Problematic employees can be costly. One bad apple can not only lower productivity and hurt morale, but also drive you to spend valuable time and resources trying to fix the situation. Sure, an underperforming worker can always be terminated. But doing so could expose you to a lawsuit — and even more trouble. There’s no magic bullet to completely avoiding such dilemmas. But among the best ways to minimize your odds of employment difficulties is to simply hire better. And when does the hiring process really get going? During job interviews. It’s here that you get your first look at what could be a great employee — or a costly, ill-advised hire. So a good interviewing process is indeed priceless. Let’s focus on some of the best and worst questions to ask. Prepare to succeed An effective interview doesn’t begin with a smile or a handshake; it begins with a well-written and up-to-date job description. Before you even post an opening, be sure the position in question has a description that reads precisely as it should in the here and now. After you’ve received an adequate number of resumés, sorted through them and set up the interviews, more preparation is necessary. Train your managers and other hiring staff to carefully read over each resumé and:

• Flag any background or employment gaps,
• Highlight insufficient or inconsistent responses for further follow-up, and
• Note likes/dislikes, reasons for leaving previous jobs, and future plans.

All of these things can inspire excellent questions. Prospective interviewers should also look for spelling, word choice and the overall professional appearance of a resumé. Employers generally don’t arrange interviews with those who submit sloppy ones, but if an applicant has a skill set that you really need, maybe you push forward anyway. On a more positive note, you might receive a resumé that’s particularly creative and different. Be ready to ask the candidate about how he or she came up with the innovative, eye-catching format. Foundational queries Remember that updated job description we mentioned earlier? It should serve as the foundation for most, but not necessarily all, of your interview questions. Develop inquiries that provide vivid insight into whether the candidate has the qualifications, skills and temperament for the position as described. Try to devise open-ended questions beginning with “how,” “what,” “when” and “why” — not leading ones that will elicit brief, rote answers. A good job interview, however, doesn’t have to leap right into the toughest queries. Understandably, most candidates will arrive with a certain amount of anxiety. So, along with learning how to come up with good questions, interviewers should learn the fine art of casual, friendly small talk to set a productive conversational tone. They should also clarify the parameters of the interview, including what will be covered and whether they’ll be taking notes (usually a good idea). Danger areas When it comes to actual questions, start with the candidate’s most recent job and work as far backward as necessary. (For some candidates, this may mean college or trade school. For others, you may need to discuss only their last couple of positions.) As you’re likely aware, there are many types of questions to approach with extreme caution. Just a few examples include inquiries into:

• Age and birth date, except to ensure your state’s minimum employment age requirements,
• Citizenship and country of birth, though you may ask about legal eligibility to work in the United States,
• Disabilities and illnesses, except, in some cases, to confirm the candidate’s abilities to perform essential job functions, and
• Arrest record, though you may be able to ask about a criminal conviction if legally relevant to the position.

Questions to completely avoid include those regarding height and weight; marital status and child care arrangements; and race, color or religion. Consult your attorney for the danger areas that most affect your organization. Positional specifics Once a candidate’s employment history has been established, you can move into the position-specific questions. Teach interviewers to fully explain the requirements — again, based on the written job description — as well as your company’s philosophies and practices. Listen carefully for areas of enthusiasm, topics the person shows discomfort about, and how he or she communicates about the skills required for the position. Ask the candidate to describe a situation in which he or she demonstrated a particular skill, trait or behavior. Also, find out what sort of corporate culture the person prefers. Interviewers should particularly note whether a candidate may be unsuitable for your organization’s distinctive culture. The compensation question One evolving area of job interviewing is the compensation question. That is, when do you discuss it and in what detail? There’s no one-size-fits-all answer, of course. The right approach will depend on the position and, perhaps, how much competition you’re facing to fill it. Generally, the trend seems to be to discuss compensation earlier in the interviewing process rather than later. Remember, today’s candidates have access to much more detailed and timely compensation-related data than job seekers of previous decades. They’ll likely walk in with detailed expectations of what they should be paid — and the evidence to back it up! So, first and foremost, your organization should be prepared by researching typical compensation ranges for the position in question and having these ranges at the ready during interviews. As far as precisely when you should broach the topic, a general rule of thumb in the current hiring environment is during the second interview. But, again, the right answer for your organization may differ. And, as mentioned, a candidate might bring it up during the first interview. When an interviewer does discuss compensation, he or she shouldn’t restrict the discussion to only salary or wages. Have managers and others involved ready to elucidate on the full range of monetary payment and benefits offered by your organization. World of difference Naturally, asking the right questions during job interviews is but one small part of the hiring process. But doing it right can make a world of difference in identifying the individuals who are most likely to contribute positively to your organization. Please contact us at Performance Dimensions Group for assistance specific to your needs.

