Top Habits and Skills You Need to Be a Better Manager

As franchising recruiters, we’re often asked about the secret to employee retention. From making work more meaningful to training employees for the long term, there are several things that can help, but a main priority should always be to improve employee engagement. As a manager, you are one of the important foundations of an organization and you have a great deal of influence over workforce engagement. In order to succeed, it’s important to continue developing your leadership skills. Here is a list of top skills you need to hone as a manager.

1. Schedule regular one-on-one meetings. Managers should meet with team members in one-on-one settings at least once per month to discuss professional development, recent achievements, and morale.
2. Recognize employees frequently. High-quality recognition programs help increase productivity. Great managers focus on establishing a positive, personal rapport with employees by recognizing their contributions on a regular basis. Some companies have employee of the month contests, while others offer appreciation programs to keep their workforce motivated.
3. Know the 7 C’s of communication. If you want to bring people together for a common purpose, then you need to use the 7 C’s of communication. Ensure that all of your messages are clear, concise, concrete, correct, coherent, complete, and courteous going forward.
4. Encourage brainstorming sessions. Some managers are tempted to solve problems on their own, but when you’re surrounded by other experienced people there could be new and better solutions if you bring people together. A structured problem-solving process is an essential element of productivity. Design thinking and customer experience mapping are additional tools that can help get you there.
5. Leverage emotional intelligence. Employees want to work for franchise managers who embody emotional intelligence. You can develop your EQ by focusing on self-awareness, self-control, motivation, empathy, and social skills. It’s important to practice empathetic leadership because it’s really what helps employees feel like they belong.
6. Know how to build trust. A good way to mitigate office politics and encourage teamwork is to lead by example, avoid placing blame, and communicate honestly.

Being a franchise manager can be challenging because you have to juggle the needs of your business with the needs of your employees. Since recent statistics suggested that a vast majority of employees feel disengaged at work, managers really need to focus on honing these skills to improve engagement and retention.

by Nancy Estep