This is the fourth in a five part series on achieving Employee Retention. The articles cover:
1. Competitive Compensation & Benefits
2. Sound Organizational Structure
3. Leadership & a Motivating Work Environment
4. Recognition & Rewards
5. Employee Dreams & Empowerment
The premise of the articles is that employee retention is not a program or product, but rather the result of effective organization
and leadership practices.
Sustaining The Work Environment With Recognition and Rewards Recognition and rewards are the keys to sustaining and reinforcing
the accomplishments. The primary methods include:
Demonstrating respect for people
Establishing individual and work group accountability
Communicating results
Rewarding people for their good work
Correcting or discharging low and non-performers
Demonstrating respect for people
Demonstrate your respect by asking, rather than assuming, listening to ideas and suggestions, and taking action based on those recommendations.
Treat all people as customers - as valued guests, not $17.87 per hour "grunts."
Recognize people through the respect you provide daily. The most important factor is respect for the individual. Each person
has value. When you demonstrate this through how you handle employees it will be echoed back in your customer relationships.
Frank Bragg, President, Mauna Loa Nut Corporation
Establishing individual and work group accountability. Too many workers are attempting to succeed without a clear definition of
success. Low performers love ambiguity. Top performers leave because of it.
Establish performance measurements for all goals.
Establish a clear definition of success for individuals and work groups.
Concentrate on deliverable results rather than well meaning nonproductive activities.
Acknowledge the achievements. Communicate results. Keep score. Concentrate on results, not
activities. It doesn't matter how many times the group meets. What counts is what they accomplish.
Your people already know why and what they are doing. Now focus on how they are doing. Insure that
they are getting timely [daily, weekly, monthly] feedback on their performance results.
Post the goals, progress, and results. Encourage individuals and group members to share all the results. Recognition and challenges fire up
everyone.
Reward employees for their good work. Use intrinsic rewards - respect, job pride, responsibility, personal growth, recognition, etc.
Use extrinsic rewards - bonuses, benefits, time off, prizes, etc. When in doubt regarding the best reward, go back to #1: Respect
employees. Ask them how they wish to be recognized and rewarded. The result will be an ideal recognition and reward system.
Compensation: Money motivates neither the best people, nor the best in people. It can move the body and influence the mind, but it
cannot touch the heart or move the spirit; that is reserved for belief, principle, and morality. As Napoleon observed, "No amount of
money will induce someone to lay down their life, but they will gladly do so for a bit of yellow ribbon."
M. Michell Waldrop, Dee Hock on Management [FastCompany]
Correct or discharge low and non-performers. You owe this to your top performers.
High performing work groups do not appreciate slackers any more than management does.
Low and non-performers can undermine a motivating work environment. Therefore, take immediate and effective action to
correct the situation through training or personal coaching. If these efforts are not successful, take the person out of the work
environment as efficiently as possible.
Like golf, baseball, and tennis, it's the follow-through that makes the difference.
Karl Albrecht and Ron Zemke, Service America
Accept the responsibility of creating and maintaining a motivating environment. Accept that the work environment is not static. It
regresses if it is not managed. The norm becomes average or mediocre. Therefore, they maintain the environment with
recognition, rewards, and new challenges.
The shepherd always tries to persuade the sheep that their interests and his own are the same.
Stendhal
Part 5: Employee Dreams & Empowerment will conclude this series of Employee Retention essays by exploring identifying you individual
employees personal goals and empowering them to fulfill both their and your goals.
