Praising Employees Pays Big Dividends

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StrategyDriven Managing Your People Article |Praising Employees|Praising Employees Pays Big DividendsYou’ve read the management books. You’ve heard more than enough about engagement, empowerment, teamwork, and so forth. But there’s just one problem: In the day-to-day rush of running your business, keeping your staff motivated takes a backseat to your daily work, management crises and making your numbers.

Sound familiar? If it does, you’re not alone. Too many business executives don’t make time for the one employee incentive that will never break the company budget: timely, honest thanks and praise of workers who do a good job. Research has shown that appreciation from managers is one of the incentives workers want most. For example, Gerald Graham, former dean of the business school at Wichita State University, found in one study that employees rated personal thanks from a manager for a job well done as the most motivating of 65 potential motivators considered. Unfortunately, 58 percent of the workers in Graham’s study said their managers didn’t typically give such thanks. Your employees don’t have to be like that 58 percent.

It is tricky to make time to recognize your staff during a hectic day. But I’ve seen even the busiest managers find ways to make praising employees part of their regular work habits. Here are some easy techniques you can try: one of them is bound to be a fit for you:

Make people a part of your “to do” list. This approach works particularly well for no-nonsense executive types who like to focus on getting things done. Just add the names of the people who report to you to your weekly to-do list. Then cross them off when you’re able to praise those employees, i.e., catch them “doing something right” in accordance with their performance goals. Hyler Bracey, president and CEO of the Atlanta Consulting Group, developed another, similar method that he used until praising became part of his routine. Bracey placed five coins in his pocket each day. During the day, he’d transfer a coin to another pocket every time he recognized an employee for good work. That technique helped Bracey make employee praise a habit.

Write notes at the end of the day. I learned this tip from Steve Wittert, president of Paragon Steakhouse Restaurants, based in San Diego. Wittert finds that his days are so busy that he seldom can take time out to recognize his staff. Instead, he keeps a stack of note cards on his desk, and when the pace slows at the end of the day, he takes a few minutes to jot personal notes to the individuals who made a difference that day. It became a highlight of the employees’ day to receive Steve’s simple notes.

Let technology help you. Instead of using voice mail just to assign or discuss work assignments for your employees, try leaving voice messages to praise them. You can do that from your car phone as you commute home after work, reflecting on the day’s events and the people who were especially helpful to you. You can go even further: I recently heard about one company that had created an “Applause” bulletin board on its electronic-mail system. On that public bulletin board anyone can post a thank-you to another person in the company.

Practice group recognition. Try starting your staff meetings by reading a letter of thanks or praise from a customer. Or do a “praise barrage” by going around the room in your staff meeting and asking everyone to say what they value in working with each person (this can also be written comments made on index cards by each member of your team). Create a “wall of fame” to show appreciation for top achievers — or to post any good news in the organization. Create a “successful projects” scrapbook that depicts employee teams and their accomplishments. Then exhibit the book prominently in your lobby.

How to Praise Effectively

Some managers recognize employees naturally and easily; others don’t. If you find giving praise awkward, remember these tips:

  • Be prompt. Positive reinforcement is much more effective when it comes soon after the desired behavior is displayed or result achieved.
  • Be sincere. Sure, praise is great – but if it’s not sincere, don’t bother. You’ll only sound manipulative.
  • Be specific. Avoid generalities in favor of the details of the achievement. Then employees know what specifically to do again.

Be positive. Sound obvious? Too many managers undercut praise with a concluding note of criticism. When you say something like, “You did a great job on this report, but there were quite a few typos,” the “but” becomes a verbal eraser that deletes all that came before. Save the corrective feedback for another time.

About the Author

StrategyDriven Expert Contributor |Bob NelsonBob Nelson, Ph.D., is an Opinion Columnist for CEO World and president of Nelson Motivation Inc. (www.drbobnelson.com). He’s a leading authority on employee recognition and engagement; a multi-million copy bestselling author of numerous books including 1501 Ways to Reward Employees, 1001 Ways to Engage Employees, and The Management Bible. He serves as a frequent presenter and consultant for companies, conferences and associations. You can contact him directly at [email protected] or (858) 673-0690.

