Employing People

[artona]

Hi

How do you get people to work for you, I don't mean the advertising or legal aspects I mean the actual day to day stuff. How do you motivate them, how do you get them to do a fair days work, get them to be loyal etc etc

I know a lot of people say its too much trouble but I would rather try to stay away from the negative stuff

stew

 

[KidsBeeHappy]

I guess you need enthusiasm, passion & care. You can't motivate and expect people to be interested in and working hard on something that you show no passion for.

I found that it helped if people know where they fit in, even if they're just a tiny cog in an international corporate their job is important because it's part of a process, and i found if people understood that then helped.

Good training, people get demotivated if they don't understand or can't do their job properly. Facilities need to be adequate. When I was an auditor, on one job i was offered the bathroom as my office . If basic working equipment isn't there, if its significantly too hot or too cold then that too causes demotivation.

Job security, or at least, awareness. Employees stop caring & working if they think that it doesn't matter because they'll soon be out of a job anyway.

And the right balance of pay, benefits etc. But these don't have to be wildly extravagent if you've got the right balance of the above.

 

[artona]

thanks Boxby, there are some very good tips in there

 

[Hogrill]

Dont show favouritism to a particular area/individual even if their job is in an area of interest too you.

Apply company rules evenly and dont allow what might seem initially small issues to grow, nip them in the bud.

 

[Delta-SI]

Do what I do, leave them in peace in your office and give them a BlackBerry... Other than occasional phone calls I ignore them.

 

[MartCactus]

I guess it depends on what kind of people you employ in what kind of business.

We're a software company so we try to employ very smart people but who often lack experience (we can't make them smart, but we can give them experience).

The kind of people we hire are motivated by
- desire to learn new skills
- pride in their work, genuine pride in building something good that the client is happy with. Part of this is working autonomously without someone micro managing them.
- having their work appreciated. I've talked to some employers who won't tell someone they've done a good job too often in case the person decides they are worth more money. I think this is nuts - telling people what a great job they've done when they have inspires them and confirms to them that good work is noticed.
- supporting people when they've made mistakes. I'm talking about accidental mistakes. Shouting just creates resentment. Better to help that person to learn from it and not repeat it - we all make mistakes, but hopefully we don't make them very often and learn from the ones that we do make. Also, if someone knows they get bawled at when they make a mistake, they will try and hide them from you which can make things even worse. I'd much rather know an employee will come to me and say "I've done something wrong and now we have this problem, what is the best way to sort it out".

I watch Gordon Ramsay and Alan Sugar with horror. Sure, they are successful, but I think the Richard Branson approach is a much better one.