Morale Boosters: Feed the Troops First

When economic conditions turn tough or when the heavy work load seems never-ending, leaders tend to forget the "basics"?building commitment beyond the paycheck. It's the small things everyday that can bring down morale and it's the small things everyday that can raise performance. A holiday party or picnic once or twice a year probably won't do it. Rather, it's a leader's sincere recognition that employees are assets to be valued, not tools to be used up and discarded. Here are quick ways too boost morale.

Don't let respect slip under the radar screen.
If you treat your employees with respect you will earn their respect. For example, if you pay attention to and take care of your front-line people, they will in turn pay attention to and take care of the customer. Start with daily greetings. Remember their birthdays or other important dates. Take an interest in their interests. Say thank you for a job well done.

Take them serious.
There's incredible brainpower all around you, so why not put it to work? You hired your employees because you thought they could make a valuable contribution. Ask for their suggestions to problems. Include them in decisions that affect their work. Give them enough authority that goes with their responsibility.

Work for your people.
Listen and act quickly on their questions. Clear the way so they can do their jobs well. Once people see their leader as acting for them, or on their behalf, they develop a personal loyalty that energizes their performance.

Walk the talk.
Here are 5 tips from employees to leaders on how NOT to walk the talk of employee motivation. Are they talking about YOU?

• Make promises but don't deliver. Only give excuses.
• Be nice to me only when you want something extra from me.
• Let me find out through the gossip mill if you don't like my work.
• Scream at me when things go wrong and ignore me when things go well.
• If it's really a 'rush job', interrupt me every 10 minutes to inquire how it's going.

Marcia Zidle, the 'people smarts' coach, works with business leaders to quickly solve their people management headaches so they can concentrate on their #1 job ? to grow and increase profits. She offers free help through Leadership Briefing, a weekly e-newsletter with practical tips on leadership style, employee motivation, recruitment and retention and relationship management. Subscribe by going to http://leadershiphooks.com/ and get the bonus report "61 Leadership Time Savers and Life Savers". Marcia is the author of the What Really Works Handbooks ? resources for managers on the front line and the Power-by-the-Hour programs ? fast, convenient, real life, affordable courses for leadership and staff development. She is available for media interviews, conference presentations and panel discussions on the hottest issues affecting the workplace today. Contact Marcia at 800-971-7619.

---

The Do?s and Don?ts of Giving Feedback

Being able to give effective feedback is not just a good skill to possess in business, it is a great life skill to have. Because when you are masterful at giving feedback, not... Read More

Change and Performance - Training May Not Be The Answer

Introducing new products or services, bringing new people on board, developing a new process or procedure, installing new equipment, change seems to be the one constant in business today and change always seems... Read More

Employees Commit Corporate Fraud

Imagine the following scenario; Ten years ago you decided to quit your job and start your own company. For ten years you worked hard, made sacrifices, and it paid off in the end.... Read More

Being a Great Boss

Are you one of those bosses that people just love to hate? Maybe successful, maybe very intelligent, maybe organized and moving forward but just can't get along with people. Communication and other people... Read More

Rapid Culture Change is Possible

Purpose: Show how immersion leadership training makes strategic initiative success possible.Adults learn through experience. We learn behaviors through experience. This is the flagpole fact of the educational world. This flag is visible for... Read More

The Gift of Gratitude

Gratitude might seem like a soft or even an obvious subject to you. Perhaps you would rather read about a leadership lesson or a marketing approach or even a motivational technique. If that... Read More

How To Learn Great Management from Our Kids

Learning comes from many places. And one of the most wondrous opportunities is right in front of us. At dinner, at play and at bedtime, every evening. It is there on the sports... Read More

The Dark Side of Help Desk SLAs

You just signed a Help Desk Service Level Agreement (SLA) and now think things will get easier. However, you may soon be falling into one of these traps:1) COVERING THE TRUTH WITH METRICSIn... Read More

Are You in Control of Your Practice or Does it Control You?

