Practicing Nurturance As A Manager: Why & How To Do It?

Teams are the lifeblood of any organization. It is the collective strength that enables an organization to achieve its goals. Well-nurtured teams, on the other hand, can take organizations to new heights. Leaders and managers must understand the importance of nurturing their teams in order to achieve success. In this blog post, we have outlined various reasons why managers should have nurturing skills and how nurturing teams is an important aspect of organizational development. We also listed 4 simple steps by which managers can develop these skills. But before all that let us first understand what exactly is Nurturance?

What is Nurturance?

A nurturance is a form of care that focuses on the needs and well-being of others. It is a type of support that is given to others to build their self-esteem and confidence. Nurturance can be given to an individual or group. The goal behind it is to help them feel better about themselves. It can be done in many ways, such as giving compliments, listening actively, providing encouragement, and showing empathy for their problems.

Nurturance skills are often used in social service professions such as nursing, teaching, and counseling. Other professions that use these skills are managers, nurses, doctors, teachers, counselors, coaches, and social workers.

In the workplace, nurturance is a significant part of management skills that can be used when employees are feeling under pressure or stressed out due to work-related issues. Nurturance can help them feel more confident, supported, and less alone by providing them with emotional support.

Example of Nurturance in Workplace

Nurturance is needed at different levels in an employee’s career. For instance, when you have a new employee joining your team, you will need to start providing them guidance at very detailed levels. Additionally, you will have to offer them the requisite resources to aid their growth in the role. Later on, once you are sure they are capable, you can delegate some responsibilities to their shoulders. And the journey can continue this way. As we see, nurturance helps in realizing the inherent potential of employees.

How Does Nurturing the team Differ from Mentoring?

There are a lot of differences to point out when it comes to nurturing vs mentoring. Nurturing is a process that happens over time. It is a guidance process and it involves providing care, concern, and empathy. Nurturing is a process of giving support to people to help them grow into their best selves.

It differs from mentoring as the latter may be more formalized and take place in a one-on-one setting. Mentoring may also involve giving advice, feedback, or guidance on how to succeed in the workplace. Nurturing can be done by anyone who has an interest in the well-being of others and wants to see them succeed.

Nurturing is a process of developing the potential of a person or group by providing support, guidance, and encouragement. Whereas, Mentoring is a process of passing on knowledge, skills, and experience from one generation to the next.

Nurturing is more about challenging and coaching the person while mentoring is more about teaching them. Nurturing can be done by anyone whereas, mentoring needs to be done by someone with experience in that particular field.

Why Nurturing your teams is an important aspect of Organizational Development?

Teams are the backbone of any company. The structure allows organizations to capitalize on the collective intelligence of their team members. Teams need to be nurtured because they collectively represent the output of the company. A team that is not nurtured will not be productive, and the company will suffer as a result.

By creating an environment where team members feel safe to share their ideas and suggestions, organizations can tap into the wealth of knowledge and creativity that exists within their teams. Nurturing teams also helps to build relationships of trust and respect between team members. This in turn can lead to a more cohesive and effective team that is better able to achieve its objectives.

7 reasons why Managers need Nurturing Skills?

There are many reasons why great managers always make sure to lead nurturing in their organization. Those reasons are enough to say why managers do need nurturing skills. Those reasons include:

1. They need to build and foster positive relationships with staff members

It is important to foster these relationships as it can lead to better productivity and collaboration. Nurturance can help managers here by giving sufficient time for staff members to talk over issues that might be bothering them. This process can help managers know about their problems and how they are feeling which in turn helps them make better decisions and in becoming more effective managers.

2. They need to help employees feel trustful, respected, and valued

It is important to do that as a manager since it has a significant effect on the functioning of the team members. When a manager nurtures the team, it creates trust and respect between the employees and the manager. It helps in building relationships that are grounded within the authentic connection and can get employees, the experience of feeling valued and accepted by others.

3. They need to build morale in the workplace

It is important as it can help strengthen the commitment of employees to their jobs. Nurturance can help there by promoting a feeling of connection and belonging among the workforce. Nurturance can also build morale by reinforcing its positive ways which can make workers inspired and more focused on the things they have to do. It can help employees feel like they’re contributing something valuable to the organization’s success.

4. Managers need to create an environment where employees are comfortable

It is important to create such a climate as it can lead to higher employee productivity. Nurturance creates a positive climate in the office by giving employees ample opportunity to talk over issues and concerns they might have with their managers. Once the employees talk about their issues and concerns, managers can address them head-on which will ultimately make the employees more comfortable.

5. They need to be proactive in addressing stress levels in the workplace

It is important to actively address these stress levels as it can help avoid a breakdown at work. Stress is inevitable but by nurturing the team, managers can provide employees with the opportunity to communicate and ask for assistance where they might have not been able to do so earlier. If an issue becomes serious enough it could lead the employees down the path of burnout but by nurturance, it could be avoided. By nurturing, managers can help employees to find ways to relax and recharge.

6. They need to motivate their employees effectively

Managers, who are good at nurturing, can also help employees develop deeper career aspirations and be motivated to perform at their best. Further, they can help the employees to achieve their goals by making them feel valued, special, and highly motivated.

7. To have lesser employee turnover

Finally, managers who nurture their employees tend to have way low employee turnover rates as compared to those managers who do not possess these skills. This is because the employees feel more satisfied within the organization where managers use nurturing. Further, it makes them highly motivated to stay for a longer duration.

How can managers develop these Nurturing Skills?

By following these four simple steps, managers can effectively develop nurturance as one of their competency

1. Start by being aware of your own needs

Are you aware what is your nurturance style? How good are you at it? If not then this is the first step i your journey. A mere self-reflection on how you interact with your team will give you insights on this. Ask yourself questions such as:

• How is my relationship with my team?
• Is it transactional or deeper than that?
• Do your team members come to you for any help, personal or professional, they need?
• Do they trust you with what is going on in their careers and life?

Basic understanding of what is your current status will bring more awareness and make you more compassionate and understanding when addressing issues with your team.

2. Nurture your relationships

Nurturance is essential in any relationship and that fact is no different within the relationship of managers and their teams. Also, nurturance takes time. It starts slow by first building trust and showing empathy. It goes to managers becoming vulnerable with their teams. By showing care and emotional support through nurturance managers can foster healthy relationships with their employees. That can help to maintain morale and stability within the workplace.

For managers who are not natural at this may have to pick new skills in addition to understanding a structured process.

3. Understand your employees

Managerial skills must be paired with an acute understanding of their team members to provide the best care and support possible. By constantly asking questions and listening without judgment, managers gain a deep insight into their employees’ needs and motivations. Understanding employees makes it easy for managers to take important decisions for them and it also makes it easy to develop a suitable nurture program.

4. Seek out the assistance

If you find that you are struggling to nurture your employees, it is always best to seek professional assistance. A good coach can offer valuable advice and guidance in developing the necessary skills. Asking for hep only shows that you are serious about building yourself as a manager and are ready to invest in it.

You can also take the help of various tools present in the market that do help managers in developing the necessary skills effectively. One of those tools is our platform Risely which is an AI-enabled leadership coaching platform. It not only helps managers to build the core managerial skills but also helps them to navigate the trickiest of situations with the team.

Conclusion

To conclude, It’s no secret that a well-managed team is essential for success. However, sustaining and nurturing a team can be a challenging task, especially when the team members are from different cultures and have varying expectations. In this blog, we discussed the importance of nurturing skills in managers and the various reasons why this is necessary for managers. We also outlined the four steps by which managers can develop these skills. We believe that if all managers effectively follow all these steps, they can for sure add nurturance to their enormous skill set.

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