by Dusty Summer

Created on: June 20, 2008

Building confidence (and competence) in new employees is a skill every manager and business owner must strive for. Not simply because it is the kind thing to do, but, because it will affect your bottom line in every way. Confident employees want to come to work, they are less likely to quit, they project a positive image of your company, and they create a positive image of your company in the wider community. It costs money to hire and train employees, it costs a lot of money to hire and train. If your company is in constant flux with high turnover, eventually your bottom line and even your entire organization will flounder.

The first key to confidence building is training. Train, train, then retrain. It is estimated that the average learner will need to hear a piece of information at least 16 times before it becomes engaged within the long-term memory. If it seems your employees are asking the same question again and again, smile and assume they are working to transfer that new knowledge into the long-term storage system of their brain.

Secondly, give praise and make it genuine praise, every day. Take note of the things done right and watch those tasks improve even further. When you are giving genuine praise, the needed criticism will be taken in a much more open manner, the employee begins to want your approval and praise, and will work to improve if things are not quite right.

Be sure to create opportunities for social engagement as some employees really want to spend time with co-workers. Plan a summer picnic and invite family, plan a winter party, create a chance for employees to meet after work if they want to, sponsor a sport league, get the team involved with each other and watch on the job productivity soar.

Increase responsibility and build new and more complicated tasks into the job slowly. As employees show responsibility and strength, give more opportunities for training, advancement, and additional projects which require thought and planning. Thinking and engaged employees are the best to have, they may come up with solutions you might never have considered. They are your best asset.

If you must take discipline measures, make them consistent, fair, and give opportunities for improvement all along the way. Even if you must fire an individual, you want the process to be transparent to other employees, you want morale to remain high and you do not want other employees seeking jobs elsewhere as they are insecure about their own future with your company.

Give the little benefits, occasional flexible time, the special day off, a chance to win a prize for some work related reason. Make work both productive, engaging, and fun-and you are well on your way to building a confident and positive employee.

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