How to get your team to care.

Why does it seem like no one cares about the quality of their work anymore? They show up, do the bare minimum (or less), then leave. No matter how many times you talk to them, they never improve. They just simply don’t care, and honestly, why should they? They’re paid hourly – they get a paycheck for their time and not the quality of work they perform. Sure, there are performance based incentives to do better, but maybe it doesn’t motivate them. What do you do then?

Getting your team to care is simple, but not easy.

I think it’s important to remember that no one is going to care, nor should they be expected to care, more than the owner and manager. It’s their business, and its success is dependent on their actions. This includes getting their team to care about their job.

Again, hourly employees get paid for their time worked and not for their performance. They get paid whether they do a good job or not. So how do you get them to care?

If you care about them, they’ll care about you.

Running a business is similar to being a parent. There’s a fine line between being a hard ass or a pushover, a friend or a supervisor, and a dictator or an influencer. You have to identify that line so you know when you’re crossing it. There are days where you might need to cross it, and for very valid reasons. Just make sure you know what those reasons are.

People don’t leave jobs, they leave people. With that concept in mind, its reasonable to believe that if you want them to care, you have to develop a relationship and get them to care about you. Obviously it works both ways – you have to also care about them.

This is accomplished when you establish a genuine relationship with each individual. Humans are selfish by nature, so start by caring for them. Don’t over do it and scare them, but do it in a way that’s organic; in a way that the relationship forms naturally over time. This will also help you figure out what motivates them. Maybe it is money, maybe it’s something else.

Perhaps even more difficult, is getting them to care for each other.

There was an instance where two girls were feuding with each other – not physically but psychologically behind each others back. You know, typical teenage drama behavior often seen in movies.

The longer it went on, the more they kept dragging everyone else into the situation, trying to get people to be on “their” side. The problem was that it was causing the rest of the team to suffer. Morale was dropping lower, and lower, every day – to the point where the team were trading shifts to avoid working with these two.

We pulled the two girls, individually at first, to hear their sides of the story. We talked about how it’s been going on for far too long and the impact it’s having on the rest of the team. They “mended” the feud but of course, that didn’t last.

After that, we got more involved in the situation. We told them they needed to write down how their actions are making each other feel using the “I feel” method. Before the session, we reviewed what they wrote to make sure it was focused on their feelings and not making accusations (I feel this vs. YOU make me feel).

We pulled them both into the office and facilitated the session and let them talk it out. They both brought up good points and by the end of it, we finally felt they had resolved the issue.

Long story short, encourage open dialogue, but when it comes to feelings of frustration, make sure those conversations are held privately to avoid drama.

Praise good behavior in public and correct unwanted behavior in private. Practicing these techniques will solidify the trust your team has in you which will improve your overall relationship.

Building a relationship is an investment that saves money and time in the long run.

Like every skill, it requires time, patience, and practice. Once you’ve earned their trust, do what you can to keep it. Once it’s gone, it’s gone for good. It’s not a hard concept to understand, but it is difficult to execute.

If you don’t mind being burnt out due to constant turnover and stress from the lack of productivity, by all means, keep doing what you’re doing.

If you’re ready to break that cycle, and start saving time, money, and resources, contact us today to get started.