The growth of a business depends on smart decisions. If you’ve been getting so much praise on your new product line or making your employees happy with your corporate wellness program, then you’re most likely on the right track in decision-making. But there’s a caveat: If you’re the only one deciding on what your business does next, then that’s bad news. One, that’s not sustainable. Two, that’s not empowering for employees.

You need to involve the workforce in the decisions that you make. If you involve them in decision-making, you send the message of trust to them, and you also weigh your plans better. Invite your employees to the table of decision-making. Help them be confident in it.

Educate your employees

Employees refuse to be active in making decisions for a lot of reasons. For one, they fear that they might do something wrong and then get in trouble. Other times, they can’t make sense of the complexity of the situation they’re in. They get overwhelmed with details. The bottom line? They don’t know how to decide. For this reason, it’s important that your first step in making them confident decision-makers is education.

Train your employees. Initiate seminars that highlight your decision-making process. To address the self-doubt issue, you can invite motivational speakers who have struggled in the past yet overcame all those struggles. But at the core of it all, don’t forget to emphasise your company mission, vision, and core values, the very foundation of the decisions you make as an organisation.

Strengthen teams

In most companies, the framework is simple when it comes to decision-making. If the situation at hand involves high confidence and low-risk matters, make the decision. If it involves low confidence and high-risk matters, then it’s crucial to seek people’s advice and approval. What you determine as low- or high-risk matters depends on your work culture.

If you want the people in your company in New Zealand to unlearn certain perspectives and attitudes and take on new ones, strengthen your existing teams. Encourage respective leaders to reach out to and coach their members. In turn, let members be proactive in learning. Your goal is for teams to have strong rapport and synergy. For instance, you can consider designating specific corporate clothing. This move can help in instilling a sense of belongingness to a group.

Value feedback

Make it a habit to ask your employees for their opinions on matters. This helps your decision-making culture on so many levels. First, it boosts the morale of employees. It makes them feel appreciated and motivates them to be more assertive. Second, it challenges them to think, process situations, and participate in discussions. Finally, you further increase their ownership of the decision that will be made in the end. This is important, especially in decisions that directly affect them, such as office relocation, job reassignment, or change in the organisational structure.

Empower your employees to be bold in decision-making. Let them take an active role in your boardroom discussions. It’s a guarantee: You will reap rewarding results from a confident workforce.