How to keep great employees and phase out not-so-great ones

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Organizations generally want to pursue both a mission and goals, and make money while they do it. However, many factors determine a firm's success. One of the most influential is the quality of its employees.

To maximize efficiency, reduce expenses, and make the largest possible financial gains, companies need to screen out problematic employees as soon as possible, while retaining their best workers.

Screening out bad fits is part art, part science, and part lessons learned from painful experiences.

Don't let an overwhelming workload rush you to fill an open position. This can lead to bad hiring decisions, which in the long run, is often worse than not filling the position at all.

Don't let your employee management cause explosions: Keep the danger away from your team. Flickr/Kevin Dooley

You also shouldn't rush to terminate underperforming employees. Even if there's no way to turn their performance around, ending an employment contract is a complicated procedure. Even managers who do this with integrity, tact, and compassion can bring about a major discrimination lawsuit.

To reduce your legal liabilities, maintaining a written record of employee performance is crucial. Frequent feedback and performance reviews, even for hourly employees, are a good idea. Increase the frequency of your communications with problem employees, and get feedback from them to see how you can help them succeed.

Company standards and performance reviews go hand in hand. All employees, great and not-so-great, should have a clear understanding of their responsibilities, the organization's values, and its operational goals. If an employee garners a negative performance review because they were confused about their role in the company, or the tasks they were assigned to do, the fault lies squarely with management.

Background and reference checks are also useful for screening out problem employees before hiring them. While obtaining this information legally is relatively easy, it can be an intimidating process for companies trying to manage a large number of hourly employees at low cost. Consider using standardized forms and talking to an HR consultant.

Successful businesses must also retain their best employees. Popular strategies for this include recognition, cash incentives for great work, and measures to promote a workplace environment in which all employees are free to make suggestions and express ideas.

Creativity and imagination are very beneficial for all companies. The workplace should be an encouraging and supportive environment for everyone, where managers recognize that excellent ideas often come from unexpected sources. For a company that's stuck in the mud, cultivating this type of environment is like a breath of fresh air! 

Companies of every size need to consider two things when developing a strategy: retaining good employees, and releasing not-so-good ones (or better yet, screening them out during recruiting). A firm whose managers effectively accomplish these tasks is already well on its way to success.

 

Get well on your way to success, with TribeHR's affordable software to help manage hourly employees.

 

 

Motivation from recruiting to retiring: More than a gold watch

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Keeping employees motivated throughout their career with your firm can benefit both them and your company. You receive the benefits of increased productivity, loyalty, good work habits and a happy employee. Your employee receives the benefits of working for a company that appreciates their talents, skills and insight. This post considers the relationship between how your company values employees, and how loyally they'll pursue your corporate goals as a result.

You Are the Key

As a manager, you play a key role in keeping your employees motivated from the time they're recruited, to the day of their retirement. As a manager, you are their role model.

If you are not motivated, how can you expect your employees to be? When you show up at work in a grouchy mood, it creates a doom-and-gloom atmosphere that ripples across your workplace. Lower productivity, job dissatisfaction, and disgruntled employees are more than likely to result.

Increase your team's motivation by surrounding yourself with optimistic individuals and promoting a positive climate. Positive people see the potential benefits of every failure. Failures should create opportunities, not misery.

Make sure you have fun

Keep your employees motivated by holding fun events that bring everyone together for an activity that isn't work-related. Treat your employees to a professional sporting event, or schedule a company picnic.

Be easy to talk to

This isn't going to cut it. What else can you offer? Think intangible. Flickr/net_efekt

Open communication plays a key role in keeping your employees motivated. Make it easy for them to talk with you face-to-face. Being personable makes people feel secure and appreciated, and human interaction helps build group cohesion at all levels.

Make sure jobs are important

Everyone likes to feel that their job is meaningful. The roles you create need to have clear positive outcomes, and these need to be clearly communicated to the people who hold them. Where does each position fit into the grand scheme of things? Meaning and work must be intimately intertwined.

Knowing that their work makes a difference increases motivation, job satisfaction, and productivity. Employees want to help your company achieve its goals. When they do, they'll proudly talk about it with their families and wider social network and you will benefit from engaged employees, good PR, and wide-armed recruiting.

Give autonomy

For modern HR practitioners, employee autonomy is the highest tier of motivation. Give your employees the chance to perform the way that works best for them. They'll figure out a way to get the desired end result, and they'll be motivated to discover it.

