“So I think, first of all, a big game changer for us was trust and pre-approval,” explains Helen.
When she first took on the role she thought being a manager was all about being firm and setting rules, but she found that this wasn’t the case. She enabled her team to take on the onboarding and recruitment process for her company themselves, fully on their own, which had great results.
“They feel like it’s… that ‘ownership’. I think of that project as theirs and I think that has had, like, a little bit of a ripple effect to other teams. And they say, ‘oh, well they’re doing that,’ and it echoes across the organisation.”
Another thing that Helen felt initially felt as a manager, was that she needed to have all the answers. Over time, she realised that she needed to instead empower her employees and trust them to make their own decisions and find their own solutions.
“Even though sometimes it’s quicker, and it can feel more efficient, just to go ‘I just know the answer, let’s do this’, actually being able to go ‘let’s work through this together. What do you think?’ – to go through that sort of coaching style – really has an impact.”
This has helped her team work to their strengths and feel trusted and empowered to find their own solutions – resulting in them working harder at the things they felt that they could do well.
Find out more about building trust in the workplace
Helen featured on episode 35 of The Happy Manifesto podcast. Check it out at Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts – or on The Happy Manifesto website.
At Happy, we have a large number of different Leadership and Management programmes that can help you learn tips to help your team thrive under your leadership.
“I am loving this course. It is so positive, interesting and engaging. Everyone on the course is bonding well thanks to Nicky’s techniques and we are all learning to listen, understand and value each others opinion,” said Julia Smilie, BSE Southern Counties about our Happy Leadership Programme.
We’ve seen a lot of results from new leaders like Helen looking to ease some of the challenges of being a manager and also from seasoned managers who want to look at management from a new angle or find a new system for their team. Happy also has more targeted courses aimed at specific issues that managers might face in the workplace and supporting them to be the best that they can be in their role.
Related Blogs
- Let Your People Choose Their Manager – Because it Works — This blog shares why people choose their managers and how it helps.
- What Makes a Great Manager? — Claire’s blog post takes a look at the attributes to a good manager and why they are important in the workplace.
- How to Build Trust and Credibility in the Workplace — In Paul’s blog post, he talks about how to build up trust within your team, no matter their generation.