Top Tips for Industrial Managers

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StrategyDriven Managing Your People Article |Industrial managers|Top Tips for Industrial ManagersManaging in any kind of industry is challenging, but industrial businesses can be incredibly difficult to manage, with many unique challenges. For those with management positions in any industrial business, you will need to know how to excel in this role and get the most out of your team. You will find that issues often arise when working in an industrial business, and you need to be able to fix these and take them in your stride to keep the business performing to a high standard. So, if you are a manager in an industrial business, keep reading for a few tips that will hopefully come in useful.

Focus On Work Ethic When Recruiting

Your success as a manager will be determined by the staff that you hire. When recruiting, you should focus on those that have a strong work ethic and the right attitude as opposed to skills and experience. You can always use training to bring people up to speed, but things like work ethic cannot be taught.

Keep Your Team Happy

Following on from this, you will need to find ways to keep your team happy and motivated so that they can perform to a high standard each day. It is important to get to know each team member and to develop a professional relationship with them. You can keep people happy and motivated by:

  • Setting realistic goals
  • Positive feedback
  • Flexible working
  • Training
  • Career development opportunities
  • Team building events and social events

Encourage Idea Sharing

As a manager, you need to make it easy for staff to come to you with ideas, questions and concerns. Communication is critical in any management position, but particularly in an industrial setting where issues can quickly arise and create difficulties for workers. Maintain open lines of communication so that issues are brought up and dealt with and to create a stronger connection with your team.

Provide High-Quality Machinery & Equipment

In addition to looking after your staff, you also need to make sure that they have access to the best equipment and machinery. This is a worthwhile investment as it could increase productivity, make work easier for your team and improve the quality of the product. For those that need to mix or blend ingredients for their products, industrial mixers and blenders from places like Winkworth Machinery will provide you with the equipment that you need to find success each day.

Focus On the Big Picture

As a manager, it is important that you are able to see and focus on the big picture. You will have business goals and aims that you need to work towards, and to do this, you need to avoid getting too focused on narrow departmental objectives. The key here is having a team that you can rely on so that you can focus on the big picture and guide the ship in the right direction.

Hopefully, these tips will come in handy and help you to excel in your role as an industrial manager.

Using Video Games As A Teaching Aid

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StrategyDriven Managing Your People Article |Teaching Aid|Using Video Games As A Teaching AidMany individuals have sympathy for teachers and parents when it comes to getting children to learn. Education is becoming more and more difficult in many ways. Many would agree that it is becoming tougher to get children to tune into what you have to say and what you are teaching.

Maintaining interest is an extremely difficult challenge. Teachers and parents need to combat this through the use of different and innovative teaching techniques, which is something more and more online programs, and software for distance and hybrid learning in K-12 schools, are focusing on. And one of these techniques revolves around the use of games. There are lots of fantastic free online games for kids available today that can be used as teaching tools.

Use games as motivation

This is an indirect method of using games for motivation purposes. You can use games as a reward for hard work in the classroom or the completion of homework. As a teacher, you can say to the children “if you complete this task then you can have 15 minutes of computer playtime before you go home”. As a parent, you can say “if you do your homework when you get in from school then you can play games for longer in the evening.” This will motivate your children to do their homework because they know that it is beneficial to them as well because they will get something out of it. Of course, they get the benefit of enhanced knowledge, but they are too young to realize how advantageous that truly is.

Problem-solving

There are lots of cartoon games are associated with the process of problem-solving. This is highly beneficial because it helps children to come up with a process in order to get to the end result. This helps in school life because this methodology needs to be attributed to lots of different lessons and subjects.

Source educational games

There are games that have been designed specifically to aid children. You can find maths games, English games, French games, science games, history games… you get the picture! It is a good idea to incorporate these into the educational structure. Children are more likely to learn in this way because you have mixed education with fun – this is critical for your career as a teacher; knowing how to mix fun into the learning process. They will revel in the opportunity to use the computer and therefore they will look forward to the task you have set rather than having the usual lack of motivation.

Use games for computer development

It is fair to say that learning to use the computer is one of the most important educations in the modern day. The online world and technological world is truly taken over. In this day and age, it means that your children need to grow up and be a part of that, otherwise they will merely lag behind. There are lots of great free online games for kids that will help to enhance your child’s concentration, develop their motor skills, improve their hand to eye coordination, and all the while helping them to get to grips with how a computer operates. Games can be seen as a huge player in helping children to be prepared for the future.