How office etiquette can drive productivity Bad behavior in the workplace is easy to joke about. The movie and television industries have made millions laugh over the years with various tales of office high jinks — from “Nine to Five” in 1980 to the cult classic “Office Space” in 1999 to more recent TV hits such as “The Office” and “Parks and Rec.” But, in real life, breaches in office etiquette aren’t quite as funny. Excessive noise and chatter can distract and irritate employees. Uncertain policies about business-appropriate dress codes can create awkwardness and resentment. Out-of-control gossip can lead to distrust and personality conflicts. Yet there’s a flip side as well. That is, if you can foster an environment of positive office etiquette, the resulting good feelings and supportive culture can actually drive productivity. Noise in the air Now that typewriters have gone the way of the dinosaurs, and fax machines are no longer shrieking like pterodactyls, workplaces should theoretically be peaceful oases of calm. But, be it exuberant conversations or sassy ring tones, there’s still plenty of noise in the air. Does that matter? Aren’t workplaces supposed to sound busy? Yes and no. Cornell University published an article in a 2001 issue of the Journal of Applied Psychology finding that workers in noisy environments had noticeably higher levels of the stress hormone epinephrine in their systems than employees in quieter offices. The workers dealing with lots of noise were both more stressed out and less likely to seek out ergonomic adjustments to their workspaces. So they were anxious and uncomfortable. As you walk around your offices or other work areas, what do you hear? Total silence isn’t the goal — that could make staff just as uncomfortable as noise. But you want employees to exercise etiquette that strikes the right balance between productive, socially acceptable sounds and all-out chaos. What specific steps you should take depends on the problem. If loud devices are at issue, ask employees who wish to listen to music or other audio to wear noise-canceling headphones. (Naturally, you need to add a caveat that workers can’t be so zoned out that they don’t respond to phone calls or requests from co-workers.) And consider implementing a “phones on vibrate” policy, if noisy ring tones are disrupting the environment. If conversations are the problem, look into how your facilities are arranged. Can you set aside some small conference rooms or study carrels where employees might retreat to silence when necessary? If not, perhaps encourage employees to go to designated meeting areas for conversations that will likely last more than, say, 10 minutes. Be prepared to bite the bullet and speak privately with “loud talkers,” who may not be aware of how far their voices carry. Dress policy particulars In sharp contrast to office noise levels, proper attire is a silent productivity killer. If someone is either dressing inappropriately or blatantly flouting a stated dress policy, it can distract other workers, foster resentment, and lead to gossip and even arguments. The most direct way of dealing with clothing etiquette is to create (or update) an organizational dress policy. Before doing so, however, hold a management-level discussion regarding your organization’s reasons for defining attire. Talk about — and even debate — why you want staff to dress a certain way and whether the policy truly jibes with your culture. When articulating your policy, be sure to provide examples. For instance, rather than only telling staff that jeans aren’t allowed, list types of casual pants that are acceptable (such as corduroys and khakis). This not only will help employees better understand what they can and can’t wear, but also give them a sense of freedom due to having several options. Furthermore, address the consequences for employees who breach etiquette. Let them know what will happen if they’re dressed inappropriately. Consider giving written warnings and other measures for minor infractions; and enforce this policy consistently and in writing to avoid discrimination claims. The flow of gossip “Don’t gossip” has been an office etiquette axiom since prehistoric tribes first built cubicles inside their caves. And yet it happens — and will continue to happen. Why? For many, gossip is a bonding mechanism. If you trust someone enough to share a secret with them, the makings of a relationship must be present. So employees talk — and confide —and, well, gossip. Although you should continue to discourage gossip, smart organizations also learn to use it to their advantage. For starters, in most offices, the identities of the most active, influential staff members are pretty clear. Once these individuals are identified, encourage your managers to channel timely, relevant organizational information to them. Be sure to convey both the decisions being made and the rationale behind them. The goal here isn’t necessarily to encourage gossip. Rather, you’re trying to increase the chances that, when hushed conversations do take place, employees are exchanging accurate information and, you hope, telling each other the whole story. After all, gossip tends to flow the most freely when employee anxiety and uncertainty are high because of lack of information. If a change is on the horizon and it hasn’t been formally communicated to your staff, you can safely assume the rumor mill is grinding away. Of course, it’s just as imperative for you to listen as it is to speak. What’s going around the rumor mill is a good indication of staff concerns, where your formal communications might be falling short and what the current level of morale is. Keeping your ear to the grapevine or water cooler (or whatever metaphor you prefer) can yield important information for better managing and motivating employees. Culture and environment These are just a few general areas of etiquette to consider. We haven’t even mentioned such workplace classics as: 1) Don’t steal other people’s food from the fridge! 2) Don’t reheat anything that’s going to have the entire office reaching for air freshener! and 3) For goodness’ sake, if you finish the coffee — start a new pot! So much of office etiquette comes down to your organization’s distinctive culture and working environment. Performance Dimensions Group would be happy to assess your culture and environment and offer our experienced insights into what “etiquette tweaks” could make your staff more productive. Feel free to contact us here.

