Page 50 - Becoming a Successful Manager

Understanding Each Person in Your Department 41

friend wrote: People may forget what you said; they may even for-
get what you did; but rarely, if ever, will they forget how you made
them feel. (You’ll fi nd this reproduced in the Appendix.)
Regardless of distance, time, and technology, all contact is
person to person. How do you want your employees to feel? Do
you want them to feel special? Do you want them to feel that you
genuinely care about them as people as well as producers? Do you
want them to feel important? Do you want them to feel respected?
Do you want them to feel trusted? Your answer to all these ques-
tions is probably, “Of course I do.”
The most effective fi rst step for creating these feelings in your
employees is to take time to understand them. Understand their
interests, their likes, their dislikes, their vulnerabilities, their hopes
and dreams, their vocational aspirations, their pet peeves, and all
the other characteristics that defi ne them as the individuals they
are. By understanding your employees and what drives them, you
will increase employee motivation and loyalty.
Another friend, a member of a local garden club, was an expert
on growing prize-winning orchids; his plants won fi rst or second
place in every horticultural contest he entered. Orchids are very

delicate and challenging flowers to grow. When asked the secret of
his horticultural successes, he said that he learned from books and
other orchid growers precisely what these special plants needed
from him to thrive. Then he created the atmosphere that enabled
them to do just that.
Thus, it’s simple to grow orchids when you provide them with
what they need and check up on them to make sure the condi-
tions are consistent with their requirements. This is particularly
challenging when working in a virtual garden. Now, what special
things can you do to take care of your “orchids”?