When you and your financial team are sitting around going over the books and allocating costs, it's tempting to think of the people sitting at desks or out on the manufacturing floor as just another asset to be deployed, or turned on and off.

But when it comes to truly getting the most out of people, whether they are front-line sales and customer service professionals, back office staff or production workers, it pays to recognize and act on the fact that people communicate differently.

Why is communication so important? Because doing it incorrectly is a good way to demotivate employees, not doing it at all creates resentment and lack of direction, and doing it the right way helps your business get the most out of the one "resource" that creates its greatest advantage: its people.

But more importantly, you can create greater loyalty and a higher level of conscientiousness by speaking the language of your people. There are several ways to get at these unique communication styles and put them to work for you. With training and practice, you can master communication and optimize your team.

Gary Chapman's Five Love Languages are a great way to get started. You don't have to call them that in public. But if you can recognize that people speak and are motivated in different ways, then you're on your way to being a better manager. Here they are:

1. Words of Affirmation
2. Gifts
3. Quality Time
4. Acts of Service
5. Physical Contact (careful, this just means being present)

Another way to understand communication and work styles comes from the Process Communication ModelTM, which teaches that it's the WAY we say things, not just the content of our dialogue that really matters. It's important to recognize that you have to be much more direct and explicit with some people, while less is more with others.

Finally, a simple Meyers-Briggs assessment, like those offered by your staffing solutions company can go a long way toward you understanding your employs, and perhaps just as important, vice versa.

At Syndeo, we help business owners around the Wichita, Kansas area do the things that they are gifted and focus on the human resourcing component of their business. As an Human Resources outsourcing company, It's Syndeo's job to make sure a business' employees are compliant, compensated and the business is protected from the thousands of laws and regulations that come with being an employer.

Visit our Contact Us page to email CEO Bill Maness, or call 316-630-9107 and ask how Syndeo can help you sleep better at night.