1. Don’t hide behind email. Granted- email is a convenient and quick way to disseminate information. But, it is definitely impersonal. Spend more time managing by walking around. Get to know your employees. Find out what they’re involved in. Let them know that you appreciate their efforts.
2. Give your staff enough information so they can see ‘the big picture.’ When employees don’t have enough information to understand why certain things are happening a certain way, they will fill in the gaps- usually with wrong information. Let your employees know what matters most to you and the organization and what you’re trying to accomplish.
3. Be aware of and take steps to help employees during times of need. Remember that your employees are people, not machines. Machines don’t have emotions, but people definitely do. If your employee is in crisis, take the time needed to help in any way possible. Not only is this the right thing to do, but it will engender their loyalty for years to come.
4. Treat employees fairly and respectfully. This has everything to do
with trust. If your employees know they can trust you, they will move ‘heaven and earth’ to get the job done. Also, take sufficient time to assimilate new hires into the company culture, which will increase retention.
5. Challenge and develop your employees. Invest in your employees. Get to know what their vocational goals are. A bored employee will eventually move on to a more challenging job. Employee retention isn’t really all about the money, but it is your responsibility to make sure your employees are satisfied.
6. Be question-friendly. Don’t think of employees’ questions as an
interruption. Questions signal interest. An employee who has stopped asking questions is on the way to becoming a disengaged employee. The next time an employee questions you about the rules, stop yourself before saying, “it can’t be done.”
7. Don’t tell employees what to do- listen to what they want to do. If you spend more time listening and less time talking, your employees will tell you what they need. In addition, if they feel heard by you, they will be more open to listening when you do tell them to do something.
8. Don’t interrogate employees- investigate. When you need to deal
with a problem situation, ask your employee to tell you what happened from his or her perspective. Then, address any problem issues directly with your employee.
9. Be family friendly. Employees’ families should be their first priority and they need to time to live their lives. If you recognize this and validate your employee’s concerns, you can then work together to find creative ways to provide needed balance.
10. If you don’t feel heartfelt gratitude and appreciation for each member of your team and the role they play, you are the problem!
Heather Uczynski, M.A.
Heather Uczynski is owner and founder of Leading Edge Business Consulting,
specializing in helping workplaces to become more psychologically
Sunday, December 2, 2007
HOW TO BECOME A MORE VALUABLE EMPLOYEE
1. Become familiar with your organization’s mission statement. This should serve as the foundation for all the work you do within the company.
2. Learn how what you do supports your boss’s goals. Understand the ‘big picture.’ Be specific about problems with your job and with concerns about your supervisor. Use “I statements,” such as “I feel frustrated when I don’t get answers to my questions right away.”
3. Figure out office politics. Learn what it takes to get things done in your organization. Who are the ‘movers and shakers?’
4. Build alliances. Create a network of colleagues who can be helpful to you in getting ideas through the company pipeline.
5. Learn how to work with difficult people. Difficult employees are found in every workplace. If you don’t know how to deal with such people, there are many good books on this subject. If you feel yourself getting emotional about an issue, take a deep breath and remind yourself not to be defensive. If there is anything you can agree with, in terms of what’s been said to you, do this before saying anything else. People are always more willing to listen after their observations/ feelings have been validated.
6. Do what you can to make your boss look good. Understand that when you look good, your boss and your department also look good.
7. Volunteer to be on committees or involved in special projects. Invest in your work for more than just a paycheck. You never know where this type of involvement might lead in terms of a new job challenge.
8. If you don’t understand something, ask. It’s ok to ask questions if you’re not sure about something. Remember, there’s no such thing as a silly question if you don’t know the answer.
9. Support your colleagues; celebrate their successes. Be generous in supporting your colleagues and they’ll be generous in supporting you. This will help to build camaraderie and a team identify.
10. Find ways to have fun on the job. Enjoying what you do and having some fun while you do it makes you more productive, not less. This is another way to build cohesive teams.
Heather Uczynski, M.A.
Heather Uczynski is founder and owner of Leading Edge Business Consulting, helping organizations to become psychologically healthy.