 Do You Care for Your Tone?

Reviewing Your Organizational Culture

“I don’t care for your tone!” Most of us probably heard this scolding utterance at least once from an adult when we were kids. Now that you’re a grown-up in a leadership role, one hopes you don’t hear it too often. But what about your organization’s tone? Do you care for it?

More specifically, we’re referring to organizational culture. In a nutshell, this is the tone (and style) of your work environment as created by the values of your organization and the behaviors of its employees. Every workplace has one and, every so often, it’s good to reflect on both the good and the bad.

It matters, increasingly

Organizational culture can be a contentious topic. Some may question the importance of focusing on a “meta” topic like this when there are so many other competitive challenges to an organization. Yet there are signs that, increasingly, culture matters to both management and staff.

For instance, in the 2012 report Culture in the Workplace from consultancy Deloitte, 94% of executives and 88% of employees stated a belief that a distinct workplace culture is important to business success. The report also found a correlation between workers who believe their organizations have a “clearly articulated and lived culture” and those who report being “happy at work.”

Another reason organizational culture is important nowadays is the constant need for innovation. Few, if any, organizations can survive in the 21st Century without innovating in some way — even if it’s just gradually tweaking their products or services to keep up with customers’ wants and needs.

Another recent consultancy study, the 2012 Insigniam Corporate Culture Report, found that a substantial number of executives, 47%, pointed to their organization’s culture as the biggest roadblock to innovation. Is your tone holding you back from that next “aha!” moment?

4 sides: A framework

As you might expect, getting your arms around something as intangible as organizational culture isn’t easy. One way to make it a little more manageable is to approach it under the following four-sided framework:

1. Management to management. Every organization’s values and much of its behavior begin with management. When managers work well together and appear at ease in one another’s company, employees pick up on this and will likely be more relaxed and confident themselves.

In contrast, constant bickering in the corner offices, highly noticeable power struggles and heavy turnover will cause staff to feel uneasy and may give them the tacit go-ahead to behave similarly. This can have a crushing effect on productivity and morale.

2. Management to staff. Look at how each manager deals with his or her respective departments. (You may already be doing this during your annual review process.) Managers who are on good terms with their employees and can speak to them in a relaxed, friendly and frank manner are probably contributing to a positive culture.

