PIHRA Scope - Spring 2009 - (Page 9) 9 SEED #9: CONDUCT “STAY” INTERVIEWS REGULARLY Great employees like to hear about what they can do to make the company even better. Regular “stay” interviews provide a great opportunity for leaders to compliment their high performers on their great work and also to inspire them to do more to take the company to the next level. “Use these interviews to gauge how well you are meeting your employees’ needs,” says Sujansky. “Be open and honest with your employees and always seek out their suggestions on what you and the company can do to improve.” levels. If it isn’t possible for employees to take a full week off, encourage them to take shorter more frequent vacations. “Here’s a great opportunity for you to lead by example,” says Sujansky. “Take time off to show them how important you think it is, and when they are enjoying their own time off don’t call them with problems that can wait until they return. Always encourage your employees to leave their laptops and work-related papers at the office. If they are able to completely disengage, they will come back with renewed spirits—which, in turn, will help them reach their company goals.” 10 1 1 SEED #10: CREATE THE KIND OF ENVIRONMENT WHERE PEOPLE CAN DO THEIR BEST WORK Is your work environment restrictive and stifling or is it freeing and innovative? By allowing your employees to develop and implement their own ideas within your organization, you’ll be able to help keep them passionate about their work. To show its appreciation for innovation, Google allows their engineers to spend 20 percent of their time on independent projects. You should also make sure your employees have what they need on a basic level. Do they have the equipment they need? The right computer programs to work efficiently? Nothing frustrates an employee more than not having everything he needs in order to get the job done. 13 SEED #13: CREATE AN ENVIRONMENT OF TRUST BETWEEN EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE Employees are happier and work harder when they feel like they can trust their leaders. They decide which leaders they can trust based on how their fellow employees, company vendors, and customers are treated. As a leader, do you treat all with whom you come into contact with respect? Do you behave ethically and hold others accountable for their actions? When you have to take tough action, like terminating someone, do you follow proper steps and treat the person with dignity in the process? If an employee sees you treating someone else poorly, whether it’s a vendor or a fellow employee, his level of trust diminishes and he starts to care less about doing a good job for you. GRASS continued on page 11 SEED #11: HELP EMPLOYEES TO ACHIEVE WORK/LIFE BALANCE In today’s high-tech world, it is easy to set employees up so that they can work from home. Here’s the problem: too many companies do this and then expect employees to be “on call” 24/7. If you give this impression, even subtly or unconsciously, you’re disrupting their work/life balance. Employees in today’s workforce saw their parents give their lives to companies while missing soccer games, recitals, and family dinners only to be laid off at age 55 without much hope for finding other employment. Today’s working generation seems to share the sentiment of “We’re not going to let that happen to us!” They actively seek out companies who make providing a true work/life balance a priority. Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA) went so far as to place someone in charge of helping employees maintain work/life balance. “Providing flexible hours or allowing your employees to work from home shows them you value the lives they have outside the office,” says Sujansky. 12 SEED #12: INSIST THAT YOUR EMPLOYEES TAKE VACATIONS As an employer, you may be thinking, “If they would rather keep working than take a vacation, who am I to stop them? The more they’re working the better it is for us!” Several studies show that employees who take vacations are less stressed, lead a healthier lifestyle, and are even at lower risk of having heart disease. All of that means lower healthcare costs for you. Furthermore, employees who get away from the office are less likely to suffer burnout, a problem that harms productivity Spring 2009 PIHRAScope 9 http://www.hispanic-jobs.com
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