Offer a variety of incentives

Not everything comes down to money. You can increase loyalty and motivation with total compensation. Free daycare can make finding time to work be less of a challenge for parents. Corporate retirement plans help people feel secure about their futures.

Gym memberships promote physical activity, which makes people feel good about themselves. Even small things like discounted rates to local attractions or the occasional free meal are good reminders that your business cares about its team.

Be socially responsible

Keep employees motivated from recruitment through to retirement by involving your firm in social issues. Corporate social responsibility is your firm's commitment to behaving ethically and improving the quality of life for employees, your community, and the world.

The more socially responsible your firm is, the more engaged your employees will be - both in and out of work. Employees involved in a wide variety of activities and interests can bring positive results to both your company brand and bottom line.

Getting involved in social issues can be as easy as taking part in a local nonprofit walk-a-thon, or holding a fundraiser for your favorite charity. These activities encourage teamwork, boost motivation, foster loyalty, and increase employee engagement.

Track what motivates your employees, and work to do more of it, with engaging HR software from TribeHR.

 

Use Workplace Software to Keep Boredom at Bay

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Workplace software serves a variety of purposes in helping a firm reach its optimum operational levels. One use of workplace software is its role in developing appealing job descriptions. Usually text-based, creating job descriptions is a rather boring task for HR personnel. To counter that boredom, software can be used as a tool to develop graphics within job descriptions. Graphics are generally more appealing than words and hold the reader's interest for a longer period of time. Plus, you can use any number of color combinations, font sizes and other visually appealing characteristics to better deliver your point. Graphics also help keep the job description creator engaged. The more engaged your graphic designer is, the less bored they will be with their position.

How to Prevent the Seven Year Job Itch

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In academia, teachers and researchers are encouraged to take a sabbatical once every 7 years. It gives professors the chance to do something different, forge new relationships, and recharge their batteries and creative juices. This system works well for them.

There's no such thing as a sabbatical though, in most jobs, and after 7 long years in the same job (and often even before then), employees commonly begin to lose interest and start looking elsewhere. This "7 year job itch" can affect people in any profession, in any economic climate, anywhere in the world. When it's time for a change, it's time for a change.

These strategies are like Anti Monkey Butt Powder with Calamine Lotion, but for employee retention. Stop the itch.
Flickr/djeo

Unhappy faces, reduced social interaction, and frequent tardiness are telltale signs of burnt out, 7-year itch employees. The discontent associated with the mundane can build into frustration that ends in resignation. Keen managers and HR pros will make sure that this never happens.

Lean Recruiting [Expert Insights]

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Many have embraced the ease and efficiency of recruiting through social media.  Ramy Nassar is no exception!  He is an advocate of efficient social recruiting and yet is able to create and maintain those personal connections that are integral to an effective hiring process.

Ramy Nassar, Myplanet Digital

Nassar currently functions as business development for Myplanet, a tech startup based out of Markham.  At Myplanet he started out by developing recruitment programs. Formerly he worked in business development at RIM and also has experience in software engineering.

When asked for Myplanet’s lean recruitment take on hiring, he explains, “I think we just do things a little bit differently in a way, but the reason we do it in that process and that order is sort of to get out of the box a little bit.” Being active in the community through social events and networking with like-minded individuals is a great place to start. Nassar recalls, “We would just do things like have them come hang out in our office for a day and see what the environment was like.”

Nassar notes that perhaps the most crucial component of lean recruiting methodology in a startup is flexibility; “I think the most important part is that we are always trying to evolve our process, seeing what will work best.” A recent innovation in Nassar’s recruiting techniques has been the recognition that while having a hiring process is important, relentlessly following it may not always be the most efficient approach. Allowing yourself to get caught up in various steps throughout that process gives candidates more time to seek out other options. Here, flexibility could have saved that migration. “It may at times mean we’ve done an interview we wouldn’t have done otherwise, but at the same time it also prevents us from losing out on someone who may have gone somewhere else,” he says, on the advantages of being flexible.

In addition, Nassar says, “I think the biggest thing that we’re doing is trying to do things a little bit more backlog style.” Coordinating several times a week on sprint planning and meetings moves Myplanet toward the goal of “more agile processes in general” – that same agility mirrored within their recruiting approach.

