Posts Tagged ‘employee performance’

« Older Entries

Don’t Be Cheap With Praise

Monday, March 10th, 2014

You have just finished a marathon day – nearly 12 hours. Because of the heat, customers in your business seemed more short-tempered than normal. Despite this, every customer was well treated, the service level remained high and your attitude was great. In fact, you don’t quite know how you pulled it off.

Finally, it is quitting time. You are dreaming about the pie you’ll have for dessert and how great a long cool shower will feel. You walk by your manager’s office and say, “That was quite a day.” He looks up at you and agrees, and follows it with, “see you in the morning.” You loiter for a moment only to see your manager finish what he was working on; you keep moving towards the door, shrug and make your way in the dark to your car…

How do you feel? Why?

Okay, same situation, different ending… You have just finished a marathon day – nearly 12 hours… You walk by your manager’s office and say, “That was quite a day.” This time  instead of dismissing you like he did in the earlier version, he now calls out, “Do you have one more minute?” You return to his office. He says, “Thanks for doing so well today. We really showed the customers what we are made of. I don’t know about you but I was really proud of everyone today.” You smile and nod. Your manager adds, “Tell your family I’m sorry to have kept you so late – tell them I’ll make it up to them when things slow down.” You smile and tell your manager not to worry about it. He stands and shakes your hand and adds a final, “I really appreciated your effort today. Thanks again – and get some rest tonight.” You make your way out the door and to your car in the dark….

Now, how do you feel? Why? What changed?

They say the two things people want more than money are praise and recognition. To be noticed for hard work, for extra effort, for great energy is one of the most motivating things a manager can do for his/her people. All it takes is some time and thought.

Rewards and recognition are critical tools of today’s best managers. In order to compete in this constantly changing and dramatic business environment, companies need to use every tool available to them to direct their business and control their success. Remember the phrase, what gets rewarded, gets repeated. When you see your employees put in the extra effort, take a greater degree of responsibility, give personally or act seamlessly as a team, be sure to comment on it. Notice it. Applaud it. If nothing gets noticed or recognized, then you will get nothing (special) from them.

“High-performing companies have abundant recognition,” says Harvard professor, consultant and author Rosabeth Moss Kanter. They use it in conjunction with a sound compensation and benefits program – to get the most from their employees. “At a time when companies are dependent on extraordinary skills and talents of their employees just to survive, it is especially important for employees to be reminded that extra efforts are noticed and rewarded.”

The best way to use recognition effectively is to:

• Customize its delivery – be sure that it matches the personality and character of the person receiving the recognition (some people want recognition in private, others want a billboard).

• Be honest and sincere in its delivery – speak from the heart or people will see through it.

• Do it at the right time – catch your people in the act of doing something right. Celebrate it when you see it.

Recognition done right is a powerful tool in attracting great employees and encouraging them to stay. Exceptional organizations continually encourage exceptional employee performance – they catch employees in the act of doing something great and applaud it. That helps the employee to see that exceptional performance gets them noticed; they feel appreciated and energized to give and do more.Everyone likes (and needs) a regular pat on the back.

Please contact us to learn how to build meaningful reward and recognition programs into your workplace and culture, and share this with someone who can benefit from it. Remember, how you treat your employees is how your employees will treat your customers. Don’t be cheap with praise.

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in For Managers | No Comments »

Fit and Alignment

Monday, February 24th, 2014

Fit and alignment are two words that most affect every workplace manager’s job. Fit – do you hire employees who have the behaviors, in addition to the skills and experience that fit the job? Alignment – are you constantly looking for ways to align your employees’ greatest abilities to the needs, challenges and opportunities in your business?

Let’s start at the beginning: talent. Having the right talent – people who have the behaviors and interests to successfully and consistently do the work (who fit the job) – is the key difference between average and exceptional performing organizations. This requires understanding the activities the job is responsible for then assessing which behaviors must an employee have to be successful at these activities. Using this thinking, behaviors become obvious. Does this role require the person to be driven, focused, methodical and analytical, or persuasive, charismatic, nurturing and kind?

Core behaviors are hardwired in us; we can’t influence a non-analytical person to be analytical or non-creative person to be intrinsically creative. Hire for fit means identifying the thinking the job needs based on the activities it performs, then sourcing employees who have those behaviors.

Once the right employees are hired into the organization – the next focus is alignment. Though the employee is a good fit for his current role, employees always have greater abilities and interests than just those required for the job. The more we know our employees, the more we see their other talents, interests and values. As we better understand the needs, challenges and opportunities in our business, we can then go to these additional abilities in our team to get things done.

For example, if an employee who works in customer service (hired well because her talents and strengths align to those needed in the role) has additional strengths in writing and performing, she may be the right choice to develop a company’s marketing jingle or starting an internal company newsletter. Or, an employee who is a good fit for the sales role he is hired into, has a passion for sports; he then could be involved in a fitness challenge for the organization, or the creation of a company softball league to build camaraderie and company spirit. As we align a greater amount of our employees to their work and workplace, we connect them at a greater personal and emotional level.This impacts their level of energy, engagement and performance.

We are all much larger and more able than our jobs require. First, hiring for fit assures we are capable in our jobs. Then, by spending time with each employee to know his additional talents, values and interests, today’s managers can better connect and align his team to opportunities that are meaningful to both the employee AND the organization.

Fit and alignment – the two things to watch for to ensure today’s employees show up interested, capable and competent in their work. It is management’s responsibility to make this happen.

At TGZ Group, we are experts at helping organizations define the talents needed by role to hire for fit. We also train managers to job sculpt to align employees to tasks that connect their additional abilities to the needs, challenges and opportunities in the workplace. Contact us for more information and to learn how this process can help you engage and inspire your workforce to greater performance.

