5 Tips on Helping Employees Take Pride in Their Work

Employees are your most important assets, so hire the best, provide training and growth opportunities, and recognize good performance. Have a meaningful, concise and realistic job description for each employee. Make sure you review it with the employee and that it is understood. Be sure employees know what is e pected of them. Establish high standards of performance ethics. !ffer specialized training or skills enhancement to your current employees. "romoting from within encourages and motivates your greatest assets#your current workforce. $reate a %ew Employee &eferral Bonus "rogram. 'escribe your needs in title and duties and offer a reward for your (most wanted.(

For an organization that seeks to lead in the 21st century, pride is a form of in estment currency that is gro!ing in importance" The challenge is to capture its alue, deploy its po!er, and multiply its #enefits throughout the organization"

%o matter what kind of job you do, it is important to someone. )t should also be important to you. *he way you do your job, says a lot about you. Even if you are doing something that does seem too impressive, and is definitely not your dream job, you should do it to the best of
your ability.

Everybody has to start somewhere, and goals and dreams sometimes get sidetracked by the need to earn money to live on. %early any person you ask can regale you with a story of the awful job he or she had at one time. +ome jobs are dirty. ,ust like the old saying, ()t-s a dirty job, but someone-s got to do it.( *he saying is often used in a sarcastic way, but it also has a lot of truth to it. .here would we be without the people who do those dirty jobs and make life easier for everyone else/ +o, if you-re just starting out in the work force, or you-ve been downsized and you are working just to make ends meet or trying to climb your way back up, remember... it-s not the job that is a measure of your character and dignity. )t-s the way you perform your job. *hink of your current job as a reference for your ne t job. *hink about how your current employer will describe you when asked for a reference. 0re you punctual/ 'o you have a good attitude/ 'o you do the best you can/ 0re you a hard worker, conscientious, and one who pays attention to detail/ )f you are currently working a job that you don-t care for, encourage yourself by remembering that it is only temporary, a step on the ladder. 0lso, encourage yourself by taking pride in your work.

Businesses can improve retention and make their organization the good place to work by following the five1step "&)'E model2 P 1 "rovide a positive working environment $ 1 &ecognize, reinforce, and reward individual efforts % 1 )nvolve and engage everyone & 1 'evelop the potential of your workforce E 1 Evaluate and hold managers accountable Pro ide a Positi e Working En ironment 'aniel 3oleman, in his book, 4"rimal 5eadership6 said, 4*he climate created by the $E! among their direct reports predicted the business performance of the entire organization. )n 789 of the cases, climate alone sorted companies into high versus low profits and growth.6 )ndeed, one1third of the e ecutives surveyed by &obert Half )nternational )nc. say the work environment is the most critical factor in keeping an employee satisfied in today:s business world. 0 key aspect is workplace fle ibility. ;irst *ennessee %ational $orporation started making workplace fle ibility a top priority. *hey reshaped the rules they had forced employees to live under, added many family1friendly benefits, and sent managers through three and one1half days of intensive management training. &esult11Employees stayed twice as long<and the bank kept seven percent more of its customers. $ecognize, $einforce, and $e!ard %ndi idual Efforts Money may attract people to the front door, but something else has to keep them from going out the back. "eople have a basic human need to feel appreciated, and recognition programs help meet that need. 0 successful reward and recognition program does not have to be complicated to be effective. 0n e=uipment dealership in 5ouisville, >entucky has almost eliminated turnover by their programs. *he employees participate in a profit1 sharing plan that could possibly mean close to a million dollars upon retirement. !ther incentives and benefits they provide include2

Every year employees celebrate their work anniversary with a cake and receive ?@AA for each year employed made out in a check to the +nap1!n *ool $ompany where they buy tools for the job. *wice a year employees: children receive a ?8A savings bond when they bring in their 4all 0:s6 report card. *hey reward employees with a 4+afety Bonus "rogram.6 Each employee:s driving record is screened twice a year. 0nyone who has a citation is

removed from the program. *hose employees remaining at the end of the year split ?BAAA.

*o minimize the 4we1they6 syndrome, every ;riday employees rotate jobs for one hour. ;or e ample, the person in the "arts 'epartment becomes a service technician. *his builds a stronger team, and improves communication within the company.

%n ol e and Engage E eryone 3ood organizations involve the ideas and suggestions of everyone. *he +ony $orporation is well known for its ability to create and manufacture new and innovative products. )n order to foster the e change of ideas within departments, +ony:s $orporate &esearch sponsors an annual ()dea E position.( 'uring the e position, scientists and engineers display projects and ideas they are working on. !pen only to +ony:s employees, the e position lets individuals share ideas across each department. *his process creates a healthy climate of innovation and creativity at all levels of the organization. &e elop the Potential of 'our Workforce ;or many people, learning new skills is just as important as the money they make. )n a study by 5inkage, )nc. more than CA percent of the respondents said they would consider leaving their present employer for another job with the same benefits if that job provided better career development and greater challenges. *he %ational $enter on the Educational Duality of the .orkforce EED.F found on an average, a @A percent increase in workforce education level led to an G.H percent gain in total productivity. !n the other hand a @A percent increase in the value of e=uipment only increased productivity I.C percent. E aluate and Hold (anagers )ccounta#le +how me a department with high turnover and ) will show you a manager who needs help. 0s part of your evaluation and analysis process, start measuring the cost of turnover, employee attitudes, and which manager or department does the bestJworst with employee turnover. ;ind out why11then reward the good managers and fi the bad managers. 5a &osa:s $ompany completes a cultural audit once a year, which measures employee:s feelings about pay and benefits, care and recognition, etc. 0dditionally, all employees evaluate their bosses twice a year using an )nternal $ustomer +atisfaction )nde . E)$+)F *he )$+) has only four =uestions, and asks the employees to give their managers a letter grade from 0 to ' in four different categories.