Creating More Fun Working Conditions

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StrategyDriven Managing Your People Article |Fun Working Conditions|Creating More Fun Working ConditionsAny company can make the working conditions at their company an asset for their employees. A report by CMI Workplace found that if workers feel happy in their office surroundings they are less likely to be stressed at work. This is especially relevant given more than half of Americans report exposure to unpleasant and potentially hazardous working conditions and nearly one in five American workers are exposed to a hostile or threatening social environment at work, as reported by the American Working Conditions Survey. Here’s some examples of how companies are making working conditions at their companies more fun today.

  • Relationship-driven leadership consulting firm SkyeTeam, based in Broomfield, Colorado doesn’t just tell its staff that working with the firm will be fun. They mean it. To help its stakeholders to remember, expect, and demonstrate fun, four of their eight core values are “Have Fun.” Founder and CEO Morag Barrett says, “Having fun is infectious. It immediately breaks down barriers and connects people—clients and associates. When we share experiences and enjoy each other, it’s easier to figure out the real problems and the best solutions.” CSO Ruby Vesely, who has been known to dress up in a KISS rock band costume, considers the whole team as personal friends. “I don’t get up in the morning to work for myself, I work for us, our families, each other.” COO Eric Spencer agrees. Spencer recently designed and delivered a safety program for the oil and gas industry. He feels his genuine, and friendly banter before and during sessions helped to build trust with his groups. The result: the client experienced a 17 percent drop in safety problems. “We show up as ourselves. We’re authentic, prepared, we listen, and have fun. And get great results,” says Spencer.
  • When noted author and celebrated raconteur Peter Jensen was editing articles for Sunset magazine, the Building Editor brought eight hats to work one day. Why? “We used to have some fairly deadly department meetings until the editor had us each put one on and conduct ourselves with a little more levity than usual,” says Jensen. “We had a good laugh and got a lot done.”
  • “Tax season is a time of stress, long days, and longer weeks. In fact, we work pretty much every Saturday from January through April 15th,” said an associate with Horovitz, Rudoy & Rogan, a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania CPA firm. To lighten things up, they observe Saturday Fun Days with themes like Alternate Profession Day, College Day, Pajama Day, and Cartoon Day. People dress in clothing and decorate their offices to match the day’s theme. “At noon we vote on the best outfit and office. We keep a leaderboard in the lunchroom and at the end of the season, the top three scores win gift cards,” the associate added. “Even our customers get involved; calling to see what Saturday’s theme is going to be so they can come dressed to ‘fit in’.”
  • At the Denver, Colorado and San Francisco, California offices of Gusto’s, a payroll software business, workers enjoy a “no shoes” policy. Cofounders Josh Reeves, Edward Kim, and Tomer London were all raised in “no shoes” households, so when they started working together out of a house, there was never a shoe in sight. When the company moved to its first conventional office, the no-shoes tradition came too. “Companies can be sterile and cold,” Josh told The New York Times. “We want our workplace to be really comfortable. In some ways, people feel more like themselves when their shoes are off.” Visitors to the company can see over 600 pairs of shoes stored in slots at the entrance, and they are asked to remove their own shoes. Then they’re given a choice of wearing slippers, spa sandals, or company-branded socks. Gusto’s mission is to help people find a community at work and let work empower them to lead better lives, and the “no shoes” tradition ties into it. Traditional work footwear is also not a requirement at Houzz, an interior design application firm located in Palo Alto, California. On their first day of work, workers receive complimentary slippers to wear around the office.
  • Online retailer Zappos, headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada, has a huge reputation as a fun place to work. The dress code is extremely casual, and anyone entering the building wearing a tie has it cut in half and pinned to the wall in the lobby. Desks have stuffed animals, and Blue Man Group-designed sculptures line the walls and emit sounds. “Create fun and a little weirdness” is written in the Zappos corporate charter.
  • The president of Belmont University in Nashville, TN took a sabbatical to learn more about high-performing organizations by visiting successful companies. He learned that there was a strong correlation between performance and having fun, so when he returned, he created a Fun Committee and placed them in charge of creating more fun on the campus from events, activities, celebrations, and more.
  • Perkins Coie, a law firm headquartered in Seattle, Washington, has a Happiness Committee made up of anonymous employees, any one of who can decide, “It’s time to do something.” Committee members perform anonymous acts of kindness, such as leaving gifts at workstations. Offices also hold monthly birthday parties, regular happy hours, and spontaneous celebrations throughout the year, like a picnic on the roof, and Popsicle socials. An elaborate, annual holiday party features skits from new attorneys and appearances by the firm’s managing partner, who has appeared as many characters including a Vegas showgirl, Dolly Parton, and an Oompa Loompa.
  • About once a month, employees at TechniGraphics, the engineering data company headquartered in Wooster, Massachusetts, completely empty the building during lunch time. They may go bowling, ice skate, or meet at Acres of Fun, where they can drive go-karts or play mini golf. Richard Danby, human resources director, said these and other social events are needed because employees work in units separated from each other. “This is an opportunity for a morale builder and an opportunity for employees to get to know each other better,” he said. Sometimes they host onsite events like chili cook-offs and ping-pong tournaments, as long as they promote fun.
  • “At Zoom, employee appreciation and happiness is not a day, it’s a way of life,” says Heather Swan, Chief Happiness Officer/Strategic Alliances. A video communications business headquartered in San Jose, California, the company offers the expected Silicon Valley benefits. “Our executive team and volunteer employee Happiness Crew also deliver happiness to our employees, customers, and community through unique activities, perks, experiences, and more,” Swan adds. Specific programs include:
  • Reimbursing workers for any book they/their family members buy, with no cap
  • Reimbursing workers for fitness or gym memberships/classes, with no cap
  • Executives taking turns hosting monthly breakfasts for their teams

