Hiring top talent is only the start. Now you have to work hard to keep your very best talent. Most companies stink at structured and systematic retention of their top performers. Discover how to prevent turnover and keep your best people.
For managers who want a culture of appreciation but can't get started. Try these employee recognition ideas to compliment your workers on a job well done.
Barry Deutsch's insight:
Many of my clients are at a non-existent to minor use of employee recognition to drive motivation and productivity. Here is a great framework and some creative ideas to executive on employee recognition. Which of these ideas is most relevant for your organization?
Recognizing employees and making them feel valued at work are the keys to creating an engaging work environment. We listed out 20 ideas for your next employee recognition award....
Barry Deutsch's insight:
Struggling to think of ways to recognize your employees? Here are 20 great ideas. Pick one to start changing your culture and showing your employees how much you appreciate them.
Starting a new job often begins with a blissful honeymoon phase, in which someone's best work is consistently produced. Inevitably, this comes to an end sooner or later, when the flaws of the job gradually start to reveal themselves, and it's natural that an employee's passion may fade away once...
Barry Deutsch's insight:
I liked this article about igniting passion in your workforce. I am not sure I would use the word passion - I might replace it with focused, energized, engaged, self-motivated. When these elements occur, employees tend to show high levels of personal initiative and proactivity.
When missing, people tune out, lean outward, find other ways to become self-actualized than at work, and generally act bored and disinterested (not engaged).
One of my constant efforts as a high school girls basketball coach and management consultant around hiring/retention is to continually be taking the pulse, and developing actuion plans to keep the passion high.
What do you do frequently with your team beyond reviewing daily to-do activities?
At the Michigan Recruiter’s Conference last week I got into a side conversation with a TA leader who had her team at the event.She was talking about motivating and recognizing her team, and …...
Barry Deutsch's insight:
What a great story that reflects praise, gratitude, appreciation, and recognition. A letter to the parents. Duh! Why haven't I thought of that as a tactic around motivation? How many of you have written a note to an employee's parents?
Having trouble getting your people "engaged" on the job? Maybe double talk is part of the problem. Mind-numbing jargon can render good intentions meaningless. Here's some expert coaching.
Barry Deutsch's insight:
Yesterday I published an article on the importance of creating a purpose-driven organization. On the heels of that article, this one pops up on Forbes about giving your employees a "cause" for being part of your organization.
The SEALs get it, Starbucks gets it. Do your Employees understand the purpose and cause behind your organization? IF NOT, are you at risk of losing good people when they hear this message from your competitors as the job market shifts from advertising to poaching.
This simple practice can help boost morale and strengthen relationships.
Barry Deutsch's insight:
I've been talking about this idea for years - great leaders show their appreciation, gratitude, and caring toward their teams and employees.
Not having gratitude and appreciation as part of your core values can be one of the reasons your best performers will be poached in the next year or two.
Fixing a culture where there is a lack of gratitude and appreciation is very simple - why don't more CEOs and Executives take action toward building it into the fabric of their organizations?
It’s safe to assume that most companies want happy employees. Unfortunately, for many businesses, profits often take priority at the helm of the ship and employee satisfaction takes the stern. Moreover, even fewer companies know what it takes to actually make their employees happy.
Barry Deutsch's insight:
We can all agree with the article headline that there is a direct correlation between employee happiness and business success.
How do you focus in this area, particularly when surveys, such as the Gallup engagement survey, show that engagement, happiness, and satisfaction is less than 30%?
I liked the way the author of this article broke down 4 key areas to focus on to improve employee happiness: trust, health, recognition, and culture.
What initiatives are you currently implementing to focus on these 4 key areas?
It's no secret sales rep turnover and its consequences are a threat to sales teams. Foster career development for happier reps that stick around.
Barry Deutsch's insight:
Here's a novel idea (I'm kidding of course). When was the last time you sat down and painted a strong visual image of the path forward for your biggest contributors or most impactful employees? How detailed did you get in terms of time frame, money, responsibility, authority, impact, and expectations?
