Contractor of Choice |

Teaming Up For Success

Building a dynamic team of people to support you

By Paul Montelongo

“It is so hard to find good help and to keep good people on staff.” This is the most common challenge I hear from contractors around the country. The unemployment rate is at the lowest levels in decades. As a result, employees and sub-contractors move from one company to the next at a gypsy-like pace. Contractors remain in a search for quality employees and trade contractors to bring on board.

Here are a few tips for keeping your employee associates happy and motivated to work for you.

The first order of business is to eliminate the term employee from your vocabulary. Refer to your people as associates, team members, partners, staff or “super people.” The point is that you must elevate their position to much more than a wage-earning, clock-punching employee. Choose an empowering term for your team and have them take ownership in that term. In one of my companies, we affectionately refer to our team as “the posse.” It may not be all that unique, but it works for us.

Take a look at the top ten things employers do to keep employees in a company. This will give you insight to keep your quality employees happy, motivated, productive, and working to increase your bottom line profits.

1. Define expectations and outcomes clearly. The most satisfied employees know exactly what is expected of them and what the ultimate outcome is of a particular project or job description. In other words, they know what the big picture is for their position. Most importantly, they have managers or employers that allow them to find their own route toward those outcomes. The best employers know and understand the differences between employee styles and allow individuals to use their strengths to their fullest potential.

2. Encourage continuing development. The innate yearning to learn and grow is natural to human beings. Employees who are encouraged to expand their personal and professional development appreciate their jobs even more. A quality employer can set up a personal development library, even if this means the top of a credenza in the office. Seminars and ongoing certification programs for your employees feed their personal development appetite. Many corporations hire personal coaches for their employees to continue to give them the edge. These ongoing training ideas nurture your employees and expand their employable talents.

3. Extend recognition and praise. These are essential building blocks for employee retention. There is nothing complicated about recognition, but it continues to be one of the highest needs on employee’s lists. Recognition can be received by way of verbal praise, with awards presentations, implementing an employee’s suggestion (and giving them credit for it), and many other ways. The point is to extend praise regularly. Employees say they need a pat on the back at least once a week. What a concept.

4. Genuinely care about your employees. Here is another bit of nuclear physics knowledge. Employees say this is at the top of their list for job satisfaction. When someone at work, either the employer or the manager, sincerely cares about them as a person, they tend to stay longer and have a much higher level of productivity. Employees that are treated as individuals and whose personal talents are respected are much more content to stay with your company.

5. Salary and benefits are not the number one reason that people stay at a company. Surprised? The fact is that employees say it is actually fifth on their list of top ten reasons to stay at a company. Other factors seem much more important. Work environment, people issues, and growth opportunities rate much higher than money and benefits. A good compensation package is necessary in combination with these other factors.

6. Offer regular, quality feedback. A great manager or employer must have an understanding of the talents each employee possesses. Regular performance evaluations help the employee stay focused on their productivity. Objective feedback helps the employee continue to understand his role. Emphasis should be placed on their strengths and how best to use them. This will help the employee gain self-understanding and knowledge about the talents they possess and how they are applied every day at work.

7. Nurture friendships at the office. Human beings are very social by nature. Work is a place where long-term friendships are often developed. This evolution of quality relationships between people is very normal and it is a part of a healthy workplace. Employers understand that loyalties between their personnel can foster company loyalty. Set up an environment in which, friendships can be developed and are able to grow. Company functions and team projects are a good way to make this happen.

8. Provide the right tools. Having the right resources and equipment for your people is essential. This allows them to do the best job with the latest tools. Simple things like adequate lighting, ergonomic furniture, product information guides, and computers that are networked together allow your people to do their job right.

9. Include employees in the decision making process. Great employers consult with employees regularly to make sure their ideas and instincts are recognized. Especially when decisions are made that affect an employee’s position, it is most important to make them a part of the process. In doing this, you acknowledge the intelligence and value of the employee. When their opinions count and credit is given to them for good ideas, they tend to stay in your employ.

10. Allow them to make a difference. When your team feels a sense of mission and purpose, their job has meaning and significance. They want to know they are contributing to an important endeavor. The best workplaces give their employees a sense of purpose, help them feel they belong, and enable them to make a difference.

Keeping employee associates happy is a challenge that you can win. When you apply the principles above you will build a dynamic team of people to support you.

Please feel free to forward this article to anyone you know that is interested in professional and personal development. Copyright © 2004, Success Concepts, Inc. This content may be forwarded in full with copyright intact.

Visit the Article Index

Become the Contractor of Choice

Teaming Up For Success

Building a dynamic team of people to support you