Six ways to unlock the potential of your employees

05 February 2018 -

One of the greatest assets of your business walks out the door every night. What are you doing to get them to return next day inspired, motivated, and enthused to be the best they can be?

#1 Understand your people’s WHY

One of the keys to unlocking a motivational environment is to clearly understand your people’s personal goals and how being successful at work can be one of the vehicles and enablers in helping them realise them. The moment we create the bridge in their mind – the link between their personal goals, business goals and what they do daily during work – self-motivation kicks in.

This is the defining moment a person changes from someone with a job to someone with a purpose.

#2 Acknowledge your employee’s emotional wellbeing on an equal footing to their physical wellbeing

I often encounter stressed managers in the hospitality trade; despairing bankers who don’t see their children; pressured recruitment consultants trying to seal the deal. Their emotional well-being is not a luxury; it’s the energy source powering their performance. When it’s low, their performance is low, which has both a short and long-term impact on the business for which they work.

#3 Be interested, not just interesting

Be authentic and genuinely interested in them as individuals. The old way of thinking focused solely on pay, bonus, role, annual performance reviews is just that, old. The fresher thinking connects an individual’s personal mission and purpose to that of the business, focuses on career development, ongoing performance reviews and takes a genuine interest in their wellbeing inside and outside of the workplace.

#4 Set your people up for success

Do your people know what great performance looks like, feels like and acts like in their role?

If you haven’t created absolute clarity about what the expectations are for their role, explained and demonstrated what great looks like, and set them up for success, it’s almost predictable that you and your people will be working to different models and interpretations of what great looks like.

Enable them with the mindset (attitude, determination, will), the skillset (technical or soft skills) and the toolset (tools to do their job) to truly unlock their potential and deliver excellence within their role. This will fuel their inner self worth, igniting their self-motivation and building their confidence.

#5 Understand what success means to them, personally and professionally

Success is such an emotive word; it has many different definitions to each and every one of us, as we are all unique made up of our own DNA. We are influenced on a daily basis by factors that determine our definition of success. Do you know what your people’s definition of success is and what they are personally working towards?

#6 Create a compelling vision for your business

A compelling vision infuses work with purpose and meaning. For example, the NHS saves lives, Google changes the way the world communicates, and one click at a time. The list could go on. Showing your people how WHAT they do on a daily basis is helping to achieve the vision acts like the igniter switch to their purposeful work.

Royston Guest is a global authority on growing businesses and unlocking people potential. He is CEO of Pti-Worldwide, author of #1 best-selling business growth book, Built to Grow and founder of livingyourfuture™. Follow him on Facebook or Instagram. Connect with him on LinkedIn or check out his weekly blog at https://www.roystonguest.com/