NOT having this conversation frequently is a recipe for the turnover of your best performers. Top talent wants to know what the future looks like - not platitudes and generic phrases - but hardcore specific time frames and expectations.
There are five keys to cultivating optimal teams, and they all come back to safety, belonging and mattering. Here's how to know where your team is lacking and what to focus on to fix it.
Barry Deutsch's insight:
Have you had a chance to review the research Goggle did on the conditions or elements that led to optimal team work. Fascinating stuff to improve how your teams work. Are you focused around any of these issues in improving the results and outcomes your teams generate?
I loved this article on the impact of rudeness in working together - whether it be non-profit teams, executive management groups, or on projects. Rudeness, incivility is one of the killers of motivation and high performing teams. In my own work as a non-profit Board President, I get to improve the civility of how people interact, and continually reinforce group norms around civility. One of the books I am reading right now is titled "Choosing Civility". What do you tolerate with your team?
Hi, I'm Sheila Kamuda with coaching advice for the office and beyond. playniceadvice.blogspot.com Hope you enjoy, leave comments, subscribe, like, share.
Barry Deutsch's insight:
Shelia Kamuda has a nice blog and great little video series about employee engagement, satisfaction, culture, and workplace behaviors. I recommend reading and watching the content she shares.
To most of us, the phrase Work that Matters infers job satisfaction. Our intended outcome is a workplace culture characterized by lower stress, lower turnover, an
Barry Deutsch's insight:
A large part of employee engagement and satisfaction is work that matters - employees derive a high value from what they do. Do you look closely at these issues for all jobs - particularly those on the front line?
Building a great team is a challenging job. You should take pride in your team’s success. Take time and efforts to celebrate success with your people.
Barry Deutsch's insight:
Very few companies do a great job recognizing and rewarding individual and team performance. I liked this article because it reinforces some very simple ideas about recognition.
If you're recognizing outstanding performance, why would your employees continue to go above and beyond the call of duty for you?
The early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic were spent firefighting and figuring out how to sustain some degree of operations.But now a new reality dawned on HR and leadership teams: How to look after and support the workforce in this new world order...
Barry Deutsch's insight:
The part of expressing caring, interest, sensitivity, support, and empathy goes down the tubes when we feel isolated, lonely, and separated from our boss, organization, and co-workers.
As I've been reminding everyone in our Managing Remotely in a Crisis Workshop:
"Instead of jumping right to agenda item no 1 (or as soon as Harold finally located his unmute button) we should take 5 min. to ask how people are. Or take a virtual lunch or coffee break without any other purpose, than sharing how we are feeling on, what feels like day 913 of working in the same pants"
How much of this dialogue is happening in your organization - or is it only about the numbers and the metrics in conversations?
Is your approach to employee engagement destined to fail? Check out five tips to keep front of mind: define; find your "why," measure and monitor.
Barry Deutsch's insight:
This article borders on the comical and addresses the few simple reasons why engagement tactics and strategies fail all the time to drive substantial improvements.
Number ONE issue - most companies and executives are unwilling to do the hard work.
I draw the comparison to both playing a sport and hiring.
My experience as a high school girls basketball coach is that most players are unwilling to put in the hard work to aspire to something greater - whether it is the ability to move up a team level or just make more free throws in the next game. This is the basic message by Kobe Bryant. Nothing earth-shattering about this message - it's just a continuation of what you did in high school.
The second point - most companies don't make substantial improvements in hiring because they are unwilling to do the hard work of defining success for every job, shaking the bushes for the best candidate, and investing substantial resources and time to improve the interview process.
It's like the wrecking ball is just around the corner when we become complacent, lazy, and unwilling to do hard work.
Salespeople retention is often overlooked. Don't assume your top people will stick around just because they are your top people. Here's how to manage...
Barry Deutsch's insight:
Wondering why your top sales folks have 2-3 offers sitting on the table, and why your competitors feel so confident that they can attract your most successful reps - this article dives into the issues that could mean the difference between keeping the Pareto group and being stuck with a team of average people.
Why employee engagment is vital for restaurants...
