Do you think you're a great boss or manager? Are you good at rallying your troops and getting them on board with new ideas? Or do they run for the hills? Here are 4 proven useful tips to make you a great boss.

1. They ask a lot of questions

Great bosses constantly ask their employees questions, to get them thinking more and help them and the business grow. While experience has value, people can't learn when that wisdom is presented on a platter or forced down their throat. That's why great bosses ask questions that will spark, in the employee's own mind, the thought processes that will make that employee successful.

2. They are mavericks

When managers depend upon their "common sense" to solve problems, they seldom assess whether their hunches actually paid off. As a result, the same problems keep cropping up month after month, year after year. Great managers think outside the box and break the rules to get results. Great bosses also know their employees and their employee's interests, and manage according to those interests. In other words, getting the best from your team requires applied psychology rather than common sense.

3. They don't manage the bottom line.

The "bottom line"–your quarterly or yearly numbers–only tells the story of what's happened in the past and to manage by it is like looking at last year's holiday snaps before deciding where to book your holiday this year. It tells you what has happened – but not what is going to happen in the future. Really great bosses know that the only way to get good numbers in the future is to keep your attention on what's going on right now in your market and industry and the activities that your employees are undertaking to take advantage of the present reality. What are they doing right now which will get results?

4. Great bosses put the employees first (even before the client)

When managers preach and practice the longstanding theory to put the customer first, they overlook their employees, who are the people actually responsible for creating and nurturing the customer experience.

Customers can immediately sense when the employees of the firms from which they buy are miserable, overworked, or under trained. When's the last time you walked into a shop to overhear staff moaning and looking stressed out? It's not a comfortable environment. Truly great bosses concentrate on making certain that their employees are happy, healthy and can do the work

While a pay rise is welcome by everybody in any field of work, it is not the only reason an employee stays with their company. Motivation is not a permanent feeling and as such, strategies to sustain employee engagement within your organisation are needed to keep your business meeting its goals with motivated employees. But what is at the heart of employee engagement? And how can you generate more dopamine amongst your employees to ensure they feel rewarded and inspired to continue giving their best at work? There are well-researched and proven ways to make this happen – let us give you 2 top examples.

Team Building Days

Team building days are a fantastic way to improve employee engagement because studies show that we bond to other people through a shared experience. While you may be thinking working at the same company is enough, the reason team building days often centre around solving puzzles and challenges lies in how our brains are wired. In the work sphere, colleagues can view each other as competition for promotions or the manager’s good books, whereas cooperative activities that involve the production of adrenaline (whether a mental or physical activity) will enhance the collaboration of your team as everybody gets acquainted with the strengths and personalities of each other.

Everyone wants to feel like they’re a valued member of the team, so if they can contribute something towards a shared goal the entire team is working towards unanimously in a low-pressure setting, the novelty of the experience will engender positive feelings towards teamwork and the individuals they work with.

Once the dopamine hit of contributing some initiative in the team building day has subsided, your employees will be looking to replace that feeling by becoming a more involved member of the team. The positive rewards of actively feeling a part of your organisation will be reinforced as they contribute towards bolstering your reputation with their genuine enthusiasm.

Employee Award Scheme

An employee award scheme is a similar way of mining that feel-good chemical: dopamine as the reward for their efforts is set out for them. There are multiple ways to reward your employees and some you may even be doing already but making them predictable encourages employees to work hard in order to achieve that public recognition that elevates their social standing at work. The famous ‘employee of the month’ award is one of the most well-known ways of rewarding your employees, but vouchers, best performing lists and experience-based gifts also work well for fostering a sense of pride in your employees’ attitude to their work.

Employee engagement can be managed in many ways but an engagement strategy is guaranteed to bring success. We visit your workplace to review your procedures, ensure we understand your organisation with communication with you and then devise a tailored plan that incorporates your values and vision. Enquire with the team today to ensure you benefit from the most engaged employees you can have.