The stats about employee engagement are dismal, there’s no doubt. Up to 70% of employees appear to be disengaged at some level. 75% of employees cite their manager as being the biggest source of stress in the workplace.

And it’s been well documented that employees leave managers not organizations.

So perhaps as a middle manager you are eyeball deep in not only working to execute the objectives you have, but keeping your precious team on board, and working productively to move the ball forward.

In addition, research also shows that the majority of managers are not groomed, trained, or developed prior to taking on a manager role. So you might even be in the learning and development process as a manager yourself.

I’d like to discuss 3 keys that will let you start addressing the engagement, retention and happiness issues you may have in your workplace.

They can be downright overwhelming. And, as a manager, you might find yourself paralyzed with what exactly to do about addressing these issues, and the sad statistics that exist in the workplace.

Are these complex theories with lots of new models and learning curves? No, I’m not going to discuss a change.

Instead, let’s get back to basics.

I do a good deal of coaching for people in the workplace. In nearly every single conversation, the quality of the manager relationship comes up. That’s right. We talk about you.

Too many people are trying to figure out how to deal with their managers. But are they telling managers?

I suspect not. So based on what I hear from clients, here is what I suggest you do to get back to basics, and engage your team in the workplace.

3 Keys to Improve Your Employee Relationships

1. Build quality, high-trust relationships.

Whether I’m working with new graduates, talking about onboarding, or helping experienced professionals in the workplace, we are ALWAYS talking about the quality of relationships.

You need to get work done through the efforts of other people. One of the ways you will do that is by having good relationships with them.

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