4 Vital Discoveries You Haven’t Made Yet About Your Employees

It’s Columbus Day, the perfect time to think about discovery – however, I don’t mean of New Worlds, I mean of your existing staff!

Everyone is working harder these days, and employees of all stripes are doing their absolute best to achieve ever loftier goals, with less time and fewer resources available to them. Under these conditions, how can your team get to know each other – let alone allow you, the boss, to really understand just who is in your employ, and how best to relate to them?

In the crush of daily business operations in a difficult economy, here’s a few things you have yet to learn about your staff which, once discovered, will make your job as their team leader less complicated, and more effective:

1. They Worry About a Lot More Things Than You Realize – In speaking with managers, I find that while they are sensitive to staff concerns like job security and salary, their main goal is to ensure that the firm’s strategic objectives are met. Beyond these obvious anxiety inducers, however, employees I speak to these days are also extremely worried about increased transit costs, caring for young children and/or elderly relatives, their own health, and about a thousand other things – not to mention completing their workloads on time, and in full.

2. They Desperately Want to Learn New Skills – All staff, be they greenhorn new hires or “lifers” who’ve been in the same position for decades, want to be in the know, and very often that means acquiring new skills – be they technological, procedural or interpersonal.

3. They’re Very Religiously Diverse – Unless your office is socially homogenous, you likely have a diversity of religious faiths working together in your office – each with their own norms, traditions and holidays. Especially in large urban areas like New York City, team leaders will need to take a myriad of factors into account with regards to the calendar, food/beverage and, yes, even employee entertainment ideas which will be appropriate for a range of religious beliefs.

4. They’ve Got a Sense of Humor – Having worked with so many companies across diverse industries over the years, I can assure you that everyone has a sense of humor. It may be to varying degrees, but I’ve yet to meet someone who doesn’t appreciate a good laugh. As a manager of people, use this to your advantage whenever appropriate.

This is just scratching the surface; my point here is that even in the grind of trying to achieve important business objectives, don’t forget that the work needed to reach those goals is done by people – real people, like you and me. The more you know about them – what they’re like, what they’re afraid of and what’s most important to them – the better equipped to make decisions, and become more effective as a leader.

I welcome your thoughts on this below! Also, if you are in New York City this evening, come check out our free Columbus Day trivia night at The Bell House in Brooklyn!