As a manager you have a huge amount of repsonsibility when it comes to hiring and firing employees. You’ll do your best to hire the candidates you think are the best and you’ll have to document incidents in order to fire those who turn out to be not as great as they presented themselves. In the midst of all this, managers tend to forget one group of people – the good ones – the ones they should be working to retain.

A good employee isn’t one you can just leave alone, monitoring only when it comes time for the annual review or when you need to assign new work. Even good employees need attention and if they don’t get it, or feel appreciated, they might start to look elsewhere for work.

So what can you do to help retain the employees you already have and want to keep? Here are 5 things to consider.

• Pay them well. Money really isn’t the only factor people consider when it comes to taking or keeping a job but it does play a huge role in the decision. If your employees feel overworked and underpaid they’ll start to wonder if they can find what they feel to be a fair level of compensation elsewhere (and they probably can).
• Treat your employees fairly. Truth be told, you are all simply people. If you want your employees to feel good about themselves, treat them as if you are on an equal playing field. You know, as if you are all members of a team instead of them being the team with you as the leader.
• Make one-on-one time for each member of your team – whether it’s an informal cup of coffee in the morning or a trip out to lunch. Find time where neither of you feels pressured and let your team members know, on an individual basis, that you actually care about their growth and development.
• Allow space to breathe. Sure, there are rules, but everyone has their own way of getting the job done. Let your employees be creative in their work. As long as they aren’t breaking the law or any important rules – and they’re getting the work done on time – you’ll find they’re happier if they’re able to express themselves.
• Be personable. Be a great leader, with heart and spirit, and let them know you respect and appreciate what they do. The more respect you have for them, the more they’ll have for you.

On Friday we’ll go over a few more tips for employee retention. Until then, think about the relationships you have with your team members. Are they strong enough to survive?

Thanks again,
Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Leadership Training

Click below for a:
FREE email course “Improve Your Management Skills”

As much as we hate to deal with it, tragedy can and will strike our families and our employees and can do so at any given time. The loss of a parent, child, or other close family member can be devastating and the last thing your team member is thinking about is work.

Your job will be to help find ways in which your organisation can help your employees deal with their situations. It is incredibly important for you to recognize that a person who returns to work after only a few days, even weeks, is not fully recovered and will not be able to give you 100% of his attention. This is normal and is something you’ll have to learn to work with.

So what are some things you can do to help support a grieving employee?

• Learn about the stages of grief so that you can understand exactly what your employee is going through at any given time.
• Have your entire team sign a sympathy card to show their support.
• Personally communicate with your employee as often as possible to ensure he’s really ready to come back to work.
• Consider modifying your employee’s job duties, work hours, or method of communication (telecommuting instead of coming into the office) as necessary until he is ready to make a full reentry.
• Monitor him closely to make sure he stays on track as much as possible.
• Encourage the use of your organisation’s counseling services.

You can’t take back whatever tragedy your employee is suffering from but you can show a generous amount of compassion and support – and your employees will appreciate you for it and remember that support for a long time.

Thanks again,

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Leadership Training

Click below for a:
FREE email course “Improve Your Management Skills”

As a salesperson, or sales team leader, it is important that you recognize exactly when a customer has crossed the line from profitable to draining. While it is important, from a customer service aspect, for each customer to feel as though he’s your largest client, the truth is that you should be spending most of your time attempting to retain the clients who are the most likely to make repeat purchases. Otherwise, you’re simply spinning your wheels and your book of business will never grow.

So what happens when that book of business becomes overrun with costly clients – clients who want you to give them discounts, throw in free services, and simply make more customer service requests than a reasonable person should? They end up draining you and, in the end, they end up costing you money.

What are you going to do about it? You’re going to fire your customer. Alright, not literally. You’re going to raise their prices and be firm about the increases when they complain. You’re going to stop offering discounts and you’re going to charge for every added service they request.

They’re going to respond in one of two ways. They’ll either recognize the value of your services and start paying or take their business elsewhere. In the end, it would be nice to see them pay but it won’t hurt your profit margin if they walk.

Thanks again,
Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Leadership Training

Click below for a:
FREE email course “Improve Your Management Skills”

The Equity Theory on job motivation, created by a psychologist known as John Stacey Adams, has been circulating since 1963. They theory talks about how employees who feel they are being treated fairly are likely to do more or better work than those who do not.

Treat me like an equal, I’ll work like an equal; treat me in an inferior manner, I will work in an inferior manner.

In short, the theory focuses on input versus output. It’s a a game of give and take and your employees will alway be trying to figure out if their efforts are worth the rewards they’ve been given (if you’re giving a reward at all).

You may think that the salary and benefits you agree to give a person should be enough to encourage him to do his job. The truth is that many people get to work and feel as though they’re constantly being asked to go above and beyond the call of duty and, at a very minimum, complete tasks that are not part of their job descriptions. Therefore, the average person does not feel his salary matches the work that he does.

Employees look to be treated fairly and equitably at all times. There are dozens of things you can do to make your employees feel valuable, from rewarding them with bonuses to buying them lunch or giving them extra incentives for extra work or a job well done.

First, however, you need to take a look around you. Are your employees happy? Do they feel as though they’re being treated fairly? Find out now – before they all resign and you’re looking for a string of replacements.

Thanks again,
Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Leadership Training

Click below for a:
FREE email course “Improve Your Management Skills”