This strategy demands we pay attention. What is going on in my employees' lives that I can demonstrate to them I care? Let's suppose I have $100 to spend on rewards for my employees. Buying everyone passes to the local golf event is not as effective as looking for ways throughout the year to personalize a gift. Maybe one of my employees would value the golf tickets, but another would value a donation to a hospice because his family was served by that organization when his father died of cancer. Another employee's daughter is selling Girl Scout cookies and you decide to support that effort with a $25 purchase. Still another has a jazz quartet that plays in local establishments on the weekends, so you and your spouse plan a visit or two throughout the year.
The question to ask is, "What's important to each employee and how can I recognize and honor each one's concerns or interests?" As the saying goes, it's the thought that counts. And it's the thought, not the gift specifically, that will last and go a long way to keeping good employees.
The theme that runs through these suggestions is: pay attention. We are challenged to manage better in three ways. First, we are challenged to hire well from the beginning by being clear on what we want and by looking at the whole person and his potential, not just his past. Second, we are challenged to identify and articulate what's working in our employees' performance and describe why it's working (or what's not working and describe the impact). And third, we're challenged to really get to know our employees to give rewards that they, individually, will value.
It never fails to amaze me that what usually appears to be external circumstances over which I have little control turns out to be, at least in part, internal circumstances over which I have a lot of control. The ultimate challenge of keeping good people is to realize what we have control over and to take responsibility for those factors.
Article courtesy of YellowBrix, Inc.
About the author: Susan Stasiak is a business owner and management consultant who trains frequently on performance and customer service. She can be reached at sstasiak@asacomp.com.