As you can see by the above examples, having fun doesn’t have to take a lot of money or time. Start small with something your employees are excited about and build from there. As your workers better enjoy their work environment, they can’t help but better enjoy their work as well, and as a result they’ll be more productive and excited about who they are working with, who they are serving and what they are accomplishing for the company and themselves.

About the Author

StrategyDriven Expert Contributor | Bob NelsonStrategyDriven Expert Contributor | Mario TamayoBob Nelson, Ph.D., is the leading worldwide advocate for employee recognition and engagement. Mario Tamayo is a principal with Tamayo Group Inc. and has more than 30 years of experience in maximizing human performance. Together they co-authored Work Made Fun Gets Done! East Ways to Boost Energy, Morale, and Results (Berrett-Koehler, 2021).

Your Office Space Just Isn’t Working For You Anymore

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StrategyDriven Managing Your People Article |Office Space|Your Office Space Just Isn't Working For You AnymoreYour office space is a second home for you and your employees. There comes a time when we all outgrow our homes. Once we start adding to our family, we need a bigger place to live. The same principle applies when it comes to your office space.

If you have been operating out of the same offices for quite some time now, there is every chance that you may have outgrown them and, therefore, you would be better off looking to relocate. But have you really reached this stage? Read on to see some of the major signs it is time to move office.

There is nowhere for your employees to relax

You may assume that your workers do not need a place to relax. After all, they are here to work! Nevertheless, relaxation is critical in any workplace. All employees need somewhere they can go to refresh and revitalize. Taking themselves away from the computer and having a moment to get their energy levels back up is essential. If your office does not provide this, it is time for a change.

You have way more employees than you did a few years ago

This is one of the easiest ways for you to tell whether or not you need to hire a moving company or upgrade your office space. Roll back the clock three years ago and compare the number of employees you had then with the number that you have today. If you have way more employees today, you most definitely have outgrown your office space.

Your office feels messy and cluttered

Do you find that it is almost impossible to keep your office space under control? No matter how hard you try, it appears messy, cluttered, and like you have too many things. Of course, this does not necessarily mean you need to move. You could take advantage of business storage if there are a lot of things within the office that are not being used. However, if this is not an option, a bigger office space is a must.

Not enough space in conference rooms

The fourth and final sign that you have outgrown your office space is if you struggle to hold meetings in a comfortable and efficient manner. Whenever you hold an office meeting, do you need to squeeze workers between each other? Do you always need to source an extra chair in order for the business meeting to commence? If so, you probably need to locate a new building that has bigger conference rooms.

So there you have it: some of the clear indicators that you have outgrown your office space. If you have noticed any of the signs that have been mentioned above, it is important to take action sooner rather than later. This will have an enormous impact on your workers’ levels of efficiency and productivity because they will be operating out of an office that enables them to do more.