Recognizing your limitations as a smaller company is also important. For example, Nassar quickly found that trying to recruit through campus visits was an ineffective method, because students were less engaged when they weren’t familiar with the company. In his experience, “You don’t necessarily have the pull that you think you do,” which further emphasizes the imperativeness of becoming a visible brand in your community.

Conversely, small businesses benefit from the advantage of recognizing inefficiencies and making changes without being bogged down by masses of corporate red tape. “The quicker we can find out what doesn’t work and the quicker we can cut that out, I think that’s one of the biggest advantages we have [as a smaller organization],” Nassar believes. “That’s a big part of being lean and being agile as well, sort of knowing when to hold ‘em and when to fold ‘em.”

Lindsay Purchase interviewed Ramy Nassar on behalf of Workplace Tribes in May 2012.

Not finding the top talent and cultural counterparts you’re looking for? Get creative. Get adaptable. Get outside the box. Start with a 60-day free trial.

How to prolong the newlywed stage of the employee lifecycle

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Newlyweds are surrounded by a bubble of happiness, contentment, and a sense of overall well-being. Nothing can go wrong, and everything seems possible.

The same holds true for new employees, and fortunately for you, there are ways to prolong this stage.

Provide genuine positive feedback

Employees, like anyone else, like to feel that their work is appreciated and contributing to the betterment of the company. You can provide this feedback in a variety of ways.

Compliment your employees for a job well done. Friendly acknowledgment can include a face-to-face conversation, a quick pat on the shoulder, a sincere "thank you for doing such a great job on that project," or a quick online message. Sincerity goes a long way towards promoting loyalty and ensuring your employee has a long and productive tenure with the firm.

Promotions will do the job

Married to the job? Doesn't mean you can't drag out the honeymoon. Flickr/Jeff Weston

When an employee is doing a great job in their current position, and shows potential for advancement, don't hold them back. Promotions tell your employee that you value their competence, insight, work habits, and loyalty. If your competitors identify and support your superstars before you do, you'll lose the battle for talent.

Schedule some fun times

A well-oiled work environment which keeps employees operating at the newlywed stage has fun as a focal point. Socializing builds camaraderie and takes the ho-hum out of the workday.

Consider informal outings, like a family picnic, or take some time out during the day for unique team building workshops.

Publicly acknowledge accomplishments

Who doesn't like being recognized for doing a great job or doing something out of the ordinary? When this happens, let as many people as possible know about it. After sharing great accomplishments widely internally, consider issuing a press release, or inviting some media attention, which can boost your employee's personal profile, your company's public relationship, and your HR brand.

If you use social networks within or outside of the company, use them to spread the word. You may be surprised how fast the news travels in the viral world. Appreciated employees love the companies they work for.

Use HR software

HR software can enable manager and co-workers to give kudos to their deserving colleagues. This can boost motivation and prolong the newlywed stage. Paying attention to the little things is what makes a person's overall work experience a great one.

Use your HR software to keep track of anniversaries, birthdays, promotions, and other personal occasions. Plan parties and celebrations to not only foster a team environment, but to promote individual achievements too. Just try not to play favourites.

Feed your workforce

Keep your employees in the newlywed stage by feeding them like a wedding reception. Food and beverages are a great low-cost investment that foster productivity, loyalty, and motivation. Keeping your lunchroom supplied with food, fresh coffee, bottled water, and/or hot chocolate will not only satisfy employee palates, but keep them happy and satisfied with the workplace environment. 

Put more simply, the newlywed stage of the employee lifecycle can be extended by treating your employees like you would expect to be treated. Respect, friendliness, dignity, consideration, and a little bit of innovation always pay off in the long run.

 

Discover the correlation between employee tenure, projects, and engagement, with powerful HR software from TribeHR. Follow TribeHR on Facebook to receive all of our news, and maybe even a wedding invitation. 

 

Short and Frequent Performance Reviews Have Better Results

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In business, time spent equals money spent. This simple fact means that for the sake of accountability, it's a good idea to hold regular performance reviews. Assessing your team's performance at different points during the year keeps the lines of communication open between you and your employees, and it makes meeting goals a lot easier.

When your company's performance reviews are shorter and more frequent, you come away reassured that your employees know what you're looking for. Here are some of the other advantages:

You can point out strengths you've seen in your employees. No matter the job, people like recognition for the work they do. When an employer can see talent and coach those who need it, employees are more loyal and enthusiastic about their work.

