When I opened the window and gazed at the streets today morning, I only found people plying through all the busy roads apart from early morning vendors and few other shops. Only then I gave a wise thought to understand why people go to work. I go to work to better myself, scale higher, set targets and every time go beyond the set targets and so does everyone. I have my own responsibilities to accomplish and everyone who goes for work has their own responsibilities to take care of. Be it a CEO, or a manager, or a trainee employee, everybody has tasks for the day.

Not everyone talks to the CEO to understand their job responsibilities and tasks to be accomplished end of the day. So, who takes care of setting objectives to all the people in the organization?  As you all know, all organizations follow certain hierarchical structure that applies to the work roles, responsibilities, reporting heads, etc. But I’m not getting into the details of the hierarchy but pick up one entity from the structure – Manager and his roles, that will answer the above question.

“What managers believe about themselves subtly influences what they believe about their subordinates, what they expect of them, and how they treat them” – a famous quote.

In this modern world, it is not just the manager’s responsibility to make an employee work and bring the best out of him/her, because they have their own tasks and business priorities to accomplish. Managers cannot take the complete ownership to develop an employee (professionally) because it involves sincerity and willingness of an employee to learn new things and work in parallel following manager’s feedback. I cannot deny the fact that today’s population is highly talented who grasp things easily. They only expect guidance from the managers to progress further.

Having said that, I shall walk you through the top 8 action items that managers should not ignore while facilitating an employee grow professionally.

1. Define clear goals and targets for employees

What should a manager do?

A manager should clearly define goals and targets for the team members and also guide them through the goals. Managers should forecast how the employee’s performances will contribute to the overall growth and narrate the same to the employees.

How does it help?

When an employee has a clear picture of his/her roles and responsibilities, he/she is pushed to work harder. When employees have clear view of the following, they can visualize what they need to do:

– their targets

– time to achieve the targets

– how do their work contribute to the organization’s growth

2. Articulate goals to create understanding of vision and mission

What should a manager do?

Managers should consistently communicate the team’s goals, organization’s vision and mission and they should make clear that every employee’s achievements will be counted.

How does it help?

When employees know their objectives and the team’s goals, they will be motivated and driven towards achieving goals. Employees will also be triggered to identify

– different ways to achieve their goals,

– tackle hurdles that hinder their progress

– additional training that is needed to improve their knowledge

3. Define skill set and assemble the right team

What should a manager do?

Every individual’s skills and competencies differ. Managers should figure out who is good at what in the very beginning to eradicate poor performance in the later days. When every individual’s skill sets are categorized, managers can build the right team with the right people.

How does it help?

When managers split people into teams based on their capabilities, they will end up building a more organized team. Also, employees will clearly know their roles and responsibilities.

4. Build team chemistry

What should a manager do?

Managers can look over the shoulders (only to ensure) if all the members of the team have a proper rapport among themselves. For example, when there is a new employee joining the team, manager can gather everyone from the team to greet and invite the new joinee.

How does it help?

This will enable team’s compatibility and will reduce peer pressure. Only when the team members have proper communication, there will be exchange of good ideas, team spirit, thirst to work, etc.

5. Balance workload among team members

What should a manager do?

The team’s targets and work must be split among the team members. Managers should avoid bombarding employees with too much work. Because heavy work load may be a demotivating factor for employees that leave them stressful and poorly achieving.

How does it help?

When managers split work among the team members, most of the complexities are resolved. This in turn will make employees feel easy and light at work.

6. Team members should feel they are fairly treated

What should a manager do?

Employees expect fair treatment among all team members in terms of work allocation, work load split, opportunities given, during performance assessment times, on par with no gender or region bias.

How does it help?

Employees will be able to prioritize their tasks and effectively complete them based on the priorities.

7. Drive high performance culture

What should a manager do?

Managers and employees should spend time together understanding team’s goals and requirements that are needed to achieve the final targets. Most often, this does not happen, as managers are busy with their work and the employees work unorganized towards goals.

How does it help?

When the managers motivate and collaborate with their team members frequently, employees will be able to build self-capabilities; adapt to the trending work culture, forecast future challenges and tackle issues around.

8. Build High Performing team

What should a manager do?

People go to work to grow and develop. They want challenges coming before them, resolving and moving forward. Employees enjoy and appreciate it when they have proper guidance and mentor.

How does it help?

When managers bring about frequent communication sessions with their employees, they’ll get to know the complete work culture of the employees. In turn managers will build a highly performing team driving the team members to their next level of performance.

All the above action items put together unfolds some of the ways how a manager’s role helps employees through continuous motivation, engagement, prioritize work, take up challenging tasks, and find new opportunities.

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