KickStart: “There are two things people want more than sex and money: recognition and praise.” Mary Kay Ash, Founder of Mary Kay Ash Cosmetics
I count four very strong “wants” (desires) in Mary Kay’s quote above. And yet, I’m guessing YOUR #1 business desire/ want/ need is finding committed, hardworking and (most of all) reliable employees!
This ongoing recruiting quest for quality workers is brutal in today’s hiring crisis. But wait! You likely already have these reliable employees… already working for you!👍👍
Your mission? To KEEP the trained, reliable people already working in your business from leaving your employ! Sure, your employees should be paid very well.💲 However, it is even more important to build an emotional bond with your workers! Here’s one reminder…
Consistently give your employees sincere recognition and praise!
REMEMBER: Even with the very best recruiting and employee selection systems hiring is still… a total crap shoot!😲 Sure, you’ll get state-of-the-art “Hiring Funnels” and job candidate sorting/verification systems in my “Hiring the Very Best” LIVE seminars.
(Click HERE to learn more.) But even with all my hiring resources- keeping your time-tested employees from quitting is your best strategy! So let’s get started with recognition and praise guidelines…
1. Be “specific”. Generic “attaboys” will quickly be dismissed as patronizing, shallow fluff.🙄 Instead, in the immortal words of Zig Ziglar, “Become a ‘Mr. Good Finder’!” Actively look for specific actions that you can commend an employee for. Now if you want “extra credit” with your employees (who doesn’t?) always try to…
2. “Praise in public”. This can be as simple as sincerely saying “Thank you”🙏 to a worker within earshot of other employees. Or you can ratchet it up a bit by calling out to their co-workers with, “Hey everybody, did you see the neat idea Joe came up with here?” NOTE: Be careful to not promote competition or jealousy with this praise. And the ultimate recognition trick is to…
Give a shout-out to a deserving person in a staff meeting! (You do have regular employee meetings, don’t you?) Once again, be specific, give them a gift if you wish and then lead a round of applause for this no-doubt glowing worker!
3. Be “sincere”. You really can’t fake this stuff. I would often reflect on the (in my opinion) “unfounded faith” my employees put in my “ready-fire-aim” leadership style. They literally were trusting little, old scared me to provide for them and their families. It was, and still is to this day, truly humbling which leads me to…
4. Stay “humble”.Sure, we all put on a front of success. After all, homeowners want to deal with successful, well known companies. The danger is when we as owners or managers start to believe our own publicity.😲 This leads to owner complacency and/or arrogance which inevitably leads to turned-off employees bailing out on you!😥 (More on this topic in a future KickStart!)
Now a personal appeal: Hopefully this KickStart blog post has resonated with you. But please, don’t just think, “Wow, that Steve Toburen knows his stuff/ is a great writer, etc.” (Aw shucks!)😊 And then you move on to your next business crisis!
Instead, here’s your mission, soldier! Give an employee “sincere recognition and praise” ASAP! See how they respond- felt pretty good, right? NOW you can say, “Thank you, Steve!” (Or even better? See me LIVE online HERE!)😎
Steve