Regardless of the skills, background or experience an employee possesses, if they lack the confidence in the work they’re doing, they’ll perform below their potential. Employees who lack confidence fear taking risks, sharing their opinions and are unsure of their work and abilities. Consequently, their lack of confidence contributes to them becoming an underperforming employee.

Employees fear making mistakes because they associate failure with losing their job. However, it’s through taking risks and making mistakes that true growth happens. Bret Bonnet, co-founder and president of Quality Logo Products, said “confidence comes when you’re no longer afraid to fail.” He went on to say “a good manager encourages their employees to push the limits and celebrate failures as much as they do victories. A little encouragement goes a long way, so celebrate and acknowledge success and the confidence will naturally follow.”

According to an Indeed survey, 97% of employees said when they feel valued by their employer it boosts their confidence therefore they perform better. As a result, companies benefit from having happier, loyal, innovative and high performing employees who are committed to the long-term success of the company.

Here are three ways managers can help their employees build their confidence.

Assign Projects That Challenge Them

Randstad found one of the top reasons employees leave a job is due to a lack of challenging work. Managers can push their employees to leave their comfort zone by assigning them projects that challenge them. Setting attainable goals serves as a motivation trigger that keeps employees engaged and interested in the work they do. The goal is to assign projects that are challenging yet achievable. Otherwise, managers risk setting employees up for failure. Miguel Suro, Miami attorney and lifestyle writer at The Rich Miser, mentioned “as the employee levels up in their skills, continue to progressively challenge them.”

It’s important to first evaluate what an employees comfort zone is as well as their current skill level. This will help managers determine where their resistance lies and where there’s opportunity for growth. Next, they should have a conversation with the employee about their professional goals. From there, they can work together to align goals with an action plan such as a project that will challenge them. For example, if their ultimate goal is to become a senior leader, then managers can assign projects that will help the employee gain the skills that they can build on to one day get to that role.

Employees want to know that their manager cares about them as a person and is invested in their development. It’s crucial that managers commit to supporting the employee as they take on this new challenging project. Not only will this build trust in the manager, but the manager is there to ensure the employee is capable of completing the task and adjusting or providing support as needed. The worst thing a manager can do is abandon an employee completely and expect them to succeed.

Praise Their Work And Recognize Their Efforts

Providing positive feedback is a great way to motivate employees to keep striving even when they’re struggling. Celebrating milestones helps to build employee confidence. Likewise, getting employees onboard to celebrate each others strengths and wins keeps them focused and eager to accomplish what they’re working on. This can be done by pointing out specific things they’ve done well, things you like and providing feedback on where there’s room for improvement. Mollie Newton, founder of Pet Me Twice, said “appreciation goes a long way in making an employee trust themselves. It lets them know they’re on the right track and that they’re capable of creating something worthy.”

Conventional wisdom recommended management to obsess over pointing out and fixing employee weaknesses rather than building their strengths. However, a Gallup study found that employees feel more confident, productive and self-aware when they focus on their strengths rather than weaknesses. Gallup released additional stats that revealed:

• Turnover rates are 14.9% lower when employees receive strengths feedback from their managers
• Employees who regularly apply their strengths at work are 7.8 more productive and 6 times as likely to be engaged
• Teams that receive feedback on their strengths are 8.9% more profitable and 12.5% more productive
• Managers who focus on strengths have seen active disengagement on the team drop to a measly 1%
• Employees who work for organizations that focus on strengths are 74% more likely to recommend their company’s products or services to others

Provide Support, Clear Expectations And The Tools To Succeed

Taking the time to train an employee on how to perform a task or use the systems and tools needed to complete a project will give employees the confidence they need to do the task independently. Monica Eaton-Cardone, COO of Chargebacks911, shared “I’ve found that employees who struggle with confidence need extra guidance and instruction when given assignments.” For this reason, managers should spend the extra time going over the expectations and systems needed for the task. Employees will feel better equipped to complete what’s being asked of them and they’ll feel comfortable going to their manager for support or questions.

Managers should make it a priority to collaborate with an employee to lay out an employee journey map. A journey map helps employees understand what they need to do to get where they want to go as well as what’s required of them to get there. This visual blueprint outlines an employees career goals with milestones that serve as a guideline to measure their progress.

Additionally, managers can provide support by recommending books on confidence and strengthening the mindset as well as resources focused on the employees position and their career goals. Enlisting the support of a leadership or career coach is another great way to develop them. A coach can help underperforming employees strengthen problem areas such as communication, time management and sort out personal issues, to name a few, and work with them to build their confidence.

Ask Powerful Questions To Customize Developmental Needs

Each employee is motivated and driven by different things and has specific goals in which they’re striving. By taking the time to get to know an employee through conversations and asking questions, managers will better understand what their career goals are. In order for the success of their employee to be effective, managers need to keep a pulse on their development. This support gives employees the confidence to keep striving toward their goals. Otherwise, they may get overwhelmed, feel neglected and disengage.

Managers can get to know what their goals are by asking a mix of open-ended and targeted questions. For example, managers can ask employees what they’re currently working on or ask more targeted questions to see where they’re struggling. Catherine Way, founder of Prime Plus Mortgages, recommended managers to “ask thought-provoking questions that help them get to the answer without you giving them the answer.” She added, “this helps them build their confidence in finding solutions and trains them to solve problems and not rely on you. It also helps them realize their own potential.”

Forbes