Have you found when managing your employees that they bring different levels of self-confidence to their work? We know that the more confidence an individual possesses the more efficient and productive they can be in meeting their goals. If you view your role in managing employees as a mutual working relationship, then you would want to be part of nourishing their confidence.

I would suggest the following important points to use as a guide in providing support and guidance in increasing your employees "confidence muscles."

-Listen for your employee's current level of confidence as it may change given the specific project they are working on. Each person brings their personal beliefs about their capabilities to the job. As you monitor their level of performance, you can observe how they handle different situations. In managing employees, you have so many opportunities to be part of their success.

-Accentuate the Positive - If there is one booster that increases an employee's confidence it's focusing on their knowledge, skills or past contributions. Managing employees by their strengths build their confidence and in turn, adds more to the overall success of the department. Encourage your employees to acknowledge their contributions to the team. Try to use the 80-20 rule...spend 80% of your time with an employee addressing their strengths and 20% helping them handle any issues that are hampering their performance. Why...because you receive the most value from their strengths.

-Set clear direction and expectations around performance so your team members know what is expected. The clearer they are about what they need to do, the more confident they will be in implementing their work.

-Train - give employees the chance to succeed by providing training. Even if you hire talent with experience, they still need to learn.

-Plan - help your employees create and stay focused on their goals. Their planning skills should cover yearly, quarterly, monthly and daily. Each day they need to stay focus on what is important and not get swayed by interruptions and reactivity.

-Proactive - encourage your team members to be active in increasing their level of confidence. Some ways are to take on new projects, reading business or industry information, and CDs or lectures on self-confidence.

-Recognition - take the time to recognize an employee who has done excellent work. This spot acknowledgement adds to the employee's confidence and they will continue to perform. Don't assume they know that their work was great...tell them.

-Encourage your employees to take risks...either by making suggestions or trying something different.

-Follow up on a regular basis with your employees. It would be great if you could meet monthly, but at least on a quarterly basis.

==>Final Thought

Start the whole process over by listening. Your ability to listen will boost your own level of confidence as well as the confidence of your employees.