How to bring the best out of your employees

Martin Dias, financial consultant and Founder of ‎Financial & Property Consultants Limited (FAPCL). (Photo: David Mwitari|Standard)

Employees are your company’s key assets as they are the one’s that drive your vision. Having a strong team is, therefore, crucial for your enterprise to be sustainable. But this goes beyond just hiring the right people; it also means keeping them fired up and working together towards the business goals.

Martin Dias, a financial consultant and founder of property consultancy FAPCL reveals to Hustle the secrets to maintaining a top team that will ensure a sustainable venture.

 1. Build cordial relationships

Most people in an organisation begin as junior employees and then climb up the ladder. They basically report to a superior on their responsibilities, thus the relationship between them must be agreeable for efficiency even in difficult situations. This will be replicated as the employees are promoted to managerial level and have others to supervise, or start their own companies where the entire team looks up to them. 

2. Impact on your employees

Employees come and go. Organisations scout for new graduates with good academic grades and they grow with training and induction. Depending on what they learn from you and the way you nurture them, some will stay with you while others move on to bigger jobs owing to what they get from you. The most exciting thing is if you have positively impacted on them, wherever they are, they will rise up the ranks and make you proud.

3. Give rewards

As long as the employee performs to your expectations and delivers on the assignments, then you should retain them for as long as possible. Good employees should be molded and trained to grow in the company ranks and internal promotions should act as a way of encouragement to those who perform. Make them leaders in new openings and recommend them to your networks when they outgrow your business.

4. Make everyone a leader

In every organisation, you have the one or two employees who excel at their work and you prefer to give important assignments. However, distribution of work is fundamental across the team. Some people should not shoulder the pressure of doing all the work. A team where all feel equal when working together will produce better output overall.

5. Be a hands-on leader

As the chief executive or manager, you must have deep knowledge of what your organisation does and the industry. Roll up your sleeves and work with the staff and their supervisors. Staff respect leaders who know what they are doing and understand the workings of the organisation. This includes identifying and addressing any deficiencies noted within the staff through training.

6. Allow breathing space to your team

As CEO, you must have skills to interact with all workers. But you must be cognisant of the authority you hold and allow the staff, especially the supervisors, to freely get the work done. Too much mingling with juniors may be intimidating to your supervisory staff. Junior staff will aspire to shine and you should be able to identify talent and nurture it towards the company’s growth.

7. Don’t criticise

Have regular meetings where all staff are encouraged to express their views, and also with senior managers. Be fair and treat all views with respect and you will get feedback that will help you address any challenges.

8. Provide a conducive work environment

Employees feel honoured when they work in a friendly set up. For FAPCL, which I founded in 2010, I invested a lot to set up a presentable office although back then it was small. Today, our offices are located at ABC Place, Village Market and The Hub in Karen where our team is able to peacefully operate.

9. Lead by example

When your team sees you excelling and getting recognised by your peers in the industry, they will always look up to you. When your employees see these achievements, they understand why you encourage them to excel.  

10. Keep them guessing to make them valuable

Managing people is critical if you want your business to succeed. Thus, you should use different avenues to keep their morale high. Surprise best performers with flowers or sort out some of their bills, or even send them on assignments abroad randomly. This will make them anticipate your next surprise to the top performers and keep them working to be the best.