Creating a Culture of Trust
Managers, coordinators, and foreman in high-risk industries have plenty to do without micro-managing their employees. With so many moving parts on any large scale project, their attention will be fragmented, creating a significant challenge: without constant supervision, how does one keep the team focused on results? The answer is simple, foster motivation. Employee motivation is an important issue in any workplace environment, especially in high-risk industries where poor motivation can to lead workplace accidents.
Fostering motivation must begin with Managers establishing trust with their team. Employees who feel trusted by their superiors are instilled with a sense of confidence, allowing them to make better decisions, and creating an overall safer workplace environment. This provides the employee with daily fulfillment in their role and more awareness regarding their actions
Trust can be established by integrating employees in major planning and decision making, showcasing to them that their input matters. Employee input will establish a vested interest in seeing the project succeed, and can even lead to new and more productive solutions to day-to-day challenges.
Managers can also establish a culture of trust when they foster a supportive environment. Being constantly aware of employee needs – even going as far as anticipating these needs before they arise – will let them know that you are invested in their personal job satisfaction. In instances where a workplace issues arises, one must examine the circumstances, understand the context, and only then make a rational judgement. Managers who display such respect and trust towards their team will receive the same in return.
Understand What Makes Them Tick
Discovering what motivates employees allows for the better assessment of productivity, attitudes, and job satisfaction. Through this understanding, Managers can establish clearly defined goals for their employees to accomplish.
In addition to understanding your employees, day-to-day achievements should also be recognized. This creates a culture of encouragement; allowing employees to understand that their efforts are contributing to the big-picture and instilling the feeling that they have a strong level of control over their work. Recognition of outstanding employees can also have the added benefit of motivating other employees to achieve the same level of recognition.
Motivation Breeds Safety
All the aforementioned tactics of increasing employee motivation can be funneled into a singular objective: creating a positive working environment to increase job-satisfaction. Employees who work in high-risk industries rely on their co-workers for their safety; a worker’s confidence in their manager and their teammates ensures a fulfilling and safer work environment.