2. Learn how what you do supports your boss’s goals. Understand the ‘big picture.’ Be specific about problems with your job and with concerns about your supervisor. Use “I statements,” such as “I feel frustrated when I don’t get answers to my questions right away.”
3. Figure out office politics. Learn what it takes to get things done in your organization. Who are the ‘movers and shakers?’
4. Build alliances. Create a network of colleagues who can be helpful to you in getting ideas through the company pipeline.
5. Learn how to work with difficult people. Difficult employees are found in every workplace. If you don’t know how to deal with such people, there are many good books on this subject. If you feel yourself getting emotional about an issue, take a deep breath and remind yourself not to be defensive. If there is anything you can agree with, in terms of what’s been said to you, do this before saying anything else. People are always more willing to listen after their observations/ feelings have been validated.
6. Do what you can to make your boss look good. Understand that when you look good, your boss and your department also look good.
7. Volunteer to be on committees or involved in special projects. Invest in your work for more than just a paycheck. You never know where this type of involvement might lead in terms of a new job challenge.
8. If you don’t understand something, ask. It’s ok to ask questions if you’re not sure about something. Remember, there’s no such thing as a silly question if you don’t know the answer.
9. Support your colleagues; celebrate their successes. Be generous in supporting your colleagues and they’ll be generous in supporting you. This will help to build camaraderie and a team identify.
10. Find ways to have fun on the job. Enjoying what you do and having some fun while you do it makes you more productive, not less. This is another way to build cohesive teams.
Heather Uczynski, M.A.
Heather Uczynski is founder and owner of Leading Edge Business Consulting, helping organizations to become psychologically healthy.
TEN TIPS FOR KEEPING GOOD EMPLOYEES
The baby boomers are retiring. The labor shortage is coming. This means that management will have to work harder to attract and keep top quality employees. But, where do you start? Here are ten tips to help managers keep quality employees:
1. Make sure your organization’s leaders have integrity. Often, the integrity of an organization’s leaders (or lack thereof) is revealed by how employees are treated. Many of the companies identified as today’s employers of choice are being led by CEO’s with a passion for taking care of their employees as people.
2. The lifeblood of leadership is trust. Employees cannot be lead by managers they don’t trust. In order to gain employees’ trust, you need to be open, fair, honest and consistent. As the saying goes, people don’t leave jobs, they leave bad supervisors.
3. Employees want and need regular recognition and rewards. Be generous with your praise and make sure the rewards you provide are meaningful to your employees. If you don’t know how your employees would like to be rewarded, ask.
4. Pay attention to the career goals of your employees. One of the most common reasons employees cite for leaving their jobs is lack of opportunity for career growth or advancement. Discover what your employees are passionate about.
5. Evaluate employees consistently and fairly. An annual performance evaluation is not enough. Employees should receive coaching and feedback on a regular basis and should not be ‘ambushed’ by negative evaluations. The individual strengths and specific talents of employees should be used as effectively and creatively as possible.
6. Make sure employees have the support they need to be as productive as possible. It won’t matter how motivated your employees are if support resources aren’t available to them. Listen to your employees’ wants and needs, even if they seem small and insignificant. Respond to employee requests quickly. Don’t wait for them to nag.
7. Make sure your organization has a plan to re-engage disengaged employees. A disengaged employee is one who has mentally left the organization, but is still physically there. As another saying goes, some employees quit and leave, others quit and stay.
8. Make sure your employees are a ‘good fit’ in your organizational culture. A company’s culture represents the core values and shared meaning of the majority of its employees. Avoid desperation hiring. Today’s hiring mistake is tomorrow’s headache.
9. Get to know your employees personally. Have you considered their family needs?
An employee without an adequate home life is a highly stressed employee. Think creatively about how you can help your employees to have a better work/life balance. Most of us need a job and all of us want a life. We should be able to have both.
10. Are you comfortable dealing with personal stress issues and conflict in the
workplace? Conflicts must be handled in a professional, non-threatening way. Remember that your employees are complete people, with personal lives, emotions and distinct personalities.