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Posted in For Managers | No Comments »

2014- The Year of the Fired Up! Employee

Monday, January 13th, 2014

Your people are your profits. The more engaged, passionate and fired up they are, the greater your results. So, what if you made 2014, the year of the Fired Up! Employee? What could you do to activate the performance power of your employees in a more significant way that gives you exponential results? Worth trying? Here are some ideas:

1. Hire the right employees. Employees who are not good at what the job requires or like doing it, are nearly impossible to fire up. Employees who have the talents and passions to do the job, show up big. In 2014, be sure to define the behaviors required in each job, in addition to skill and experience. If you hire employees simply based on whether they have done the job before, you have no indication if they are both good at the job and interested in doing it (these are the components of powerful performance). Defining the behaviors means defining the attributes or thinking that is needed to do the activities in the job – for example to be successful in the job, the employee must be methodical, empathetic, competitive, analytical, engaging, decisive, etc. Couple behaviors with skill and experience and you hire better fit employees.

2. Make your workplace all about your employees. Sure, your business is all about your customers, but only after it is all about your employees. Employee-focused workplace cultures support their employees in all they do so employees can concentrate their entire effort on customers. Cultures that are employee-focused have a clearly defined vision/mission, are ethical, hire for fit, have fair and attainable rewards, provide constant performance feedback, provide education and development and are inclusive. Fired up! employees are fired up because their workplaces focus on ensuring they have what they need to be successful.

3. Talk to employees openly and honestly, about things that matter. Fired up! employees are included in the easy and the difficult conversations. They are fired up because they feel important amd valued – their perspectives, ideas and performance matter. Keeping information from employees encourages them to disconnect  – they lose their performance fire. Including them not only expands your return on payroll investment, but it taps into your employees greater thinking, ideas and solutions; it amplifies their sense of value, contribution and importance.

4. Set clear and big expectations. You know the phrase –people rise to the level of expectation. Fired up! employees first need to know the expectations (over 70% of employees admit that they are not clear about their full set of expectations in the workplace), then they need BHAGs (Big Hairy Audacious Goals). Go for something bigger, bolder and better this year. Fired up! employees want to show up big, play to win and achieve for their potential. Raise the standards and employees will dig deep and respond.

This year, we’ll constantly share ideas about what organizations can do to Fire Up! their employees – to have a year of Fired Up! performance. We are also stepping up our game and will start our Fire Up! Your Employees podcast on Feb 1. Watch for more details as we move from writing to speaking, and soon to videos, to share more powerful ways for you to help your employees show up, step up and stand out.

As always, good news needs to be shared and committing to the year of the fired up! employee is good news. Please share this with someone who can benefit from it. Contact us to hear about our CEO and executive coaching and watch on Feb 1 for our 5 new workshops, all designed to fire up your organization. More at FireUpYourEmployees.com.

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in For Managers | No Comments »

Why Do Employees Leave?

Tuesday, July 30th, 2013

This is the question that generally gets asked when one of your better employees hands in his or her notice. Even in a tough economy, employee turnover rates are high – over 12%. Most employees still say that they never expect to stay with their employers for an extended period. Not that everyone needs to spend 30 years at a company and get a gold watch, but what is it that seems to encourage today’s employees to constantly search out new jobs? Remember, it costs an organization between 25 – 200% of an employee’s salary to replace the exited employee.

The factors that affect turnover can be labeled as either push or pull (they push or pull an employee to leave). Pull factors are those that employers have little or no control over and include family responsibilities, job offers with greater compensation from other organizations, or a change of career to follow a passion or dream. Push factors, behaviors by the organization that push an employee to leave, include the wrong jobs, limited opportunity, unfair pay, and inconsistent communication/support.

Wrong jobs and limited opportunities – Employees won’t stay in jobs unless they feel capable, competent and confident. This starts first by hiring employees who not only have the skills and experience needed to be successful in the job, but also have the right core abilities – talents, strengths and passions – to be able to consistently and successfully perform the activities of the job. Most of today’s jobs are thinking jobs; this means skills and experience will only get you so far. Hiring those who “fit” the role now includes hiring for behaviors. Align employees to roles that fit their best abilities and they connect intellectually to their work. Then, provide a role that can lead to meaningful future opportunities and bond is further strengthened.

Unfair pay – Many employees’ pay has been affected by a down economy. Employees feel that the reduced pay rates are inconsistent with the organization’s expectations of them. The Internet has empowered and informed employees of what others pay for similar roles. Be aware of the going rates by job and be fair with employees. Start a discussion that connects employees understanding of pay for performance. For many years, employees received salaries without any clear understanding of how that salary was connected to their adding value and making a difference. In today’s more accountable workplace, fair pay is based on contribution, not seniority. Raising employee awareness can create a more meaningful discussion about pay.

Inconsistent communication/support – Great managers increase their communication with their employees; they share critical information in real time so that employees can be more effective. These same managers watch for opportunities to comment on employee performance – to provide encouraging feedback when great effort and results are achieved, and to provide supportive and corrective feedback when perform is below expectation. Employees leave when they feel disconnected from the organization and management, or when their performance is not acknowledge and supported. Check in on the quality and quantity of your communication; expand your communication and support about performance and the critical information needed to be successful in their roles.

Hire the right employees, provide the right opportunities, pay fairly and provide consistent communication and support are what great employees require to stay with an organization. Provide these and turnover rates diminish and retention rates increase. Know what keeps your best employees working and growing on your team, then respond to be sure they see that long-term, same company employment is a valuable thing.

For more information on our powerful hiring and retention tools,  or go to FireUpYourEmployees.com. 

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in For Managers | No Comments »

« Older Entries