1. Frequently take the pulse of your team.
We know this
sounds pedestrian, but when was the last time you asked your team members how
they feel about their jobs? It’s a small thing, but do it.
Try a simple,
anonymous questionnaire:
- Do you understand where the company is going and
what you need to do every morning? - Do you see how you fit in?
- Do you care enough to take action?
- How loyal are you to your projects and your team?
Mary Ann
Masarech, director of research and marketing at management consulting firm
BlessingWhite suggests combining these questions with others directed at
personal satisfaction:
- What are the aspects of your work that you like
most? - What would you like to learn?
- What are your aspirations?
- Which of your talents gives you the greatest
satisfaction?
2. Create great jobs.
What’s
a great job? Individual expectations naturally vary, but the 600 senior
executives and HR professionals surveyed for
href="http://www.theworkfoundation.com/assets/docs/publications/226_good_jobs2.pdf">The
Work Foundation’s 2009 “Good Jobs” report agreed
on several common factors for job satisfaction:
- Task variety
- Workplace friendships
- Fair procedures
- A balance between how much effort workers put it and
the rewards they receive - A certain level of autonomy and control for
employees to work unsupervised.
The takeaway?
Your team members want meaningful work that makes use of their talents and
interests, and that offers good compensation — not just financial rewards,
but recognition, authority, or leadership.
So know your
employees’ personal goals and make sure that they have the tools to
achieve them. Set aside some time in annual reviews to collaborate on
goal-setting. What would they like to do more of? What would make their jobs
more interesting? “The past year has meant that [managers] cannot
offer people promotions or new titles, so they just avoid asking about goals or
aspirations,” says Tom Barry, managing director of BlessingWhite’s
Europe office.
Every job has
elements that are repetitive, but these can be leavened with personal projects
that give employees freedom to indulge an interest or acquire another skill
that can prove helpful to the business. Confectionary company Cadbury recently
beefed up a leadership program that gets high-potential senior managers
involved in projects with charities. “Those who’ve done the
course have a hugely increased connection to the company,” says James
Longwell, Cadbury’s global learning and development director. An
added bonus: The program gives junior staff something to which they can aspire.
3. Create great careers.
Work with
your direct reports to develop an extended career plan for them —
even if that plan means the individual must leave the business to achieve a certain
professional goal. The reality is that some of your key people will leave for a
variety of reasons, no matter how much they seem to like their jobs. Why not
map a path that would welcome them back into more senior roles after gaining other
experience? So-called ‘boomerang’ employees can be great
external advocates for your company. McKinsey and Microsoft realized this
benefit and created online alumni networks to keep in touch with departed
colleagues.
4. Rebalance the blame culture.
Most people
don’t leave their company, they leave you — their boss, says
entrepreneur and author Jo Owen, author of
href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Death-Modern-Management-World-Disorder/dp/047068285X/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263475351&sr=1-5">“The
Death of Modern Management.” “If you want engagement, you
must show that you care, delegating more than just the rubbish that you don’t
want to do.” A manager who is quick to apportion blame for mistakes
is highly corrosive. Delegating effectively means sharing credit and taking
blame. Do that, and the staff will take the risks that are required for
success. They’ll do it with you and for you.
5. Make meetings optional.
Most people
dislike meetings because often they don’t create results.
Denmark-based workplace happiness
advocate Alexander Kjerulf’s advises against making meetings
compulsory. This is about treating people like adults, he says. “They
can decide if their time is best served by going to a meeting or working at
their desks.”
That way,
those who attend do so voluntarily, and with the expectation of adding
something valuable. “Make meetings shorter, more focused and get
everyone who’s attending to influence the agenda,” says
Kjerulf. “And always start a meeting with something positive. It sets
the tone.”
- See also:
href="http://www.bnet.com/2403-13056_23-61205.html">Surviving Your Worst
Meeting Nightmares
6. Acknowledge individuals.
There are
lots of ways to create a sense of respect among your team. “Some
things are really banal: saying good morning,” says Barry. “If
you’re a manager, make sure you make yourself available to people
when they need to speak to you.” General team praise is largely meaningless,
but specific and personal thanks goes a long way. Move from “Good job,
team” to “Thanks, Jane, for staying late last night.”
7. Put employees into the bigger picture.
This should
be something every manager thinks about from recruitment onwards. Employees
look to team leaders to remind them why their work is important in the big
picture, and to create excitement about what the company is doing.
There’s
no quick way to achieve this. It’s your job to align business values
and goals for employees. Focus on results, says Kjerulf. Find ways to make
people feel like their work has an impact on the overall business, such as
keeping them in the loop on what happens next for a project they’ve
completed or acknowledging when their work has generated more customers or
revenue.
Final tip: Be realistic about what you can offer
as an employer. You can’t make people happy and you’re
going to see some turnover. But some churn is healthy, says Owen. It’s
infinitely better than an office filled with loyal, but “useless
time-servers,” he says.
More on BNET:
-
href="http://www.bnet.com/2436-13059_23-344830.html">How to Make Your Team
Work Harder -
href="http://www.bnet.com/2403-13056_23-52952.html">The 7 Interview
Questions You Must Ask -
href="http://www.bnet.com/2403-13074_23-290100.html">5 Ways to Speak Like
Obama -
href="http://www.bnet.com/2403-13059_23-334262.html">How to Get the Most
from a Leaner Team