Build Pride in the Workplace

Dr. Terry McSween Today, many of us have come to realize that quality is a behavioral issue. Put pride back in workmanship. Drive fear out of the work place. ith these simple words, Dr. !dward Dewin" one of the country#s leadin" quality e$perts, en%oins &merican mana"ers to deal with behavioral issues relevant to the success of quality improvement eons. The implication is that we must create a positive work environment where people are motivated by a sense of achievement and accomplishment, where people work because they want to, not because they have to. Dr. Demin" is very clear that mana"ement has responsibility for the system which encompasses all aspects of the work environment, includin" those mana"ement practices that impact motivation and teamwork 'Demin", ()*+,. -nfortunately, Dr. Demin" is less clear about e$actly what needs to be done. .ow do we "ive someone pride in doin" the %ob ri"ht/ .ow do we "et mana"ement and employees to work to"ether as a tram/ hat is the process that we must put into place to create such a positive environment/ These are simple questions, and the answers are simple in concept. -nfortunately, the application of simple concepts is often surprisin"ly challen"in". 0or most or"anizations, creatin" a positive work environment requires three thin"s1 an increase in the use of positive consequences2 a reduction in the use of aversive control and a well3desi"ned feedback and involvement process that keeps people informed of how they are doin".

Increase positive consequences .ow do we for"et, at work, the power of a simple Thank you/ Dale 4arne"ie shared the secret several decades a"o when he su""ested that we e$press honest and sincere appreciation '4arne"ie, ()*(,. Praise and a simple thank you are powerful tools for creatin" a sense of pride in the work place. !veryone acknowled"es the importance of an occasional pat on the back but few of us en"a"e in the practice on a re"ular basis and with the sincerity required to make it meanin"ful. 5n the old way of doin" business, mana"ers only talked to employees when they had a problem. The new way requires a better balance in our social interactions with coworkers. 6eyond the social "races, we must create meanin"ful celebrations of our successes. hether we pop the cork on a bottle of champa"ne or send a mana"er out to dinner with her husband, we need to make the world a little bri"hter followin" our successes. e need to have some fun to"ether when we have been successful such celebrations are simply too important to leave to chance. 4ompanies small and lar"e should have a formal plan for what events they will celebrate and a menu of different forms of celebrations that may be appropriate to those events. Reduce aversive control 7ana"ers must learn not to use threats, na""in", criticism or other forms of punishment to "et thin"s done. The first ma%or step that a mana"er can take is to work with employees to chan"e the

system in a way that corrects and prevents problems, not to blame employees for those problems. The emotional response that employees have to such chastisement destroys the teamwork, loyalty and creativity necessary for an effective or"anization. 5n such environments, employees work to avoid "ettin" cau"ht. They will fail to report important data or play "ames with the numbers. 8uch environments create morale problems and turnover. The work people do is because they have to, rather than because they want to. 5n short, much of what "ets done, "ets done for the wron" reasons. Design effective feedback and involvement processes 7any companies stra""le with how to "et people involved in measurement. & ma%or part of the difficulty typically lies in the practices described above. & well desi"ned feedback system should apply the concepts of statistical process control and increase employees# control over their environment. & poorly desi"ned system simply increases the paperwork or reports such data to mana"ement. &n important purpose of measurement is to provide people with feedback on their successes and accomplishments. The data should direct future efforts and provide focus for employee involvement efforts. 7any companies tell their employees to use "raphs and measures and improve the quality of their products, and then wonder why the charts don#t "et started or maintained. 5f we want people to use "raphs and measures, those "raphs and measures

have to be meanin"ful, and in a positive way. The challen"e for mana"ement is to create a team process that ensures the value of those "raphs and measures. Why so difficult? 9uality improvement is not simply trainin" people in 8P4 and startin" teams. :ne of the hardest parts is chan"in" old habits of how we work to"ether. 4han"in" behavior is very difficult, as anyone who has tried to quit smokin" or lose wei"ht or start e$ercisin" can testify. ;eadership must chan"e the way they talk with employees about performance. 4han"in" those mana"ement practices of an or"anization takes a systematic effort. 8uch an effort starts by creatin" a better understandin" of why people act the way they do and the "ive and take of relationships. 6eyond this basic understandin", we must develop and live by a code of conduct that provides positive "uidelines for interactin" with our fellow employees. The customer focus of today#s quality pro"rams provides a startin" point for understandin" the "ive and take of relationships at work, both internal and e$ternal to the or"anization. ithin or"anizations, everyone has customers and suppliers. !mployees are the customer for much of the work done by mana"ers. <et, mana"ers and business owners don#t typically treat their employees like they do their customers. !mployees can find meanin" in both their relationships at work and in the contribution they make. e have to build those

relationships and "ive everyone the opportunity to make a contribution, and to have a stron" sense of that contribution. e not only want people to do the ri"ht thin"s, we want them doin" the ri"ht thin"s for the ri"ht reasons. This means that people make a chan"e because it is the ri"ht thin" to do, not simply because someone told them to make that chan"e. &ll of us, mana"ers and employees alike, spend too much time in the work place for it to be without some positive meanin". or retirement. There is more to life than that. This is the real opportunity as we follow the roadmap to chan"e. e simply can#t "o on workin" for the end of the day, or the weekend,