How to – Identify Your Bias about Employees Prejudice comes in all forms and shapes, and it can be found living well in the management suites. If you want to change the biased way you think, examine how it might be affecting decisions about your employees:

• The biggest bias is the easiest to understand. When you think that you know what your employees want, you are making an assumption based on history not data. You may think that money is the prime motivator for employee retention, or that a certain type of service is a key for attracting customers. While no one can deny that money is one factor in why people stay with their employers (or that a particular style of service is critical to attracting customers), the shelf life of knowledge is shrinking. Things shift and people change. Without accurate and up-to date information, you may see people leaving their jobs in spite of the money you offer, or customers leaving product loyalty regardless of the service they receive.

• Another prejudice occurs when you believe that you know what they know. The days when the boss knew how to do every job in the firm is a thing of the past. There is simply too much information and it changes too fast for any one person to be knowledgeable about every discreet aspect. Employees usually know more in their specific area than the boss does. The manager who doesn’t realize this is missing a huge piece of critical information!

• If you ever find yourself thinking that employees complain and don’t appreciate that they have a job, you are probably guilty of that predisposition that most people are selfish. People are not loyal to firms; they are loyal to other people. Today, employees are interested in “What’s In It For Me”; and the boss should understand that in today’s world of lay-offs, RIF’s and mergers, employees need to look out for themselves and their career development. That’s not selfish – it’s smart business. Keeping your employees happy is smart business. Thinking that people should be happy to have a job won’t motivate people who have a job – it’s motivating to people who don’t have a job!

• Today’s business currency is knowledge. If you think good employees are “a dime a dozen” you are sadly mistaken. To stay competitive, you need knowledgeable employees. People are not dispensable commodities; they give your firm the “added value” that separates you from your competitors.

Departing employees communicate with their feet; and if too many are departing your employ, it may be because your bias about them is all too clear. If you think your prejudice about employees might be part of a turnover problem, examine some of your ideas about people. A change in your thinking may be the best first step in retaining talent.  11:06 AM •  0 Comments •

How to – Keep Your Newest and Youngest Hires Recent studies indicate that at any given time, 62% of your workforce is actively seeking a new job and would be ready to leave your employ if a better opportunity emerged. Even in tough times, people are looking towards improving their situation rather than hunkering down and waiting things out.

Since excellence is developed over time, it follows that if your employees aren’t investing themselves with you over time, they aren’t developing. This trend indicates that excellence - as a measure of quality, productivity and service - will vanish.

If you want to get your new, young employees to stick around long enough to be developed into outstanding assets to your firm, some strategies need to be employed.

Compensation Pay them for their results, regardless of their level within your organization or the amount of time they put in. Position and longevity do mean something, but it shouldn’t mean everything. Reward people based on their individual goals and objectives. It doesn’t have to always be cash. Gift certificates, time off, lunch with the CEO or movie tickets can work too.

Recognition What gets noticed gets done; and behavior that gets rewarded gets repeated. Younger employees are used to getting feedback, so going without it can deter motivation. Many employers find that the moment you stop noticing is the moment they stop improving. Make it personal and prompt. Rather than comparing them to one another, compare them to a standard. If everyone surpasses the standard you set, the whole company wins!

Change things up Younger employees can get bored and that can be a challenge to traditional and Boomer employers. The landmark Hawthorne experiments conducted at the Westinghouse factories found that by simply changing the wattage of the light bulbs, productivity was increased. Nothing should go on too long without a change: layout, standards, deadlines, rewards, incentives.

Turnover takes a toll in terms of money, time, investment, training and reputation. While you will never be able to eliminate what can often feel like an endless repetition of “recruit, hire, train, quit”, you can slow the cycle down.  7:58 AM •  0 Comments •