Management Success – The Power of Gratitude

There is nothing more powerful to impact employee motivation and employee retention than to say, “Thank You.”

It’s been consistently reported that many employees don’t feel valued and appreciated.  Please know that does impact their ability to really give their best. Only the unique few will do their best inspite of the absence of appropriate thank yous.  And I believe, at some point, that won’t go on forever.

One manager I met in one of my pubic seminars shared that she had written 100+ hand written notes to her whole department!  Wow….what does that say about her besides the fact that she has a strong writing hand?  I’m sure you could come up with a constructive list.

The irony?  Companies spend thousands and some millions on employee incentive, reward and recognition programs.  Yet a simple “thank you” cost absolutely nothing!

Coaching Questions: Does every member of your team feel appreicated?  When is the last time you gave a heart-felt thank you to members of your staff?

One cool idea: One company due to extended work hours, sent thank you gifts to the families of those working all those long hours.

Source: 1001 Ways to Reward Employees You can get a discounted version at Amazon by clicking the title link.
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Management Success Tip – Pay New Hires to Leave – Huh?

Want a counterintuitive route to management success?….well you may or may not. But, you may want a creative way of enhancing employee motivation, increasing employee retention, and accessing a management best practice.…If so, read on...

Though this article was written sometime ago, I think it flew under the radar for some time.  I’d like to resurrect it.  At the end of this post you’ll find the link to the full story.

The headline? Why Zappos Offers New Hires $2,000 to Quit. Now at first blush you might be thinking…what?…it cost me money to hire them and now I’m going to pay more money to let them go…encourage them to leave?

This thought begs an essential question regarding profitable management and here it is, “How much does it cost to keep an employee who is underperforming, has proven to not be a good fit, has proven to not be coachable and is now disruptive?”  Might I suggest way more than $2,000.00. If nothing else think of the ripple effect on fellow team members and their productivity.

The cost is more explicitly spelled out in a study conducted by The Future Foundation. You can find the key findings via an article at this link. The Hidden Cost of Poor People Performance. It worth your time to read!

It’s been my experience as I’ve connected with thousands of managers across North America, that it is a very common practice to keep these kind of employee way too long!  Now there are many reasons for that, but the point is it’s happening more than it should and it absolutely does hurt a companies bottom line as well as the morale of the direct reports and fellow team members.

In this new economy where there is a crying need to be innovative in all areas of business practice, more innovation regarding this people part of business is essential as well.

I am going to consider this a potential best practice.  Here is the link to the full article: Full Article

Coaching tip: See how this practice can be implemented or modified in some way or see how the spirit of the practice can be applied in your situation.

Consider Thanksgiving a Year Round Event – The Power of “Thank You”

Alright…so you may have noticed that Thanksgiving is way over and you think this a dated post….but really it’s not! The content of this post can go a long way in contributing to employee motivation and employee retention.

Several years ago, there was a survey done among a certain segment of the healthcare population and one of the questions that was posed in the survey was this:  If you could get anything from your boss, what would it be? 

The number one most popular answer was this, “a handwritten thank you note from my boss.”  Wow!  We think handwritten thank you notes are somewhat a thing of the past.  But you know what?  I think they probably should come back. 

I recently encountered a manager at a workshop that I conducted that did exactly that.  But she added one other element to it that I think is worth your consideration.  This manager had 150 employees and in an effort to express to her employees how much she appreciated them, she did write a handwritten thank you note to every member of her staff. 

However, rather than distributing them at work, she thought it would be much more effective and have much more impact to actually send the notes to their homes.  You know, I thought, “How brilliant.  What a great idea!” 

You know the place of recognition in every home that is tried and true?…the refrigerator! I would suspect that even for the shyest employees, to have that handwritten thank you note posted on that refrigerator would be a great source of pride.  They would get to see it in the privacy of their own space every day and also, to be able to display it to their other family members.

That constant reminder of their manager’s gratitude,   I’m thinking that would go a long way in motivating an employee on an ongoing basis.  Talk about making lots of deposits in their emotional, psychological, and spiritual fuel cells.

Relationship – The Foundation to Employee Motivation and Retention

Several years ago, I had the great opportunity to work for a staffing firm in Chicago.  As I meet with various candidates for placement and would explore the reason why they were considering living their present employment, one answer became consistent among many.  The answer would be, the boss or supervisor.  We actually would say that people don’t leave jobs, they leave bosses.

That very saying was confirmed in the HR Newsletter where a survey was conducted to determine the top 3 reasons why someone had left a job.  The number one most popular answer was their boss.

