November 7th, 2011 by Kira
Individuals are all uniquely driven. As a manager or team lead it’s imperative to understand what drives the people on your team. Here are some of the top values your team members may be driven by, see if you can recognize your individual team players in some of the examples below.
Recognition – Recognition is the most common means of honoring someone’s value in the workplace; however, the majority of employees don’t feel recognized by their managers and team. Individuals who enjoy recognition will often post things that show someone has recognized them; i.e. a card on the wall, an award, etc. You may even find that individuals who need and enjoy recognition will also recognize others as well. Most people assume that everyone enjoys to be recognized for their accomplishments, but it isn’t always the case. Be sure not to assume that everyone on your team likes to be the center of attention and to get recognized in front of the group. For those who enjoy recognition, a simple acknowledgment of something they have done will go a long way and will significantly increase their performance and happiness on the job.
Equality/Fairness – The person who values fairness will always ensure that everyone on the team has equality. That could mean anything from equal time to share an idea, equal days off, working the same amount of time. It also could mean this person will count the favors you’ve done for others and will expect the favors to be equally shared. For example, you granted permission for a team member to leave early one day. To the person who values fairness, they’ve created a mental note that this will later be returned to them. If it isn’t, this person is likely to see this as a personal vindication. For the fairness person, be sure they know they are as equally important as everyone else on the team.
Monetary/Gifts – Money is a common motivator for many, but this goes beyond a pay increase or a scheduled bonus. A person who values gifts loves to be treated to lunch, receive a gift on their birthday, or receive anything with perceived value. It isn’t so much the gift it intself, it’s more the thoughfulness that goes into it. This person loves the idea that you took the time and energy to do something for them. In the workplace, this may be one of the harder values to recognize; however, if you have this person on your team, they’ll be thrilled with a gift card to a restaurant, a local store, or some other favorite place to show that they are valued and an asset to your team.
Tags: career, Happiness in the workplace, management, morale, team
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July 25th, 2011 by Kira
It’s inevitable. Every company has had to do it. It’s what you do afterwards that really matters to your team. It’s critical that you work to keep morale high after you’ve fired an employee – especially if the fire was unexpected by your team.
Here are 3 ways to restore morale after you’ve fired an employee.
- Be transparent. Be honest about the reason for firing, within guidelines of protecting the employee. Transparency is important in retaining trust and keeping morale when an employee is fired, let go, or laid off.
- Communicate. Whatever you do – don’t hide behind the fire. Meaning don’t act like it didn’t happen, and don’t downplay the seriousness of the event. Employees often fear for their own job security after someone is fired or let go.
- Educate. In order to do both #2 and #3 above you’ll need to educate your team on what’s expected of them. The more informed they are about your expectations – the more they can safely assess their own stability and performance.
After some time has passed be sure to utilize other morale building strategies such as team-builders, company events, and other rewards for employees who are doing a good job or going above and beyond their expected roles.
And always remember – reward positive behavior before reprimanding negative. It reinforces what you want to see happen within your team, over what you don’t want your employees doing.
Tags: Firing, Hiring, Leadership, morale, staffing, team
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August 9th, 2010 by Kira
Do employees need motivating? Every now and again there comes a time when a
company must make the decision to train and motivate their team.
Employees get sucked down through the proverbial negative trees and one bad apple has a tendency to rot the entire bunch. We all know the scenario, so what do we need to do to fix it?
First, keep your word. Companies often make the mistake of implementing new procedures, rules, or other policies and then don’t follow through. This breaks the trust cycle with employees and the next time you come around wanting to implement the latest idea from the managers meeting, employees will roll their eyes. They learn fast and if you don’t follow through, they know that it’ll only take a few weeks for it to wear off. Keep your word no matter what.
Next, recognize good behavior. Acknowledge the people who are doing it right. It doesn’t mean you need to ignore the others, but make the good employees a priority. Offer incentives for good work, high productivity, increased turnaround times, or whatever the team needs to get motivated.
Lastly, there’s no “I” in team. Teams should be teams and they should play like one. Despite recognizing the good behavior of individuals above, companies shouldn’t set up their teams to negatively compete against each other. Promote teamwork and office kindness by initiating do-good events for other employees. If Mary’s child is home sick because of a major surgery, initiate a potluck where all the food gets donated to Mary’s family.
These are just three small changes you can make in your workplace to help motivate your employees. You can always find good trainers and implement new thoughts and ideas into the workplace. No matter how unmotivated your team may seem, there’s always a way to turn them around.
Tags: culture, employee motivation, morale, team motivation
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April 12th, 2010 by Kira
1. Incentivize behaviors that you do want. For example, most companies focus on the one or two percent of the people who are constantly late, reminding the entire staff that being late isn’t acceptable and is not tolerated. This brings attention to the behaviors that you don’t want and it also doesn’t do anything to reward the people who are on time. Instead, find a way to incentivize the employees that are on time – perhaps the last Friday of the month they get to leave an hour or two early if they were on time every day that month, or they get starbucks gift cards, or some other reward. This alone will make those late folks get out of bed on time.
2. Include your team in the change process. The people who really know the business aren’t always the managers and CEO’s, but the people who are working in the trenches. Ask your team and staff for feedback on changes, what would make their jobs easier, increase workflow, be more efficient, and allow them to provide better service to clients, Most team members have great ideas but never get an opportunity to voice their suggestions and know that they’ll be heard. Making changes that support the team will go a long way in increasing morale.
3. Have fun together. It’s easy to get stuck in the mode of a daily routine, but having fun together and allowing the staff the opportunity to relax and enjoy each other’s company can go a long way for increasing productivity. People lead busy lives, ensuring that your team feels appreciated and enjoys their workplace will increase workflow, morale, and productivity. You can do simple things like celebrate birthday’s once a month, have a two hour lunch block (with no work!) and take a break outside, bring in bagels, coffee and some board games and have tournaments against departments. Make the company a place that employees WANT to come to, and then they’ll be sure to give you 110%.
Tags: employee retention, incentives, morale
Posted in Candidates, Clients, FORTIS, Job Search | No Comments »
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