Page 150 - How America's Best Places to Work Inspire Extra Effort in Extraordinary Times

The Real Job of Managers C137

on morale. Replace rumors, however small they may be,
with real information as soon as you get wind of them
and encourage employees to do the same.
: Show respect and give people your full attention. If you make an
appointment or call a meeting, keep it. Show people you
care by the little promises you make and keep. Leave the
BlackBerry in your office. When in your office, keep your
door open whenever you can. Turn off your computer
screen when someone enters, and give each person your
undivided attention.
: Don’t tell people that they should feel lucky to have a job.
That can be interpreted as a threat—one that is highly
disengaging.
: Continuously assess employee workload. People are already
stressed. Have enough people to get the work done in-
stead of rewarding the best performers with increased
workloads. Remember that there is a strong link between
susceptibility to sickness and a stressful work environ-
ment. Ask your team to consider how things can be done
differently or in a more cost-effective, streamlined way.
It may be useful for your team to reexamine how work is
being done and whether it should be done any longer.
: Don’t take the weight of the world on your own shoulders and
assume that your team is too burdened to help with the
big issues you’re working on. In fact, your team probably
wants to help.
: Consider setting goals on a quarterly basis instead of longer term.
This creates a stronger tie between employees’ actions
and the resulting accomplishment and allows you to
change expectations quickly as the economic situation
unfolds. Set easier-to-achieve goals if possible to cre-
ate opportunities to experience and celebrate small suc-
cesses.
: Focus on retaining valued employees in anticipation of the
higher turnover rates expected as the economic recovery