Feedback in short, specific bursts is often more effective than all at once. Flickr/Sylvia Currie

High job satisfaction is key to retention. When you meet with your employees briefly, but on a consistent basis, you have the opportunity to develop a strong relationship, understand their day-to-day work, and clarify expectations, resulting in increased job satisfaction.

Whether someone is doing fantastic, is having issues, or has just been distracted, regular performance reviews can make sure they're on the right path. Most companies start the quarter with goals in mind, but if these are met quickly, employees can be left sitting around.

Regular performance reviews allow you to track and grow employee outputs, without the stress of infrequent and uncomfortable annual appraisals. This is a great opportunity to set short-term goals that will keep people focused.

The most common reason for a performance review is to let employees know where they need to improve. For new and entry-level workers, especially in Generation Y, frequent feedback is vital to providing mentoring and constructive criticism. Quick conversations and short messages help your employees develop without the fear of defeat or termination.

The opportunity to talk about where employees want to be in the future does not often arise naturally in the workplace. Shorter and more frequent performance reviews are a great chance to bring this up. How do you feel about your job? What would you rather be doing? How can we help you get there?  These one-on-one communications can help fix minor issues before they become big problems.

Opponents of frequent reviews believe that the process is too time-consuming, which can detract from other important tasks. That's why it's vital that your feedback mechanisms are natural for your team, and compliment your other core managerial functions. 

Employees appreciate when constructive criticism feels like great advice, instead of behavioral correction. Many managers prefer providing feedback over the course of the day, instead of on a schedule, when it can feel like a chore.

Reviewing your employees' performance often will let them know what they're doing well, and where they need to make improvements. For a thriving business, open and honest communication is an absolute necessity.

Track the time your team spends on specific projects, offer feedback, manage relationships, and engage employees, with powerful social HR software from TribeHR. Pricing starts at just $2/month per employee.

Create a Sense of Personal Progress to Engage Employees

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Why do seemingly ‘good’ and well-performing employees leave the companies they’re working for? To the casual observer, money may look like the biggest factor as far as resignations are concerned, followed closely by neglect from management. While both are indeed key factors behind employee-management problems, things aren’t as black and white as they seem. There are far more factors to consider if you want to keep a low turnover rate.

For starters, do you consider employee engagement as high up on your list of HR and management priorities? There are many ways to engage employees and keep them motivated, but few are as important as creating a sense of personal progress in individuals working within the organization. Employees don’t just value organizational stability and an income that pays the bills. They also need direction and a firm grasp on whether or not they actually fit in the organization and are doing a good job.

The differences between engaged and disengaged employees are immense. Engaged employees take pleasure in the work they do and feel zero to little stress, even when in the middle of challenging work. They completely immerse themselves in their tasks and lose sense of time, often remarking how workdays pass by so quickly.

In contrast, disengaged employees lack zeal and a desire to come to work. They often dread reporting for duty, and question what they’re doing in a company. Tasks are done because that’s “what the boss says” and not because they find a quiet contentment in the work they do. So as you can see, it’s not really surprising why this eventually leads to resignation.

With managers and HR personnel racing to streamline their companies in today’s tough economic times, it can be very easy to forget about the goals, aspirations and needs of the individual employee in the organization. Here are some innovative ways you can create a sense of progress in your employees and keep them happy over the long run.

Acknowledge and place value in individual contributions

Leaders must make it a point to illustrate to employees how their efforts as individuals play a big role in the overall direction and business strategy of an organization. People naturally want to be part of a team that’s winning, so talk and interact with employees and make them feel proud of the work they do. They need to feel that your company’s success is thanks to their efforts. Always remember: an employee who feels that he, or she, belongs is a happy employee. And a happy employee, is, more often than not, a productive employee.

Don’t neglect training

Investing a substantial amount of resources in training is a way for you to hit two birds with one stone. First, training teaches employees new skill sets and helps increase their productivity. From a business standpoint, training is good because it allows you to retain workers who can handle large responsibilities, instead of hiring new people, which can be expensive.

For employees, knowing that employees care enough to invest in their training is motivating, and the very concept of undergoing continuous learning is a major morale booster. It means the management actually wants to keep them by investing in their training.

