Make time for your employees, not excuses

What's one of the quickest ways to send employees the message that they're not a priority to you? Be unavailable. Bad bosses can even see being unavailable as a badge of honor, believing it shows how busy and important they are. Or they can easily manufacture a list of reasons for why they don't have time for their employees. But it's all excuses. And all the employee takes away is, "My boss doesn't care about me." Of course, this is not the message you want to send as a leader, and I get it. You are indeed really busy and making time for employees can be really hard. So what to do? Well, keep these five strategies in mind. First, Know that one of the best abilities is availability. Think about being available to employees as a key skill to build because it is. If you struggle with the skill, list it on your performance review as something you'd like to improve on. Enroll your boss and your employees to help you get better. For example, ask your boss to be more choiceful about times when they expect you to drop everything, thus making you unavailable for anything else. Ask your employees to be clear about what they need and when, so it's easier for you to schedule availability. It's worth the effort. Having a reputation for being available to employees is something to be proud of. Number 2, Take time for employees, especially when you don't have it. Think about it. When you have the least amount of time to give, it's likely when your employees are busy as too and need you the most. For example, it's the end of a sales quarter and everyone's rushing to get orders in. Your employees likely need you most right then for a variety of reasons, to approve the orders, process them, et cetera. And while you might be extra busy in this window too, say, fielding upper management inquiries, making time in a time like this won't be forgotten by employees in a good way. Go ahead and pause this video now and write down three times when everyone on your team is collectively at their busiest, including you. Write a capital A on your calendar during those expected times to remind you to stay available. Next, know that making time for employees doesn't prevent you from doing your job, it is your job. I asked thousands of executives, what are the most basic things they expect from a leader of others? Being accessible to help consistently scored near the top. Being a manager of others is not a solo act. Next up, Number 4, Care about their careers as much as you care about yours. Making time for employees includes making time to spend time on things super important to them, like their career. Talk to them about what they truly want in their career, not just what they're supposed to want, and map out what must be true to help them achieve it. Finally, Number 5, Get your house in order. You might have the best intentions for being available to employees, but you truly struggle to find time for it. If that's the case, there's no way around it. You must free up time by getting better at setting priorities, working more efficiently, and pushing back on requests that draw you too much away from your employees too often. Now, I know it's a big ask, and if it's hard to get motivated to do that for yourself, then do it for your people. So take time to make time for your employees, it'll make a huge difference.