to be better at committing the time to do more . So put it in your calendar , be thoughtful in your approach , and make it happen . Dare I say you might even enjoy it .
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SPRING 2023 MAA NEWS 17