James Robbins asked:
In today’s work environment that ability to be an effective manager is crucial. Surveys have shown that a key factor in an employee’s happiness is their relationship with their direct supervisor. It has also been said that people don’t quit jobs they quit managers. As managers we must continually commit to growth both personally and professionally.
Often the problem is not that we don’t know what to do, the problem is that we do not do it. Take for example the concept of recognition. Everyone knows how important recognition is to employees and we also realize it is the easiest and cheapest thing we can do to inspire, motivate and keep our employees. Yet despite this the average manager gets a failing grade in the department of recognizing and rewarding their employees for a job well done. As leaders we are so trained to fix what’s wrong that we often lose sight of all that is good.
If you desire to change this about your management then you need to use goal setting. Goal setting is really about accountability and habit change when you use them properly. When people set goals, most do not use the proper techniques for goal setting and fail to get the desired results. You cannot set a goal to ‘be a better manager’ or ‘Recognize good work at the office.’ Goals written like this are too vague, give us nothing to measure and are not very motivating.
Let’s say you want to become more rewarding as a boss, here are some examples of goals you can set that are specific, measurable and by committing to them will actually begin to be a part of your normal routine.
1. Everyday find someone who is doing something right and reward them.
2. Each Friday find one employee who has been working very hard lately and recognize them publicly.
3. Schedule one lunch a month with an employee who deserves some special attention
4. In every managers meeting always ask for a list of employees who have done something great which can be recognized. Then recognize everyone on the list within two days.
5. Give each of your managers 5 Reward Tokens and tell them they cannot come back to staff meeting the next week unless they have handed them all out.
The list is only limited by your imagination, but if you choose just one or two of these and commit to them for a period of two months, they will start to become part of your daily routine. Once something becomes part of your routine, it becomes automatic and part of your behavior. Once it becomes part of your behavior, it becomes part of who you are. A manager who excels at rewarding and recognizing employees, is a manager who is going to produce some impressive results.
In today’s work environment that ability to be an effective manager is crucial. Surveys have shown that a key factor in an employee’s happiness is their relationship with their direct supervisor. It has also been said that people don’t quit jobs they quit managers. As managers we must continually commit to growth both personally and professionally.
Often the problem is not that we don’t know what to do, the problem is that we do not do it. Take for example the concept of recognition. Everyone knows how important recognition is to employees and we also realize it is the easiest and cheapest thing we can do to inspire, motivate and keep our employees. Yet despite this the average manager gets a failing grade in the department of recognizing and rewarding their employees for a job well done. As leaders we are so trained to fix what’s wrong that we often lose sight of all that is good.
If you desire to change this about your management then you need to use goal setting. Goal setting is really about accountability and habit change when you use them properly. When people set goals, most do not use the proper techniques for goal setting and fail to get the desired results. You cannot set a goal to ‘be a better manager’ or ‘Recognize good work at the office.’ Goals written like this are too vague, give us nothing to measure and are not very motivating.
Let’s say you want to become more rewarding as a boss, here are some examples of goals you can set that are specific, measurable and by committing to them will actually begin to be a part of your normal routine.
1. Everyday find someone who is doing something right and reward them.
2. Each Friday find one employee who has been working very hard lately and recognize them publicly.
3. Schedule one lunch a month with an employee who deserves some special attention
4. In every managers meeting always ask for a list of employees who have done something great which can be recognized. Then recognize everyone on the list within two days.
5. Give each of your managers 5 Reward Tokens and tell them they cannot come back to staff meeting the next week unless they have handed them all out.
The list is only limited by your imagination, but if you choose just one or two of these and commit to them for a period of two months, they will start to become part of your daily routine. Once something becomes part of your routine, it becomes automatic and part of your behavior. Once it becomes part of your behavior, it becomes part of who you are. A manager who excels at rewarding and recognizing employees, is a manager who is going to produce some impressive results.