Meanwhile, regular conflicts or even just an excessive degree of coldness can have a chilling effect on culture. Also dangerous are managers who isolate themselves from their staffs. In these situations, a culture can deteriorate into a free-for-all, “anything goes” environment where everyone is on a different page and too little is getting done.

3. Staff to staff. How do your employees get along with each other? Are things fairly peaceful at the moment or are you seeing an alarming rise in conflicts or turnover? Are social events well attended or are staff members starting to withdraw?

These are all important questions to ask. When it comes to employees, organizational culture can be a bit like the thermostat in your home. Sometimes you have to turn it up to warm things up and get people talking and interacting. Other times, you have to cool the environment down a little to keep people focused and productive.

4. Staff to customers. Don’t forget about the ultimate end-result of your culture! That is, how does it affect your clients or customers? A fun, free-wheeling, informal culture can draw a certain clientele but confuse or frustrate another. Then again, a tense work environment can rub off on customers, who may find themselves dealing with brusque or defensive employees.

Finding the right balance means going back up to the executive level and reviewing the values of the organization and its approach to doing business. You may need to tighten up your culture if “the party has gotten out of hand.” But you could also need to reassure staff that you trust their judgment and give them the freedom to interact with customers according to their own styles.

Productive solutions

As you review your organizational culture, try to pinpoint specific problems. Use careful language to describe them. Doing so will make it easier for you and your management team to devise productive solutions.

When you’re ready to apply those solutions, be sure to clearly explain your efforts to staff and get their buy-in. Culture change rarely, if ever, works when a distant, vague command comes down from the executive suite and employees are simply expected to fall in line.

Help is available!

Need some help? Performance Dimensions Group is dedicated to optimizing your organization’s productivity by helping you attract, engage, develop, align and retain top-performing employees. And a big part of doing so is fully understanding organizational culture — and targeting ways to improve it. You can contact us here.

Leader’s Toolkit

Building a High-Performance Culture: Raise It Up or Tear It Down?

“A culture is made — or destroyed — by its articulate voices.” ~ Ayn Rand

As the new year turns from spring to summer, it’s time to start thinking about the house you’ve built over and around your organization. Specifically, we want to help you envision your organizational leaders as “cultural architects.” As a leader, it’s your job to create and sustain culture in an organization. Yet shaping the culture can, at times, be a heavy burden to carry.

Your organization’s culture is the foundation upon which your results sit. A weak, dysfunctional or misaligned culture will usually yield poor results. A strong, high-functioning, well-aligned culture, on the other hand, will typically bind people together to produce amazing results.

Organizational culture is generally defined as the values, beliefs, symbols and norms people follow in the execution of an organization’s day-to-day business transactions. It shows up in behaviors that are considered acceptable and unacceptable — behaviors that begin and end with the attitudes and actions of leadership.

6 phases of construction

So, as leaders, you can choose to either build a high-performance culture or allow a variety of destructive forces to tear down your culture. If we look at the raising up of an effective culture as a construction project, here are six phases of the job that you’ll need to complete: 

1. Goal setting: The building plans. Every construction project begins with a plan, right? In the same vein, leaders must set specific goals to drive success and point people in the right direction. Goals can be thought of as the overall plan for what needs to be accomplished during a given period in order to achieve key organizational objectives.

To ensure buy-in and line-of-sight, be sure to allow employees plenty of input in establishing their own short- and long-term goals. In addition, ensure objectives are put in writing using the “SMART” criteria (Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Realistic and Time-bound), prioritized and regularly evaluated.

2. Expectation setting: The pre-project meeting. Before most construction projects, the contractor sits down with his project manager and workers and goes over the building plans. Why? Because putting something down on paper isn’t enough — expectations must be established. Clarify items such as:

• The roles employees will play in each given project,
• Specific behavioral expectations (what’s acceptable/unacceptable),
• What resources are available and where to find them,
• How the work/project is important to the organization, and
• How to communicate about progress, changes and obstacles.

Clear expectations are as important as the goals you set. In fact, research has shown that a lack of clear expectations is often the root cause of poor performance. Expectations can be thought of as the “means” or how one achieves his or her goals. Expectations set the boundaries of behavior so people can “play big” and “play fair” as they work to achieve their goals.

