Truly influential and great leaders are empowering. They are experts in communication, delegation, and strategy. Those fortunate to have an exceptional leader tend to perform at a higher level than those who don't. This is because good leaders are natural mentors.
Good leaders are self-confident and above all are prepared to lead. They know when to listen, to think, and decide. They can also accept when they are wrong and are prepared to own their mistakes.
But, a good leader can't control everything around them. Their colleagues and peers need to respect them. This means they need to have rapport with others and are easily liked. Unsurprisingly, the more emotional intelligence a leader has, the more likely they are to appeal to other people.
Trust is one of the most important forms of capital a leader can have, especially in times of uncertainty. Employees need to feel reassured that the person steering the ship has everything under control and ultimately knows the best course of action.
Generally, when talking about trust in leadership, it covers a belief in, integrity, character, and ability. It's not surprising that these positive traits are also the cornerstones of what personal relationships are built on.
According to one Harvard Business Review study, people at high-trust companies were:
On the other side though, employees in low-trust organisations are bogged down by office politics. Additionally, these employees are more likely to resort to infighting and information hoarding. All of these factors tend to make decision-making slower and less effective.
The four main ways of fostering trust among employees are:
For a team to work cohesively, its leader must make each person feel like their contributions matter. When employees are always looked over, they begin to feel their job has less of an impact, and gradually they will grow disengaged.
With Perkbox, employees and managers can recognise each other using a real-time recognition feed. With each recognition they send, they can tag company values so everyone knows exactly why their behaviour was appreciated.
Leaders are often natural communicators and are well-equipped to deliver updates and company news, be it good or bad. They are also very good at practising active listening and know when to speak and offer solutions.
When leaders are truly candid they cultivate a healthy culture of open communication, and this benefits everyone. In fact, organisations considered honest by their employees often have low turnover rates and benefit from high productivity levels.
One of the most important aspects of candid communication is decision transparency. If there is a lack of transparency on why big decisions are made, it doesn't matter how candid managers down the line are, employees will feel distrust towards the organisation.
To help keep communication clear and consistent, Perkbox developed a culture and comms tool to help share important news, updates, and more. Think of it as a digital noticeboard you pin cards to. There are several card templates depending on what you want to share, but you can create your own if something more unique is needed. Each card supports a variety of attachments including videos, photos, and PDFs.
This may seem an obvious point to include, given most HR and management teams understand the impact employee wellbeing has on retention, profits, and productivity. However, there are still a fair few organisations who don't consider wellbeing a priority, or aren't giving it the investment it deserves.
That said, increasingly more organisations are turning to all-in-one solutions, such as Perkbox, as they provide the most value for money and include everything needed to improve employee experience and of course wellbeing.
With Perkbox, employees benefit from an ever-expanding library of wellbeing resources, including on-demand HIIT workouts, relaxing yoga flows, and educational webinars. What's more, Perkbox also includes thousands of discounts, deals, and freebies on plenty of wellbeing products, including athleisure wear, wearable tech, and healthy nutrition boxes.
Reward and recognition are two of the most powerful motivators leaders have at their disposal. But more often than not, many organisations don't have a thorough reward and recognition strategy, and opportunities to encourage employees fall through the cracks.
Perkbox includes a points-based reward system, meaning employees only get rewards they want. Instead of a fixed reward system, points-based alternatives offer far more choice as employees exchange points for products and experiences they genuinely value.
A points-based system is also very remote worker friendly as remote teams exchange points exactly like their in-office colleagues do. And, because Perkbox works with many international partners, they'll still be able to choose rewards that are meaningful to them, regardless of where in the world they are located.
Perkbox can help you deliver a solid leadership strategy by offering valuable insights into your organisation's employee experience.
Not only does Perkbox include a recognition and rewards platform, perks, and wellbeing tools, it also has enhanced reporting.
The reports can tell you who has used what perks the most and how people are using the app. All of this data means you get a better idea of what your employees value and where to place your investment.
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