Barry Deutsch's insight:
Although the article is focused on the restaurant industry, they are a lot of good lessons for all segments. I really liked the author's ability to separate employee happiness from employee engagement. Just because they are happy at work, doesn't mean they are engaged.
We're still in the midst of an employee engagement crisis. Wise leaders will take this message to heart.
Barry Deutsch's insight:
Interesting article reinforcing the idea that people want to have an impact with meaningful work. How do you show your employees that they matter and that they are making progress?
Hallmark Business helps businesses when connecting with people & inspiring them to make a difference.Hallmark Business Connections...
Barry Deutsch's insight:
What a great idea for retention and employee engagement. You've probably noticed that I've been writing a lot about employee engagement, recognition, appreciation, happiness, and retention.
The job market is rapidly shifting from how do I find people to how do I keep my best ones from being poached.
A big part of engagement and retention is showing appreciation, gratitude, empathy, caring, and recognition.
What could be more simple than uploading your company logo to hallmark, using some standard cards and sentiments on the inside, and then writing a short note of appreciation?
You'll change your culture dramatically overnight for a just a few dollars. I use these hallmark cards on a regular basis with employees, consultants, non-profit volunteers, and customers.
What's holding you back from a few minutes to create custom appreciation cards - either online or formal printed cards? It's almost a no-brainer to invest 30-60 minutes to try this tactic.
Companies implement policies to define the rules of an organization and shape future decisions with a thought-out framework. They help employees make day-to-day decisions that lead to overall cohesion and success.
Barry Deutsch's insight:
My experience of consulting with hundreds of companies on an annual basis for the past 30 years is that very few companies have an effective and robust non-monetary reward/recognition program covering such topics as praise, fun achievement awards, learning and development.
Although it's not possible to motivate employees, you can create an environment for self-motivation by showing your employees that you care and are appreciative when they knock it out of the park or act as a role-model in demonstrating one of your core values. Not having a robust program to show appreciation and gratitude means that your employees will not be motivated to do anything beyond the minimum expectation you tolerate to allow them to keep their jobs. How depressing!
If you’re committed to helping your managers coach but the actual practice of coaching hasn’t stuck, try these surprising tips.
Barry Deutsch's insight:
73 percent of managers had some form of coaching training, but only 23 percent of people being coached (fewer than one in four!) thought that the coaching had a positive effect on their job. That statistic stinks! Employees want to be coached like a championship team - if you can't provide it - they'll go somewhere else to get it.
After almost a decade of coaching high school girls’ basketball, I’ve discovered a few lessons that enable groups of diverse individuals to become a
Barry Deutsch's insight:
I've been coaching HS Girls Basketball for 10 years - and before that another decade around coaching club basketball. Many of my greatest lessons about employee engagement, teamwork, happiness, satisfaction, and discretionary effort (proactivity and initiatve) come from coaching at the HS level. Many of the girls who have played for me don't realize these lessons until long after they've left high school.
Learn all about Gusto's latest and greatest HR feature — Employee Happiness Surveys.
Barry Deutsch's insight:
Is anyone conducting employee satisfaction or happiness research, surveys, studies in their organization? What tools are using and how effective are these in improving employee happiness? Check out this tool I stumbled across called Gusto - would love to hear your feedback on what looks like a SaaS approach to employee surveys
It's easy to blame employees for lack of engagement, but without a clear, simple, and engaging mission statement and strategy--they won't.
Barry Deutsch's insight:
I wanted to slap myself in the forehead after reading this article. Of course, the mission statement is critical to success. It's one of core elements of culture, focusing employees, and gaining alignment around employee motivation and the purpose of your organization.
How strong is your mission statement? Is it a difference maker in hiring and retention?
Are you up to date on the new performance management approach?
Barry Deutsch's insight:
Out with the outdated sadistic approach to annual performance reviews. This article talks about how progressive companies are rethinking their approach to performance management and ensuring flawless execution among their employees.
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Many of my clients are at a non-existent to minor use of employee recognition to drive motivation and productivity. Here is a great framework and some creative ideas to executive on employee recognition. Which of these ideas is most relevant for your organization?