3. Continuous feedback and coaching: “The barking foreman.” When many of us think of a construction project in progress, we might think of workers clambering about a half-built structure, pounding hammers and carrying different building elements. But we may also picture a foreman or project manager walking around, barking orders to the hardworking crew.

Now the barking part isn’t advisable in most work environments. But your busy workers do need effective systems in place for determining whether they’re making progress and meeting stated goals and expectations. A few ideas might be:

• Simple scorecards to denote “gains,” “wins” and “losses” toward an outcome,
• Budgets and profit and loss statements for financially related activities,
• Customer feedback forms for customer-facing employees, and
• Weekly, monthly or quarterly production data for suitable employees.

Other key factors are verbal feedback and an open, two-way dialogue.

Leaders must create a feedback-rich environment where employees know where they stand. Course-correction feedback (when an employee has drifted too far from the goal) and acknowledgment and praise (for progress and momentum in achieving the goal) are equally important. In fact, studies have shown that a 5:1 ratio of positive interactions/feedback to negative promotes the most effective self-development and performance.

In short, communication is critical to creating and maintaining a high-performance culture. Leaders are visible, caring individuals who provide “state of the organization” information regularly and don’t shield employees from bad news. They share expectations, provide feedback and acknowledge strengths. High-performing cultures manage to strike a balance of both quality and quantity of information communicated.

4. Development: Raising the roof. As a construction project nears its finish, the roof — either literally or figuratively — is raised. The property is being developed into something new, useful and exciting.

So should it be with employees. Leaders need to create and execute an ongoing process to develop staff members in their areas of strength and interest. The best managers/leaders find ways to make every day a “development day” for their people. Specific ideas include: 

• Stretch projects or strategic assignments,
• Discussing development areas during 1:1 meetings,
• Providing current and future job-related training opportunities,
• Succession planning,
• Internal advancement ideas, and
• General career planning.

Leaders have these and many other methods at their disposal to grow, shape and engage employees while improving organizational performance.

5. Performance appraisals: The punch list. At the very end of a project, most contractors must complete a “punch list.” This is an itemized document reflecting precisely what needs to be finished to truly complete the project. Similarly, performance appraisals provide a summary at the end of a given term that lets employees know how well they’re meeting expectations and progressing toward their goals.

In terms of driving performance, however, an annual appraisal is your least effective tool. People want to know how they’re doing in the here and now, yet such appraisals focus largely on the past.

Performance comprises both results (what) and behavior (how). So, to do an appraisal right, you need to address both the “what” and the “how.” Set up appraisals on regular cycles and, of course, follow the golden rule: There should be no surprises! Always step in immediately when problems arise — don’t wait until the next appraisal.

6. Recognition and reward: Celebrating completion. The successful end of a construction project is generally referred to as “completion.” It’s something that contractors strive to reach efficiently and profitably. And, at least for large projects, they often celebrate when they get there successfully.

Encouragement and celebration in every organization are critical. Leaders must recognize progress as well as accomplishment of a goal, so employees know they’re on the right track and will keep striving for success. Recognition doesn’t have to be expensive. In fact, what distinguishes recognition from rewards is the use of “I” words that create “intrinsic” rewards, which tend to last longer and be more meaningful to employees than monetary or “extrinsic” rewards. Intrinsic rewards include things such as:

• Assignments of more interesting work,
• Involvement in key projects or decisions,
• Opportunities to work independently, and
• Sharing information.

Another good approach might be to share success stories during staff meetings or events or in company e-mails or a newsletter (if you have one). Oral or written praise delivered in this manner can serve as a real morale booster to recipients.

Whereas recognition tends to be intangible, rewards are generally tangible. They include statues, company merchandise or plaques. Of course, rewards may also be financial — such as spot bonuses, merit raises or other monetary incentives. Remember, the more timely the recognition/reward is given, the stronger the connection to performance.

The demolition crew

We’ve listed above the six phases of building a positive culture. But what about the behaviors that can tear one down? These are just as important to identify when trying to make productive changes to your organization. As you endeavor to raise up your organization’s culture, watch out for the demolition crew:

Flawed character. Dishonesty, intentionally poor communication and blame can sabotage any culture.

