A company is only ever as good as the people within it. While a CEO or business owner who knows how to run an enterprise certainly is off to a great start, no man is an island — and having brilliant employees that fill knowledge and skills gaps within the company can help push it to even greater heights.

Any seasoned human resource or operations manager knows that working with employees can be challenging. Often, even the most skilled, talented and experienced employees need to be managed in order to fulfill their potential and enhance their relationship to the company. To guide you in working with star employees, we came up with five insights that help motivate and improve the people you work with.

Be Transparent With Them

Due diligence works both ways. Provide your employees with the necessary information they need to work with full confidence. Be open to your employees about your expectations and plans for them. Instead of keeping everything under wraps, share and disseminate non-confidential information with your employees.

Secrets and lack of operational transparency about their roles, tasks and future in the company can sometimes give rise to rumors and fuel frustrations. Be on the same side with them and tackle concerns and frustrations head on. While trust is earned, transparency on the things that have direct impacts on your employees should be a standard.

Make Them Feel Free To Express Themselves

Stifling any form of expression can backfire on your company. Instead, let your employees feel that you listen to what they have to say. Be it in expressing their personalities or their opinions in your policies, creating a judgment-free environment stimulates growth and jump-starts conversations that improve your business. Letting your top employees speak their mind will give you insights and perceptions that you can use in various aspects of your business.

Set High Standards and Challenging Goals

Good employees do what’s expected of them while great employees exceed expectations. Challenge your employees by assigning them tasks and responsibilities that are somehow out of their comfort zones yet relevant enough for their skills and potentials. Create challenges and opportunities for your employees by aiming for higher standards.

Set goals that will make your employees go out of their way to succeed. If your tasks and challenges push them to grow and improve on their craft, they don’t need any motivation or reward system to rise to the occasion.

Understand Their Capabilities, Needs and Aspirations

Your top employees are human too. Know what drives and motivates them. By understanding what goes on in the minds of the people you work with, you’ll get an idea on how to push them to their full potential. This isn’t just about coddling or empathising with your employees, it’s about getting to the core of their personalities and creating an environment where they can comfortably give their best to benefit both themselves and your company.

Knowing what makes them great at what they do can help you find ways to be an effective manager to them. Understanding their capabilities, needs and passions will also let you know the kind of people they need to work with for better results. Find synergies in terms of skills and experiences to craft teams that deliver results.

Cultivate Their Skills and Capacities

Even the best employees require training and workshops to help them be better at what they do. Employers and HR managers know that professional development programs can be expensive. However, training your employees can be crucial in cementing their expertise, addressing their weaknesses and helping them feel a sense of growth and fulfillment.

Your best employees are important resources for your business. Aside from their daily contributions to your enterprise, your company culture forms around the employees you choose to work with. Make the most out of them by unleashing their potentials and making your business easier to passionately work for.

Are you ready for the next step in improving your business? Take our TRUST assessment and discover what aspects of your business still needs work. Find out what myCEO can do to take your business to the next level.