One of the most common complaints that business owners have today is that they feel their practice is running them and that they're being pulled in every direction instead of really running the... Read More

Setting Direction Within an Organization

FINDING DIRECTION: An organization can't succeed without direction. Direction means having clear goals and guidelines; set goals and guidelines for staff to follow. When staff direction is needed, you must provide effective procedures... Read More

Attract and Retain Positively Great Employees - An Action Plan for Employee Training

Everyday a business owner, CEO, or manager somewhere is complaining about the lack of good employees. On the same day, in a break room, employees are complaining about the lack of good jobs.... Read More

Tales from the Corporate Frontlines: Creating a Culture of Empowerment

This article relates to the Culture & Climate competency, commonly evaluated in employee satisfaction surveys. AlphaMeasure defines climate as the effect an organization has on the employees, while culture refers more to the... Read More

Problem-Solving Success Tip: Dont Leave Your Key Stakeholders Guessing

Communicate! Don't leave you key stakeholders guessing.We are generally not very good about keeping others informed about the progress we're making, especially if there isn't much. You're more likely to get support and... Read More

Are You in AWE of Your Employees?

Employers have become so concerned about seeming "unfair" or worse becoming the victims of lawsuits by unhappy ex-employees that they've stopped requiring minimum standards of employees. This can only lead to poor individual... Read More

What to Do When Trust is Low

Trust is essential. You can't run a business without it. Customers leave. Risk taking evaporates. You find yourself surrounded by naysayers ? or worse ? yes men and women. No one dares tell... Read More

Managing People - No More Mr Tough Guy

I believe the media and our culture sends the wrong messages about how to manage people and this makes it difficult for Business Owners and Managers.We've all heard the old clich? "nice guys... Read More

Develop Your Managers and Keep Your Staff

Following on from the last edition of The Organised Times where we spoke about developing the people in your business, this week we're focussing on the importance of the continual development of your... Read More

Tales from the Corporate Frontlines: Human Resources at Work

This article relates to the Human Resource Functions competency, commonly evaluated in employee satisfaction surveys. It reflects one employee's satisfaction with the manner in which her HR department carried out their work. This... Read More

Comparing Ancient Programs from the East to Modern Programs like Stephen Covey.

Comparing Corporate and Personal goal attainment programs that have developed over thousands of years with those of modern day legends such as Covey - "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People"In the 1990s... Read More

Micromanagement and Delegation

Micro-Management and Delegation Recently I had a long discussion with a friend of mine about Managers and managing. She is a former HR Manager for... Read More

10 Ways New Managers Become Great Leaders

"It is a terrible thing to look over your shoulder when you are trying to lead and find no one there." - Franklin D. Roosevelt Persons accepting promotion from individual contributor to... Read More

5 Awesome Actions of Highly Creative Leaders!

How many times have you wondered why you are unable to "think-out-of-the-box" more often?We are all products of our environment and our backgrounds usually prevent us from viewing situations with the unique eyes... Read More

Conflict at 36,000 ft

This was supposed to be one of those sleepy flights that leaves late, crosses two time zones, and arrives at 11:00 p.m. But it wasn't.Yes, everyone is okay. Yet the three hour delay,... Read More

On the Road to Assertiveness

Learning to be assertive takes time, courage and the ability to recognize the situation for what is really is.You want to get something done, and you need another's help. You can request it,... Read More

Communicating CEOs

I see a PR firm has done a survey on the amount of time Canadian CEOs spend on communication, and found they spend almost half of their time on communication.I think we're supposed... Read More

Why Good Enough... Isnt

About a year ago, I had an opportunity to have dinner with the CEO of an engineering startup company in Pennsylvania. As we discussed engineering design matters over Chinese food, he took a... Read More

Take the Easy Route - Delegate

It was 2.30 am. It was cold and dark and I'd been in bed for just a half hour when the phone rang."Alarm Centre here, are you the keyholder at Balham Store, in... Read More

Effective Ways to Give Performance Feedback

Consequences of Not Giving Effective FeedbackLet's take a look at some typical examples of what goes on in work environments when managers don't give good feedback.Example #1: John has been working at his... Read More

Christmas Carol Coaching - Help to Get Ahead at Holiday Time!

I've always been fascinated by situations where art imitates real life and right here is a perfect example, which links Christmas and business & personal development.If you want to read about a serious... Read More