Executive Housekeeping Today - April 2009 - (Page 8) FruGal (continued from previous page) cases, with less. Employers and employees will be stretched to maximize resources while maintaining, or even increasing, productivity to stay competitive. Take more than a few moments to thank people for jobs well done. These “thank you’s” do not need to be monetary gifts or anything large—a kind word of praise, recognition in front of peers, a time of celebration with donuts and fruit for the team to thank them for a job well done—will go a long way. Get out of the office more to interact with the crews on the job and lead by example. If it is a person’s job to pick up trash and you see some on the ground, pick it up and don’t walk by it. If a fixture is broken, take a few minutes to report it, rather than leaving it for others to do. Ask your team what excites them and see if there is a way to provide that excitement in the workplace. In one restaurant chain that we visit, there is a bell and satisfied customers are asked to ring it as they leave. I have noticed that whenever the bell rings, the restaurant staff takes a moment to call out “Thank you!” to the customer. It seems like the employees and the customers enjoy this interaction. Recently, I talked to an individual who was an employee of one of the largest service organizations in the world. This individual told me a story about what “rang” their bell. This individual was well-known locally in his company, but not necessarily nationally or internationally. He was invited to attend a large meeting of the company, and while waiting in the lobby, the vice president of this multi-national organization came up and introduced himself to this individual, and asked him his name. The individual told him, not figuring that a vice president of a worldwide organization would even know of him. However, the vice president thanked him for all his work on his current assignment, for some specific innovations that the person had made, and some achievements in the individual’s career. This individual felt like a champion. He said that it was better than a pay raise and made him feel like a million bucks. It didn’t cost the corporate vice president anything; however, it made the individual feel like they were on top of the world. You can do the same thing. The GPS pointer is that we should “ring someone’s bell” whenever we can to make them feel good about themselves and their job. Global positioning systems are very beneficial to the traveler as they traverse the land from point A to point B. When we follow the directions and pointers provided by the GPS, we can arrive at our destination with minimal digression from the direction in which we need to go. Our destination in this article has been to help managers find their way during challenging times, especially in the area of motivating ourselves and our employees. The manager that lends a listening ear is an advocate rather than an adversary, looks for the silver lining by encouraging up-skilling, and appreciates the achievements made by employees, has a roadmap for success that will enable the manager, their employees, and organization to find their way to their destinations during challenging times. u © Copyright 2009. Alan S. Bigger and Linda B. Bigger. Alan Bigger, REH, is the Director of Facilities at Earlham College in Richmond IN, and President of APPA. Linda Bigger is a freelance editor. E-mail them at frugalperson@ comcast.net. IEHA Board of Directors President—Marvin Ellsworth, REH (2-year term) • Village Shalom • 20 Dawn Avenue, Belton, MO 6402 • (93) 266-8449 • Fax (93) 266-8442 • mellsworth@ieha.org [2008-‘0] President-Elect—Eric Bates, REH (2year term) • IEHA, 00 Eastwind Dr., Suite 30, Westerville, OH, 4308 • (920) 29-982 • ericfbates@yahoo. com [2008-‘0] Secretary-Treasurer—Sherry Sidwell, REH (2-year term) • Community Hospital • 55 N. Madison Avenue, Anderson, IN 460 • (765) 298-558 • Fax (765) 298-5864 • ssidwell@ecommunity.com [2008-‘0] Director-at-Large—Debra Archbald, CEH (4-year term) • Peabody Hotel Orlando • 980 International Drive, Orlando, FL 3289 • (407) 345-4402 • Fax (407) 345-4459 • Debra.archbald@ peabodyorlando.com [2008-‘2] Director-at-Large—Michael Patterson, REH (4-year term) • Circle Family Care • 038 South Prairie, Chicago, IL 60628 • (773) 307-429 • Fax (866) 466-4026 • iehadirectoratlarge@comcast.net [2008-‘2] Director-at-Large—Anna Rodriguez, REH (4-year term) • Valley Regional Medical Center • 00 A E Alton Gloor, Brownsville, TX 78526 • (956) 3507820 • Fax (956) 350-7823 • anna.rodriguez@hcahealthcare.com [2008-‘2] Director-at-Large—Diana Ronning, CEH (2-year term) • Swedish Medical Center • 747 Broadway, Seattle, WA 9822 • (206) 386-3436 • Fax (206) 386-2875 • diana.ronning@swedish. org [2008-‘0] Director-at-Large—Edward Vizvarie, REH (2-year term) • Howard Center • 208 Flynn Avenue Suite 3J, Burlington, VT 0540 • (802) 488-6970 • Fax (802) 488-6974 • edv@howardcenter.org [2008-‘0] Director-at-Large—Janet Wiggins, CEH (2-year term) • Sonterra Health Center • 854 Sonterra Place, San Antonio, TX 78258 • (20) 545-4800 • Fax (20) 679-4950 • monarch7121@yahoo.com [2008-‘0] Log on! www.ieha.org 8 Executive Housekeeping Today/April 2009 http://www.ieha.org
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