Fear. Organizations that refuse to take any risks and that avoid problems and tough decisions typically don’t get far.

Unchecked power. If leaders have or need complete control over others, a culture won’t thrive. Employees will feel that collaboration is pointless.

Arrogance. Anyone with too much pride, who is unable to admit mistakes, ask for help or recognize the value of others, is more than likely a liability. These individuals can poison even the best-intentioned culture.

Ineffective coaches. At the end of every season, no matter what the sport, a number of coaches (or, in baseball, managers) are usually fired. Most of these individuals may not have been bad employees, per se. But, in their employers’ opinions, they failed to develop a winning environment for their players. This dilemma can apply to any type of organization — which doesn’t necessarily mean you should fire a bad coach, but he or she may need additional training or, in worst cases, reassignment.

You are the architect

Leaders play a key role in the process of creating a positive, high-performing culture. You are, in fact, the architect. Your behavior, attitude, language or jargon, style of dress, decision-making process, everyday work practices and strategic direction create the cultural blueprint for not only your employees, but also clients, suppliers and anyone else who comes in contact with your organization.

Thus, as a leader and architect, you’ve got to recognize the boundary lines of your existing culture, align your strategies accordingly and always be on the lookout for ways to improve it. For help assessing your culture, determining whether your leadership style/habits are aligned with your organization’s strategic objectives, and targeting effective improvements for the future, please contact us.

At Performance Dimensions Group, we live by our core values of LEAD, GROW, INSPIRE. And what better time than spring to receive — and give — a bit of inspiration? Among the best ways to get inspired is to read stories about success and successful people. For example, take Seattle native Bill Gates. He began to show an interest in computer programming at the age of 13. Through his technological innovation and sharp business strategies, he and partner Paul Allen built the world’s largest software company: Microsoft. As leaders, we look to books, life stories and inspiring quotes of successful entrepreneurs and others to elevate our ability to guide our organizations and employees toward greater success. Your staff might find a spark for their passions and some direction for their personal goals in the words of a famous person, too. Here are a few such quotes to consider:

• “If you show people the problems, and you show people the solutions, they will be moved to act.” ∼ Bill Gates
• “Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.” ∼ George Patton
• “Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.” ∼ Jack Welch
• “A great leader’s courage to fulfill his vision comes from passion, not position.” ∼ John Maxwell
• “A man watches his pear tree day after day, impatient for the ripening of the fruit. Let him attempt to force the process, and he may spoil both fruit and tree. But let him patiently wait, and the ripe fruit at length falls into his lap.” ∼ Abraham Lincoln
• “The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one.” ∼ Mark Twain
• “Do what you can, with what you have, right where you are.” ∼ Theodore Roosevelt
• “Leadership: The art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.” ∼ Dwight D. Eisenhower
• “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” ∼ John Quincy Adams

And, for reasons that will soon become obvious, here’s our favorite:

• “LEAD with heart and authenticity; GROW a little every day; INSPIRE the best in yourself and others.” ∼ Lynda Silsbee, Performance Dimensions Group

Leaders must inspire others and help them along their respective paths to greatness. When a leader’s message is strong and clear, employers can become partners in their organization’s progress and believers in themselves. Everyone feels energized and ready for success. Never underestimate the power of words and what they can do for your organization. And thanks for reading our words. You INSPIRE us to LEAD and GROW every day of the year!

Have you ever stopped to think about what “spring” means? As a verb, the word means “to move or jump suddenly upward or forward.” As a season, it means warmer weather and a great time to clean out the office. But instead of just doing some tidying up this year, Performance Dimensions Group challenges you to move your company upward and forward. How? Spring into action and spark your team! Show them how much you appreciate their efforts and time. Employee recognition is one of the most powerful tools you can use to motivate — and it can cost very little to nothing. The official Staff Appreciation Day is always the last Wednesday in April, so here are a few suggestions on how you can recognize your team right now:

