Tips to Help Employees Perform at Their Best

As a business owner, you likely want to see your employees do their best, especially since they are your most important asset. Managing them will help you meet changing business needs. Doing a good job in this area means employees will be loyal partners who can help your company thrive and your profits grow. There are several ways to help them be at their best.

Ensure Compliance

Business owners have a responsibility to ensure their employees are compliant with all regulations, and this is even more important if you have a fleet. Drivers have to follow specific rules in order to maintain compliance, such as Hours of Service (HOS) rules. While these are continually updated, they cover rest, sleeping, and the number of hours they can be behind the wheel at any given time. It is not always easy to navigate these regulations, but using an electronic logging device (ELD) can help employees be compliant with hours of service rules going forward.

Offer Both Constructive and Positive Feedback

Offering feedback can help workers stay more engaged, so make sure you are giving feedback throughout the year, not just when it is time to review performance at the end of the year. If you have negative feedback, make sure it is accurate and that you express it carefully. Instead of addressing vague complaints, ensure it focuses on something specific like time management skills or improving collaborative efforts. You can also ask employees for their thoughts about these issues.

It’s important to offer feedback when employees do a good job too, not just when something needs to be improved. This reinforces the things they are doing well so they will continue to meet expectations. You may even offer rewards for meeting goals, recruiting new members of the team, and meeting other goals. Another perk you may offer, whether or not it’s given as a reward, is flexible work. Many job seekers want something that can be done either remotely or at least at their own pace. If they have family responsibilities, they may want to have more freedom to set their own work hours.

Offer Training

Continual training and development can help employees remain more engaged and productive. Plus, it helps you bring in more skilled workers, which are becoming harder to find as the population gets older. It’s best to avoid formal training and to instead focus on something more relaxed. You may offer job shadowing or mentoring, as well as online courses to be completed at one’s own pace. You can then offer chances for employees to put these new skills to use in real-life situations.

You might offer training on conflict resolution as well. That’s because conflicts can harm productivity, customer service, and retention. In the training, you should ensure everyone knows the importance of respecting diversity and ensure everyone understands their job and business procedures. If there is a conflict, address it as soon as possible to clear things up. You may find you need to meet with those involved so you can offer solutions to the issue at hand.