There was a point in my life, when I managed large teams. I loved the challenge of helping people define a common goal, and move toward it. The job of recruiting the right people, and keeping them motivated was always fun and rewarding.
Today, I run a much smaller organization, but the need to build and motivate my team is still important, so I enjoyed reading an article by Melissa Raffoni about what employees really want. While most of her comments are directed at CEO’s of large companies, many of her comments have equal relvance for the small business owner.
Her list of the Eight Things Your Employees Want From You included:
- Tell me my role, tell me what to do, and give me the rules
- Discipline my coworker who is out of line.
- Get me excited
- Don’t forget to praise me.
- Don’t scare me.
- Impress me.
- Give me some autonomy
- Set me up to win. .
While they are all important, for the small biz owner I would add one more to the list:
Give me a sense of ownership – Help me see how my contributions matter
What would you add to the list?