Provide mentoring support

Mentoring can provide employees with a sense of how well they are doing within an organization. More importantly, mentoring allows them to sound off on issues revolving around work, allowing them to resolve their problems efficiently. Note than mentoring can be facilitated internally or outside the organization— choose whichever works best for employees.

At the end of the day, employees want to feel that they are doing a good job within an organization. That said, management must make an effort to demonstrate this to employees to keep them motivated.

Should my Team Know Everything about the Business?

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Why sharing knowledge is almost always good

A big question that business owners and human resource officers often ask is how much information about the business they should share with their employees. Do employees really need to know everything about the business? Is there some information that must be kept confidential?

Transparency can be a powerful way to engage employees. When staff members know what's going on, businesses are able to run more smoothly. Consider these reasons:

It Prevents Confusion

People working within an organization want to know what’s going on, whether it's changes to the business, or just overall progress. By informing employees of these changes, they'll be able to adapt to them more easily, and predict the next steps too.

Don't hog the ice cream sandwich of knowledge! Flickr/Cayusa

If your staff are puzzled or surprised about day-to-day activities, their productivity will suffer. You owe it to your team to give them a heads up on important changes, as these will affect how they do their jobs and live their lives.

It Prevents Conflict

When everything about your business is out in the open, your team feels more empowered to talk to you about both successes and problems. Suppose that an inevitable layoff situation arises: Your team might be nervous about losing their jobs. 

But if they're already aware that you're in a bit of a precarious situation, they'll be more comfortable talking about the options and difficult decisions that need to be made, without taking things personally.

It Builds Trust

Trust is the foundation of every relationship. When businesses are honest and open with their employees, they can expect their employees to be so too. People often say that they're trusting, but then fail to live up to their own words. Sharing everything about the business with your employees shows that you trust them.

Especially when it comes to employee relations, it's vital that you and your team are on the same page. As much as possible, anything about the business that might affect the employees, whether good or bad, should be shared with them.

Although every business has (of course) some things that should be kept private, it's best to keep these to a minimum. The more you share, the more you prevent confusion, prevent conflict, and build trust. 

Share your plans, track projects, and engage your team. Get powerful HR software from TribeHR.

How to Leverage Personal Goals to Meet a Team Objective

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We all have our own goals and priorities. As a business manager, your goal is to make your business thrive and ensure that your team stays happy and productive. For employees, goals often center around individual careers and needs.

Personal goals affect how an employee performs. While they can serve as motivation to be more productive and more successful, they can also cause conflicts between staff or between work and home.

When the individual drives of smaller players align to pursue a common goal, amazing things can happen. Pictured: The microscopic cellular structure of a human colon. Flickr/Ed Euthman

Businesses are most successful when employees' personal goals are aligned with corporate goals. This can be difficult to do at times, but it is possible. Some companies, like Valve Software, make this happen by allowing any employee to make any business decision. If you're not ready to do that, read on.

The Team Goal Must be Understood

Before personal goals can leveraged in the pursuit of team objectives, employees first need to clearly understand what the team goals are. A clear understanding of your organizational values and goals will prevent any potential conflict and confusion.

Once employees understand team goals, they're better able to—and more likely to—integrate them into their personal goals. Team leaders, HR, managers, and senior executives can help to smooth this process by offering feedback and having one-on-one consultation sessions.

Find the Middle Ground

Most of the time, personal goals should still be work-related, such as achieving a sales volume, working a number of hours, organizing a specific project, or improving a specific skills. Finding common ground between these personal goals and your organizational priorities can be hugely productive.

The easiest way to do this is to simply ask employees what they think the team can do to help them reach their personal goals. Make sure you follow up by clarifying how their own goals are contributing to the overall team objective.

When team members help each other to grow personally, they also help the team grow as a whole.

Value Personal Goals

Managers and team leaders should value the personal goals of their team members. It’s wise to let employees grow both within and outside of the business. Don’t suffocate your team by focusing only on corporate objectives. Of course, don't neglect the business by focusing only on personal ambitions, either.

Prioritizing and finding the balance between personal goals and team objectives shouldn't be a battle. Both are important. Synchronize them, and watch your business soar.

Track projects, engage employees, and tie goals and progress to organizational values, by using HR software from TribeHR. Packages start from as little as $2/user/month. Start with a free 60-day trial.