Every person needs others to believe in them. Your people need that. Especially from you, as the business leader and owner. When you don’t believe in your people, they become disengaged and unproductive, and then they leave.

When you believe in your people, you engage them at a deeper level — which helps you retain people.

This blog will explore effective tips for creating a feedback culture and friendships with your people.

Tip #1 Be generous with positive feedback

Positive feedback boosts confidence, motivates, and shows people you value them. Many people now associate feedback with only bad news. This is because many managers remember to give feedback only when things are going wrong.

Feedback does not have to be only negative. Feedback that is positive makes people feel valued, creating positivity in the workplace.

This increases people engagement and makes them more open to sharing their thoughts.

Tip # 2 Acknowledge that people’s thoughts are important

Admitting to yourself that people’ views matter will make you more welcoming of these views, helping you break many of the barriers that make people struggle to open up and communicate freely with you.

For example, common reasons why people withdraw from speaking freely include:

Managers do not bother to ask for people ' thoughts.

Managers do not pay attention when people talk to them or condescendingly dismiss people’ inputs.

Managers do not take any action on people’ input.

See how admitting to yourself that people’ thoughts are important helps you break these barriers.

Tip # 3 Be respectful to people

When people feel respected, they’ll be more open to providing feedback and suggestions. An excellent way to show respect to people when they come to talk to you is to make it clear they have your full attention.

Continuing to type or rummage through files while they talk may give the impression that you do not respect their person or thoughts.

Therefore, you should stop what you are doing, focus on them, and actively listen to their thoughts.

When you acknowledge that people have a unique but important viewpoint of the business, you’ll be more willing to ask for their thoughts, pay attention when they give their input, and act based on the shared thoughts.

And when people see that you’re all of these and more, they’ll be more willing to share their thoughts and observations about how to move the business forward.

Confidence is a key element for people to achieve success. When you believe in your people, you provide a foundation from which they can build their confidence. This belief acts as a support system, helping people feel valued and that they are capable.

When you believe in your people, you empower them to take on challenging tasks and responsibilities. It also is a recognition of your people’s efforts and achievements