Employees are the backbone of any organization and it’s imperative that they feel valued and rewarded for the work that they put in for the organization. Business Leaders like Neetish Sarda, the CEO of Smartworks, have
always laid a strong emphasis on how adding value to the lives of your employees, in return adds value to the business itself. As a business leader, Neetish Sarda has had the opportunity of taking a fledgling startup like Smartworks from an Idea to one of the biggest innovations that the country has seen in connected workspaces. The lessons that he picked along the way can be a great learning experience for new Promising entrepreneurs when it comes to getting maximum value addition from their employees.
Shift your Mindset
As a business leader, it’s important to have a positive outlook towards things. Most businesses fail because leaders are too busy correcting negative behavior or trying to micromanage everything. Your employees will feel more valued when you put your trust in them and give them ownership. Make them feel that they are part of a bigger picture by encouraging them to take drive decisions that fall under their ambit, rather than dictating what needs to be done. This simple shift in mindset, will help you perform much better as a business leader since your employees will respect you more and therefore, will strive to add more value since they will take ownership and consider themselves more than mere employees.
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Becoming the Motivator
Motivation is key to performance and no business can perform with employees who feel unmotivated all the time. As a business leader, it’s crucial that you acknowledge all the effort and hard work that’s been put in by your employees even if you are still to reach the intended goal. It’s important to celebrate the smaller victories, as those are the ones that will push your employees to consistently perform at their best.
Reward Efforts and Results
It’s important not to only reward people for the results but also for the efforts that they have put in. As Neetish Sarda shared from his personal experience, that even if the end goal hasn’t been reached or there have been some roadblocks; the fact that your employees are putting in their time and effort to clear those roadblocks and are being unrelenting in their effort calls for a reward. A small bonus, a letter of appreciation and even a small gift can go miles in making them feel valued, which in turn will keep them motivated to keep adding value to your business.
Show Gratitude and Advocate Growth
Great Leaders exhibit humility and show gratitude towards team members. Being in charge, it’s important to understand the hurdles your employees might be facing on a day-to-day basis, and as a leader you should always be the one to help eliminate those hurdles and help people become the best version of themselves. Guide them and give them ample growth opportunities, and let them know that as the business grows, they too shall grow with it.
Develop a Personal Connect
People don’t like bosses, they like empathetic leaders who treat their team members with respect and help them pull through a hard day at work. Caring about your employees, physical, social, mental, and emotional well-being is a trait that only the best of the best business leaders and entrepreneurs have. Not only does it help create a personal connection, it shows that you value your employees as fellow humans and not just for the results they create.
An idea is just the starting point, your business will need a lot more to develop and grow. Ethics, empathy, value and mutual respect go a long way in establishing a business culture and vision. As Business Leaders like Neetish Sarda have shown us, if you truly value your dream, you can’t aim for the stars all by yourself, you will need a team that’s aligned with your vision to reach there, and the best way to do that is by starting to add more value to the professional and personal life of your employees, and you can rest assured, they will do the same for your business.