How to Keep Employees

Welcome to the July 26, 2007 edition of how to keep employees.

Cade Krueger presents 3 Questions To Make Your Business Enjoyable And Durable posted at Write To Right.

Jason Rakowski presents Humor in Customer Service and How It Can Help Your Business posted at Learn Good Customer Service, saying, "Your job is to sell something, not put on a clown act. How does humor fit into customer service?"

Marc and Angel presents Corporate America Asks Questions Without Wanting True Answers | Marc and Angel posted at Marc and Angel, saying, "The situation I am referring to involves a professional environment where multiple individuals in a strict business relationship disregard the truth in favor of delivering the ideal lie."

Penelope Trunk presents Trying to keep young employees from quitting? It’s not about money. posted at Brazen Careerist by Penelope Trunk.

Ivan Rios presents Self-Confidence to Be a Leader posted at artofleading.net.

Ivan Rios presents The Art of Leading / 5 Steps to Successful Leading posted at artofleading.net.

Health Chaos presents Interview Questions posted at Health Chaos.

Warren Wong presents How Much Money Is Integrity Worth? posted at Personal Development for INTJs, saying, "How much money is your integrity worth? Here's why integrity is your most valuable commodity."

Sue Massey presents Leadership - Managing Time For Maximum Profit posted at Business Management Life, saying, "In this article I'll tell you some ways to focus on what is important to maximize your profit in your business"

Chris Tackett presents Effective Direct Marketing posted at Direct Marketing News, saying, "I knew a guy that owned a vacant house once, and he always laughed at the amount of postcards he received every week. He said they all looked the same and he just threw them away."

Pawel Brodzinski presents How to Build a Team posted at Software Project Management.

Chris Russell presents Turning Coal into Diamonds: A Case Study on Customer Complaint Tracking posted at Productivity Planner, saying, "In order to reach the goal of fully utilizing customer feedback, a more comprehensive system for managing customer complaints is needed."

Tupelo Kenyon presents Communication – Friend or Foe posted at Tupelo Kenyon, saying, "Our communication skills can make or break us. This article includes some refreshing insights on communication from an unusual vantage point. Celebrate life with newfound attitudes about the art and science of communication.

Adam Pieniazek presents How Much Leadership Can $1 Buy? posted at Adam Pieniazek, saying, "Discussing the use of self-managed teams at Whole Foods, brought on by the visionary leadership of John Mackey."

Tupelo Kenyon presents Take Time for You posted at Tupelo Kenyon, saying, "Don't put yourself at the end of the list. You deserve to be first, at least some of the time. Don't let your entire life slip by with everything else (and everyone else) getting preferential treatment over your most important priorities. Their needs are important, but yours are important too. Celebrate life by taking time for YOU!

Ivan Rios presents 5 More Contradictions That Will Make You a Better Leader posted at artofleading.net.

Bhupendra Khanal presents Are you really paid enough? posted at Analytics Bhupe, saying, "Address the emotional issues of the employees first, then think of any secondary issues."

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of
how to keep employees using our carnival submission form.
Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

How to support upset and create engagement

The best part of teams is that they are made up of human beings...the worst part of teams is that they are made up of human beings!

The motivation of a team will vary depending on the emotional state of each person, and often it is outside influences that affect people's mind fitness.

If you see someone upset or they come to you, give them some time. First, get away from your desk, show them that you value how they are feeling. Take them for a coffee, get them away from the telephone, e-mails, other people. Maybe even take them off site - I would go for a walk around the block, or go to a local coffee shop.

People say that they haven't got the time, well you haven't got the time for that person not to be productive, not to be in the right mindset, affecting the rest of the team. Imagine if the problem means that this person will leave - imagine the time you would have to invest in replacing that talent??

Your role is to lead people, and valuing their feelings pays huge dividends in the long term through commitment and loyalty.

A great tip to help you empathise

An interesting point is that if you watch mothers with their babies, they cradle them to the left and in doing so use their right side of the brain. So if you struggle with your emotional intelligence a great tip is when you want to feel and show more emotion look to the left. This is a great way of developing your right brain....so think before you choose your seat in a meeting or in a coaching session.

Meetings as easy as ABC....

If you struggle with meetings and keeping the structure then here is a format that may help.

This tip is as easy as A,B,C,D which gives you an outline to run a team meeting

A= Achievements. Good way to start and give each individual a chance to shine.

B= Benefits. Good way to link achievements to ensure that they are helping the team, company towards their vision.

C= Concerns. This should be 2-way with both the team member and the team leader expresses any concerns that they have, potential issues, strategy gaps etc

D= Direction. Finish with a look forward to what needs to be achieved before the next meeting.

As easy as A,B,C....or and D!

A new year, a new start

A new year brings a chance to set yourself some stretching personal targets. Here are some thoughts to help you achieve a life/work balance

N= No one can achieve balance with a high degree of honesty..be honest to yourself about how you need to develop and change.
E= Explore what you need to continue to do, build on your strengths.
W= Write down what you need to stop doing, stop avoiding ...be honest and take action.

Y= You will have development needs so what do you need to START doing?
E= Explore how you can save time by increasing your knowledge on technology. Automate what you can, use technology to do routine tasks.
A= Action is required to achieve life/work balance. What are 3 actions that you will take, and commit to?
R = Review the above each month, update as necessary, celebrate your progress and be honest about what you still need to address.

The Role of the Director....lessons from the film industry

Robert Altman says the the role of the film director is

"to create a space where the actor or actress can become more than they've ever been before, more than they've dreamed of being"

Now if you replace actor/actress with employee...isn't that what business is all about? You are a dream creator, a dream coach, a dream maker.....now tell me that you have no power!

The dreams are inside people, they were there as a child but then life has made them give them up - be realistic! Your role is to dig deep, find those dreams, engage them again and relight the fire inside.....are you a dream maker or a dream breaker?

Managing People - A sentence to remember

Each person has needs and concerns, to be successful in life and at work you need to.......

• You need to answer the first - their needs
• You need to allay the latter - their concerns

Simple but effective personal development.