Heather Uczynski, M.A.
Heather Uczynski is founder and owner of Leading Edge Business Consulting, specializing in helping organizations to become more psychologically healthy.
1. Make sure your organization’s leaders have integrity. Often, the integrity of an organization’s leaders (or lack thereof) is revealed by how employees are treated. Many of the companies identified as today’s employers of choice are being led by CEO’s with a passion for taking care of their employees as people.
2. The lifeblood of leadership is trust. Employees cannot be lead by managers they don’t trust. In order to gain employees’ trust, you need to be open, fair, honest and consistent. As the saying goes, people don’t leave jobs, they leave bad supervisors.
3. Employees want and need regular recognition and rewards. Be generous with your praise and make sure the rewards you provide are meaningful to your employees. If you don’t know how your employees would like to be rewarded, ask.
4. Pay attention to the career goals of your employees. One of the most common reasons employees cite for leaving their jobs is lack of opportunity for career growth or advancement. Discover what your employees are passionate about.
5. Evaluate employees consistently and fairly. An annual performance evaluation is not enough. Employees should receive coaching and feedback on a regular basis and should not be ‘ambushed’ by negative evaluations. The individual strengths and specific talents of employees should be used as effectively and creatively as possible.
6. Make sure employees have the support they need to be as productive as possible. It won’t matter how motivated your employees are if support resources aren’t available to them. Listen to your employees’ wants and needs, even if they seem small and insignificant. Respond to employee requests quickly. Don’t wait for them to nag.
7. Make sure your organization has a plan to re-engage disengaged employees. A disengaged employee is one who has mentally left the organization, but is still physically there. As another saying goes, some employees quit and leave, others quit and stay.
8. Make sure your employees are a ‘good fit’ in your organizational culture. A company’s culture represents the core values and shared meaning of the majority of its employees. Avoid desperation hiring. Today’s hiring mistake is tomorrow’s headache.
9. Get to know your employees personally. Have you considered their family needs?
An employee without an adequate home life is a highly stressed employee. Think creatively about how you can help your employees to have a better work/life balance. Most of us need a job and all of us want a life. We should be able to have both.
10. Are you comfortable dealing with personal stress issues and conflict in the
workplace? Conflicts must be handled in a professional, non-threatening way. Remember that your employees are complete people, with personal lives, emotions and distinct personalities.
Heather Uczynski, M.A.
Heather Uczynski is founder and owner of Leading Edge Business Consulting, specializing in helping organizations to become more psychologically healthy.
SEVEN SIGNS OF A TOXIC WORKPLACE
A toxic workplace is simply an environment that is emotionally unhealthy. Signs of a toxic workplace are noticeable in employees.
1. Atmosphere of paranoia. Employees are always looking over their shoulders.
2. Tendency for management to blame employees, rather than problem-solving.
3. Shaming employees for mistakes they have made on the job.
4. A boss with erratic and unpredictable behavior.
5. Implementing ‘change for change’s sake.’
6. Producing a ‘schizophrenic’ atmosphere by saying one thing, doing another.
7. Rewarding unhealthy behaviors, such as overwork, bullying or codependency.
Heather Uczynksi, M.A.
Heather Uczynski is founder and owner of Leading Edge Business Consulting, helping organizations to becom psychologically healthy.
1. Atmosphere of paranoia. Employees are always looking over their shoulders.
2. Tendency for management to blame employees, rather than problem-solving.
3. Shaming employees for mistakes they have made on the job.
4. A boss with erratic and unpredictable behavior.
5. Implementing ‘change for change’s sake.’
6. Producing a ‘schizophrenic’ atmosphere by saying one thing, doing another.
7. Rewarding unhealthy behaviors, such as overwork, bullying or codependency.
Heather Uczynksi, M.A.
Heather Uczynski is founder and owner of Leading Edge Business Consulting, helping organizations to becom psychologically healthy.
Secrets for Dealing With Difficult People
Or How to Avoid Pulling Your Hair Out...