No Cost

• Write a personal thank-you note (or at least send an e-mail).
• Give employees a longer lunch break for the day.
• Create weekly or monthly awards to recognize those whose actions go unnoticed.
• Acknowledge specific staff members in status reports.
• Support “flex-friendly” schedules.
• Give note cards to every team and have members write positive messages to each other.
• Pay every employee a personal visit and practice nonverbal positive behavior cues, such as smiling.
• Celebrate birthdays in new and imaginative ways.
• Produce your own virtual recognition awards using e-mail blasts or e-cards.
• Bake a cake, cupcakes, cookies, pie, gluten-free muffins … well, you get the idea — everyone loves food!
• Please top performers with a prime parking spot.

Minimal Cost

• Find out each employee’s hobby and buy an appropriate gift.
• Distribute restaurant gift cards.
• Give the gift of wellness: Offer up a spa day.
• Provide weekly team breakfasts.
• Have $5 coffee cards ready to give away.
• Inscribe your favorite book with a thank-you note and give it to a team member who you know will enjoy it.
• Hold a surprise pizza party.
• Hand out cards with movie tickets.
• Set up barbeques in the parking lot and have a cookout.
• Enhance employees’ vacation time by giving them $100 before they leave.

These are just a few examples of what you can do in your workplace to reward and recognize your employees so they feel valued and avoid job burnout. Choose the ones that work for your organization’s culture or be creative and invent your own. If you take the latter route, please let us know what you come up with! We’d love to hear from you, and you could win our “Best Recognition of Your Employees” prize for 2013! We’ll post the winning entry on our website — with attribution, of course. And the winner will receive four “coffee cards” for energizing you and your staff!

Ah, spring … when our thoughts turn to renewal, to change, to the clearing out of old, useless clutter — be it physical objects or mental habits. Clean is good; and emptier spaces, whether in the office or in our heads, give us room to stretch and grow. But while you’re busy dumping dusty file folders into recycling bins or adding a 10-minute meditation break to your morning routine, make sure you’re not inadvertently throwing out something else: good employees. Yes, even the most well-intentioned leaders could be mistakenly pushing productive workers out the door by either doing certain things wrong or neglecting to do others at all.

Warm bodies abound: Finding the right fit

Now hold on, you might say, the economy remains in slow recovery mode. If we do unintentionally lose a few, we can get them right back. There’s still a line of able-skilled applicants around the block, right? Not necessarily. A Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index survey of 601 small business owners conducted in January of this year found that 53% of respondents had difficulty finding the right employees — and 24% stated that this challenge had hurt their businesses. So, while you may be able to find the proverbial “warm bodies,” you could have a tough time replacing employees who:

• Specialize in the skill sets you need,
• Know the ins and outs of your company already, and
• Mesh well with your existing culture and workforce.

Let’s be honest: The best and brightest workers are always hard to replace and could leave for greener pastures at any time — regardless of where the economy stands.

Promises made and broken: Managing change

Change is difficult for employees — whether it comes from a mere “spring cleaning” effort to boost productivity or something as monumental as a merger or acquisition. Of course, that’s not to suggest that change is bad. Every organization must evolve with the times and maintain the flexibility it needs to compete. No, where change becomes a problem is when it’s inconsistently executed and poorly communicated. Good employees may start to vanish when they believe inexplicable priority shifts are taking place that seem to come out of the blue and never produce results. For example, a huge push into social media is announced with significant demands on everyone’s time. Yet, three months later, the company’s Facebook page lies dormant and there’s been little indication of any return on investment. Six months later, the organization announces a shift back toward traditional marketing with no mention of the previous initiative. The result: Workers feel “jerked around.” The greater issue in play here isn’t only shifting priorities; it’s a failure to honor commitments. Many organizations don’t realize that, when they undertake a policy change or shift in direction, they’ve made an implicit promise to employees to follow through on the effort and keep staff in the loop. And just as employees must be held accountable for their work, leadership must stay accountable to their workers. Make sure you’re not making promises — implicit or otherwise — that you can’t keep. Otherwise, even a vague sense of betrayal may send productive workers heading for the door.

