5 Ways to Keep Your Team Intact

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  1

  cunhafish

  05/06/08 | Reported as spam

  Keeping Your Team Intact - More Suggestions

  All of the suggestions in this article are point on. I would also like to add that truly talented employees may become stale if not presented with opportunites for growth. We've all been there -- 3 years into the job, we know all the systems, and (yawn) everything has become so routine we can hardly make it through the day.
  
  Taking the time to inerview your employees one on one to understand what motivates them and what their career goals are can go a long way towards helping a manager match folks up with projects, or special seminars which can motivate and re-energize employees.
  
  One huge no-no is the old time autocratic tendency to micro manage. Give a project, give a due date, and be available if your employee needs advice. NEVER force an employee to do things exactly as you would do them. What you are looking for is results. By allowing your employees to creatively solve and set systems in place, you may very well find that they come up with things you would not have seen. It is acceptable to look in and touch base, but the every hour nagging only gets in the way of concentration.
  
  Most important of all, employees are people. They are not machines, or widgets. Treat them as you would want to be treated, with respect and sincere acknowledgement of their abilities. Any less and you really can't expect any loyalty.

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  CC Holland

  05/06/08 | Report as spam

  Spot-on observation about micromanaging

  Your point about micromanaging really resonated with me. Top performers need to feel both free and trusted to be "bought into" their jobs, and it's impossible to enable that mindset if someone is always looking over their shoulders. Well put!

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  nccoast@...

  05/06/08 | Report as spam

  RE: 5 Ways to Keep Your Team Intact

  Hearing top performers is critical to their sense of self-satisfaction and well being on the job. This means making the time for one on one communication and having the ability to listen to them without getting defensive.
  
  When employees feel that they have a voice in the workplace, they will continue to achieve and perform at high levels. By squelching creativity, suggestions and ideas, an employee's self-esteem will be lowered; they'll recoil, and most likely move on to an environment where they feel ownership, accountability, responsibility, and where they feel their contributions make a difference because their are given recognition for their input and the impact it has on improving the business.
  
  J. P. Anastos
  Massachusetts

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  CC Holland

  05/06/08 | Report as spam

  A voice in the workplace

  Two-way communication works at all levels of employee, from top performer to wet-behind-the-ears newcomer, yet I think all too often managers forget their people want to be heard as well as talked to. Thanks for reminding us.

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  Saudmd

  05/06/08 | Report as spam

  RE: 5 Ways to Keep Your Team Intact

  We all are Humans the More the respect & Love towards each Human, I think the out put is more Interaction and possitive communication that will serve for the best.

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  CC Holland

  05/06/08 | Report as spam

  A little New Agey, perhaps, but...

  ...peace, love and understanding can't hurt, right?

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  Lynn110

  05/07/08 | Report as spam

  Small town, local busines is a different world

  We would love to have some need for this, however in our business most employee candidates are minimally educated and tend to have GED or High School education at best. This is the world of small business contracting.
  
  This employee pool tends to believe that attendance is the prime requirement of the job. (This they learned in our tax supported public school system. Performance is secondary. Promotion is automatic...even from the "trade" schools.)
  
  Read the instructions...I wish. Learn on their own initiative...I wish.
  
  Such people constitute the raw material for 80% of our staff. Sad thing is that once we train someone at considerable expense (OJT), the government with their deep pockets lined with our tax dollars, lures the employee into a cushy job with greater benefits and lower standards of performance than in the public sector.

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  khansy

  05/09/08 | Report as spam

  RE: 5 Ways to Keep Your Team Intact

  Its not just 5 silver bullet points that help anyone retain their team, primarily its about compensation and benefits, because monetary benefit is the best kind of incentive,then career growth opportunities, and then working environment,
  
  Unfortunately that one person the "boss" can make that difference, this is why companies who value their employees as assets also do a 360 degree evaluation, a lot of time the manager can do more harm to the team than any individuals, thats why its important to motivate and appreciate employees and make them feel important and part ofthe team.