Ever notice that some people are a pleasure to deal with and require almost no effort from you. And then there are the others…
These people seem to attract conflict wherever they go. You know you’re dealing with what William Eddy, LCSW refers to as a high conflict personality when you feel like you’ve been ambushed.
1. Focus on the individual’s behavior, not their personality.
2. Distance yourself or emotionally detach from the difficult person.
3. Don’t make it personal.
4. Bond with the person by validating their feelings. This does not mean that you need to agree with them.
5. Do not encourage ‘venting’ of emotions.
6. Set personal boundaries and do not allow yourself to violate them.
7. Avoid direct criticism. Instead, suggest alternate ways of moving forward.
8. Don’t terminate the relationship abruptly, which will trigger feelings of abandonment.
Heather Uczynski, M.A.
Heather Uczynski is founder and owner of Leading Edge Business Consulting, helping organizations to become psychologically healthy.
Ever notice that some people are a pleasure to deal with and require almost no effort from you. And then there are the others…
These people seem to attract conflict wherever they go. You know you’re dealing with what William Eddy, LCSW refers to as a high conflict personality when you feel like you’ve been ambushed.
1. Focus on the individual’s behavior, not their personality.
2. Distance yourself or emotionally detach from the difficult person.
3. Don’t make it personal.
4. Bond with the person by validating their feelings. This does not mean that you need to agree with them.
5. Do not encourage ‘venting’ of emotions.
6. Set personal boundaries and do not allow yourself to violate them.
7. Avoid direct criticism. Instead, suggest alternate ways of moving forward.
8. Don’t terminate the relationship abruptly, which will trigger feelings of abandonment.
Heather Uczynski, M.A.
Heather Uczynski is founder and owner of Leading Edge Business Consulting, helping organizations to become psychologically healthy.
Most Common Reasons Employees Leave
DO YOU KNOW THE MOST COMMON REASONS EMPLOYEES LEAVE THEIR JOBS? Is it all about the money?
Pay can often serve as a smokescreen for other highly emotional feelings. According to a survey of more than 800 MBA’s from eleven North American and European colleges, a substantial number were willing to forgo some financial benefits to work for an organization with a better reputation for corporate social responsibility and ethics.
Here are the most common reasons cited for leaving jobs:
Poor management
Limited career growth and opportunity for advancement
Poor communication
Lack of recognition
Poor senior leadership
Lack of training
Excessive workload
Lack of tools and resources
Lack of teamwork
Beware of the following ways your employees may feel unimportant:
Lack of simple appreciation
Excessive focus on numbers, not enough on people
Feeling they deserve recognition they don’t get, while others do
Feeling that no one even knows or cares if they exist
Recognition that is too late in coming
In addition to fair pay, employees want:
Challenging and meaningful work
A chance to learn and grow
Great co-workers
Recognition and respect
A good boss
Heather Uczynski, M.A.
Heather Uczynski is the founder and owner of Leading Edge Business Consulting, helping organizations to become psychologically healthy.
Pay can often serve as a smokescreen for other highly emotional feelings. According to a survey of more than 800 MBA’s from eleven North American and European colleges, a substantial number were willing to forgo some financial benefits to work for an organization with a better reputation for corporate social responsibility and ethics.
Here are the most common reasons cited for leaving jobs:
Poor management
Limited career growth and opportunity for advancement
Poor communication
Lack of recognition
Poor senior leadership
Lack of training
Excessive workload
Lack of tools and resources
Lack of teamwork
Beware of the following ways your employees may feel unimportant:
Lack of simple appreciation
Excessive focus on numbers, not enough on people
Feeling they deserve recognition they don’t get, while others do
Feeling that no one even knows or cares if they exist
Recognition that is too late in coming
In addition to fair pay, employees want:
Challenging and meaningful work
A chance to learn and grow
Great co-workers
Recognition and respect
A good boss
Heather Uczynski, M.A.
Heather Uczynski is the founder and owner of Leading Edge Business Consulting, helping organizations to become psychologically healthy.
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