3 primary to-dos: Keeping your house in order

On the other hand, you might be doing nothing wrong at all. It’s what you’re not doing that could be sending key employees across town to your competitor or headlong into a career change. Again, if you’re making some refreshing spring changes right now to your personal work habits or the organization as a whole, make sure you’re not overlooking your staff while doing so. Generally, leaders who succeed at nurturing and retaining quality staff keep three primary things on their to-do lists: 1. Challenge. On a regular basis, you need to be giving employees chances to stretch their skills into new areas and greater accomplishments. An annual or semiannual goal-setting process is an ideal way to set this up. But keep your eyes open for “goals of opportunity” that pop up over the course of the year. At the end of the day, boredom is a valid reason to leave a job — and you could lose a good worker because of it. 2. Develop. Providing (or at least offering) ongoing training and professional education isn’t the same as challenging workers. This is simply fundamental. Skill sets need to adapt to industry changes and new technology. A worker who doesn’t feel developmentally supported by an employer may move on to another company that will do a better job in this area. 3. Recognize. It can be easy to unconsciously take a great employee for granted — especially if you’re undertaking strategic changes or tweaks to your own work habits. Don’t let it happen, as feeling ignored can only compound other silent dissatisfactions under which the staffer may be laboring. Lack of recognition, unless it’s particularly extreme, may not drive an employee out the door. But it can be the last straw.

New day rising

Is it a new day for you or your organization as a whole? If so, great! Rejuvenation is a beautiful thing. Just make sure your best workers continue to feel engaged and rewarded in every sense — including financially, intellectually and emotionally. For help targeting the right spring changes this year and keeping your best and brightest employees engaged, please contact us! We believe every organization can be GREAT and offer a wide range of services to enable you to achieve and maintain a high level of success.

When Spring Cleaning Goes Wrong — Are You Inadvertently “Throwing Out” Good Employees?

Ah, spring … when our thoughts turn to renewal, to change, to the clearing out of old, useless clutter — be it physical objects or mental habits. Clean is good; and emptier spaces, whether in the office or in our heads, give us room to stretch and grow. But while you’re busy dumping dusty file folders into recycling bins or adding a 10-minute meditation break to your morning routine, make sure you’re not inadvertently throwing out something else: good employees. Yes, even the most well-intentioned leaders could be mistakenly pushing productive workers out the door by either doing certain things wrong or neglecting to do others at all.  Read More...   Spark Your Team on Staff Appreciation Day This Year Have you ever stopped to think about what “spring” means? As a verb, the word means “to move or jump suddenly upward or forward.” As a season, it means warmer weather and a great time to clean out the office. But instead of just doing some tidying up this year, Performance Dimensions Group challenges you to move your company upward and forward. How? Spring into action and spark your team! Show them how much you appreciate their efforts and time. Employee recognition is one of the most powerful tools you can use to motivate — and it can cost very little to nothing. Read More...   LEAD, GROW, INSPIRE: Rousing Quotes To Get Your Staff Rolling At Performance Dimensions Group, we live by our core values of LEAD, GROW, INSPIRE. And what better time than spring to receive — and give — a bit of inspiration? Among the best ways to get inspired is to read stories about success and successful people. For example, take Seattle native Bill Gates. He began to show an interest in computer programming at the age of 13. Through his technological innovation and sharp business strategies, he and partner Paul Allen built the world’s largest software company: Microsoft. As leaders, we look to books, life stories and inspiring quotes of successful entrepreneurs and others to elevate our ability to guide our organizations and employees toward greater success. Your staff might find a spark for their passions and some direction for their personal goals in the words of a famous person, too. Here are a few such quotes to consider: Read More...   CEO Confidence Index Highlights: 49% think economic conditions have improved from 1 year ago. 68% anticipate sales revenue will increase in the next 12 months. 52% expect their number of employees to increase during the next 12 months. 35% say political and economic uncertainty are the most significant issues they are currently facing (down from 46% in Q4 2012) Only 11% say it is easy to find people with the right skills to grow their business - 75% say it is difficult to find qualified talent. Thank you for your business and referrals - Please contact us at any time with questions or comments.