Now, this post is not to get down on managers.  It is to serve a reality check though the essential to employee motivation and employee retention is the relationship you have with each of your staff members.  Consider it the glue that helps to hold an entire team together.  But again, it begins with you.

The reality is the person you are on the inside is the kind of manager you’ll be on the outside and how you are on the outside directly impacts the motivation of your employees.  Are you ready to OWN this important fact?

I believe at the heart of effective management is the manager’s ability AND WILLINGNESS to see themselves honestly and how they impact the people they manage.

Recommended action:
1. Write out a list of what you consider to be your strengths and weaknesses.
2. Create a plan of what you’d like to work on this next year. (Some of you may already do this with formal performance management plans)
3. Ask your staff to also access you.  The formal name for this is a 360 feedback which is a written or electronic survey done anonymously to provide a manager with performance feedback.

The One Minute Moment – Attention is Retention

Are you in the know?  Do you know each week what’s going on with each member of your staff? Do they feel connected to you and feel as if they are getting “face time?”

Well, studies have shown that managers who take a few minutes each week to supportively talk to each member of their staff maintain team stability, good rapport, and that results in better retention. Why retention?  People who get attention feel cared for, valued, and respected.  Consider that you are putting deposits in their emotional fuel cell – fueling their motivation.  And the good news is it’s all free.   So consider using this tip – The One Minute Moment.

Here’s an easy way to execute this tip automatically.  Most managers today function with an electronic, time management system of some kind.  Plug into your calendar what time of the week you would like to do this.  Make it reoccurring and rely on your calendar to remind you and then, just do it.  Hmm, that sounds like a familiar phrase.

If you really want to test the value of this behavior, in a month or two ask your employees and get feedback from them on how that specific behavior has impacted them.  I’ll bet you’ll discover an extraordinary return on investment.

Now lest you’re concerned that may appear insincere or rigid, then just change up the time each week or change how you do it.  For example, instead of verbal, just write a quick note or leave a post-it note on someone’s computer with a compliment.
One final thought…consider what could be the enormous value of employee retention – it can save a company lots of moolah and this act you can do for FREE!

ARE YOU MAKING DEPOSITS?

Sounds like an odd question, doesn’t it?  Yet, knowing what this means is essential to successful employee motivation and employee retention.

Each employee has something known as an emotional bank.  Depending on what’s going on during a work day, that emotional bank either gets deposits or withdrawals. 

So, if you are pleasant to that employee, you say thank you or communicate that you appreciate the work they do; you are making “deposits” in their emotional bank.

If on the other, you let a negative employee reign in the group (I call them toxic) or you are critical of the work of the employee, that would result in withdrawals.  (By the way what I don’t mean here is giving useful, constructive feedback.)

Why does that matter?  The emotional bank of an employee is the hub of individual motivation.  You, as a manager, have a significant opportunity to keep an employee motivated with this knowledge.

Create an ongoing plan to continually make deposits in the emotional banks of your employees.

Remember that the motivation of an employee is an asset – a resource …ah ..gives new meaning to the word “human resource.”

Final thought: Hey, even if you’re not a manager, every team member could use a few deposits!

Employee Rewards, Awards and Incentives – Customize it!

It’s that time when as managers and leaders, we’ve got to get creative during these challenging economic times.

We may not have the resources at our finger tips as in the past to give out the kind of rewards, awards, and incentives we’re use to.  BUT that doesn’t mean it can’t be done.  In fact – IT MUST BE DONE – now more than ever!

We’ve got to make extra effort to keep our retained employees positive and productive.  So, here’s a creative way to have reward, awards, and incentives – customize it!

How?…in two ways.  First customize individually by surveying each team member and asking them the 5 top ways they would like to be rewarded…you can guide their answers by offering several contexts.  Ideas of categories:  less than $25.00, free, an intangible..(ie. Choice of a pet project, title change, a “snooze card” where they get to come in late)…OR you give them a sheet with a variety of options and ASK THEM to check off their top 5 choices.

Additionally, customize it with the entire team.  Ask the team to come up with interesting and creative awards, rewards or incentives that are within realistic boundaries for your organization.

Let’s be creative and pull together.  Now in the spirit of best practices, let me know what you come up with and I’ll be happy to post it here.

Book Rec: 1001 in Ways to Reward Employees is a great resource for ideas gathered from companies across the country. You can review here..1001 Ways to Reward Employees

There are also additional books written by the author Robert Nelson, who is considered the “guru” of employee motivation.