Becoming a People Focused Leader

The most critical asset to your business is your staff. How do you ensure that they perform to their full potential and grow? And help your business improve and grow?

Your business suffers every time a staff member leaves (attrition) or is absent from work (mental health or physical sick days), or is not connected with what they are doing or distracted (presenteeism). How do you reduce the risk of any of these?

First and foremost, ensure that staff feel important and VB valued.

Listen to them. Take on board what they say? Understand the “what’s in it for them”

Understand why they come to work? What are their motivators?

Act on their feedback. Even if you don't agree. Tell them why. If you don't you'll miss the good ideas and innovation when they come.

What is the Culture of your organisation?

People focused or bottom line focused?

We know that any business needs to make money to survive, but not at the expense of people welfare.

How do you ensure that the culture is a positive one where people can feel supported, are psychologically and physically safe?

Demonstrate it with actions. Show vulnerability. Don’t hide your own mistakes, but share them and ensure that everyone learns from them.

If someone needs to know something about the workplace, are you the person they turn to? Do they feel safe in asking you? How do you react to the “stupid” question?

Look at your own organisation.

How do you ensure that people leave the workplace with energy to live their personal life and are not sapped of all energy. What are the energy sappers In the workplace ?

• Lack of purpose

• Feeling isolated and not part of the bigger picture (unconnected)

• Uncertainty

• Lack of goals and objectives (Direction)

• Lack of Social Interaction

• Frustration

Does your organisation make the most of opportunities to learn?

• Have you taken learnt from the last 2 years and the restrictions of covid?

• What do you learn from incidents and near misses?

• How do you make changes to procedures or the working environment to prevent recurrence?

• How do you gain insight from the workforce and enhance the workplace? They are the people who know the work better than anyone else. Their suggestions are nuggets of innovation that will improve the processes and ways of working.

How do you make the workplace a better one? Ask your team.

• Does it need you to Change as a Leader/Manager.

• Do you treat team members as individuals.

• Do you need to start the cultural change.

• Create a Psychosocially safe workplace. Start with a risk assessment.

• Complete a Mental Health First Aid course. Understand more about your team and recognise the changes in their behaviour which can impact their performance and your business results.

People do better when they:-

• Feel safe

• Can speak their opinion without fear

• Can make a mistake without fear of negative consequences

• Feel supported

• Feel that they have an element of control of how they do their work.

• Have a purpose and feel that what they do makes a difference.

Contact InteChange to find out more, and to start your journey to improved business results and a more engaged workforce through People Focused Leadership.