Category: Blog

5 Tips for Motivating Employees

A large part of creating a successful business is having employees who are motivated.  Sometimes even the top performers and best self-starters can experience a lull in motivation.

Whether your business just needs a little pick-me-up, or a motivational overhaul, these 5 tips for motivating employees will enhance your workplace!

Tip#1: Set the Example. 
In the words of Ghandi: “Be the change you want to see.”  Start with attitude.  A positive attitude is infectious; when your employees see that you are excited about your business, they will get excited about their role within the business.

Tip #2: Share the Wealth. 
Involve employees in the company’s successes. Profit sharing is a great motivator, and has been shown effective in several models.  It gives your employees something to work towards, and can give them that extra push at the end of the day.  If profit sharing is not immediately feasible, still involve your employees as much as possible in company highs.  Celebrate when numbers are exceeded or when customers give a glowing recommendation.  It doesn’t have to always mean cake and ice cream – employees just want to know what they are doing right.

Tip #3: Focus on Happiness. 
Happy employees are naturally going to be motivated employees.  Generous paid time off, company sponsored events, excellent benefits, and a good work environment are a few things that keep good employees coming back.  Happy employees not only stay motivated, but generally give a business a reputation of placing importance on employee satisfaction, and a good reputation is invaluable.
Related: Building a Productive Work Team

Tip 4: Hear Them Out. 
Employees who have a voice in their company will be motivated to work hard because they will feel more a part of the company and its successes.  Wainwright Industries in St. Peters, Missouri created the Wainwright’s Continuous Improvement Process.  In 1994 associates implemented over 8,400 improvement ideas from their workforce.  They presently average 300 ideas a week from 146 associates.   The associates – not management – run this powerful process.  This works because associates at Wainwright have authority to make any improvements, without permission for up to $1000 in cost.  If their idea or change exceeds this amount, they fill out a form to for approval.  Not only do employees get a stake in the changes and improvements the company makes, they also are eligible for weekly cash drawings just for submitting ideas.
For more about inclusion: Employee Motivation: Inclusion and Praise

Tip #5: Develop Each Individual. 
Coaching is employee development, and your only cost is time. Giving your time means you care.  It gives your employees a chance to give feedback, share their successes and struggles, and learn from someone who has been in their shoes(You!). Many companies will invest about an hour each month into each individual with manager coaching meetings.  When compared to companies who do not have regular coaching meetings, employee satisfaction is much lower, and the non-coached employees do not feel as valued as their counterparts.  All this adds up to employees who are not motivated.

Save money-hire a recruiter

Does it really cost to hire?  Can you really save money by hiring a recruiter considering that many recruiters charge anywhere between 15-35% of an employee’s annual salary?  As a recruiter I can make the case that  a company can easily save money by hiring a full service recruiter.  Some studies claim that the average hiring manager will spend anywhere between 9 and 17 weeks to hire a new employee.  During this time the hiring manager will advertise, screen, interview applicants, re-interview applicants, check references run background checks, write offer letters and communicate the new hire to the existing employees.  Although the costs associated with these activities are subtle, the time and money adds up quickly.  A full service recruiting firm should  save your company by performing these activities, including interviewing support and partnering.  This task is particularly important because many interviews conducted by managers are more akin to a casual conversation or a promotion for the company instead of a structured time to learn if the applicant has the right skills and how they will fit in with the culture of the company.  In addition,  most recruiting companies, offer some kind of a guarantee to help protect the company from making the wrong hiring decision.

So why don’t more businesses hire a recruiter?  Let me hear your thoughts!

How to use credit reports in the recruiting process without getting sued

If you don’t want to be listed as my worst resume ever….follow this advice

My last blog was simply a post of one of the worst resumes I have ever seen.  To  help you avoid winning this prestigious award in the future I have given you a few pieces of advice to help you create or clean up your résumé.

1.  If you are going to include an Objective Section, make sure its specific and to the point.  I have also seen very long objectives that include generic statements about wanting “stability” or worse, list attributes of the applicant.  This is not the point of writing objectives.   The other point is that it should address the job you are applying for.  I have received many resumes that list an objective for another job than what I have listed.

2. Your contact information should be correct and accessible.  In other words, if you are looking for a job you should answer your phone during business hours.  Or, at least, you should return calls promptly.  I once received a call back from a candidate a week after I called because she was on vacation.  There is no excuse for that.  If you go on vacation take your phone with you and check email from time to time.  Or, start your job search when you return.

3.  If there is a spelling mistake, chances are, I will stop reviewing your résumé.  Most jobs receive anywhere from 100-500 resumes and I have plenty more to review.  This is the single most important document you create to support your job search.  Treat it that way.  If you have a spelling mistake, what kind of work will I think you will be doing for my client (the hiring employer)?  Exactly- slightly careless.

4.  Don’t worry, if you need more than one page its fine.  I think one page resumes applies to either old school advice or to recent college graduates.  But beyond two pages I would be very careful.

5.  In the body of your résumé you will be listing your experience primarily.  A few pieces of advice..Instead of writing in paragraph format I would highly recommend bulleted format.  It’s a lot easier to read short concise sentences.  In addition, use action words and don’t use the same ones over and over.  Do you want a list of action verbs to help you in creating your résumé?  Go to <a href=”http://www.resume-help.org/resume_action_words.htm”>http://www.resume-help.org/resume_action_words.htm</a>.  It’s the most amazing list I have ever seen!  This same site also recommends using the signs #, % and $.  They stand out and emphasize your accomplishments and what you can do for their company.

But the #1 tip (or the #6 tip in this little list) is proof read the résumé before you post it or send it out.  And, have a few friends proof read, and then proof read it again.  Again, your resume is the only reflection they have of you until you are invited in for an interview.  And unless you do a great job on the résumé, you will not be invited in!

Worst resume I have ever seen

Inc Magazine asked HR Professionals in Twitter World today to see the worst resume we have seen.   I am not a resume writer.  I refer that area of business out.  But I see many resumes throughout the day.  Often I see hundreds and hundreds of resumes.  I have seen resumes with spelling mistakes and grammatical mistakes.  This resume had it all! 

Name

PROFILE:

I am a dedicated individual who has a desire to work within a healthcare setting, and am always up to a challenge. I am seeking a position in nursing where I can develop and excel while giving my best to my employer.

•  Resident Care Supervisor

Jul 2008 – Present

X Living Center

~In charge of overseeing caregiving staff to include scheduling
~Responsible for physician orders
~Overse daily operations of facility
~In charge of companion service program
~Billing and Payroll of companions

•  LPN~Charge Nurse

Mar 2008 – Jun 2008

H Manor

Charge Nurse Long Term Care/ Rehab Unit
~Critical Thinking
~Medication Administration
~Computer Charting
~End of Life Care
~Wound Assessment/Treatment
~Pain Management
~Behavior Management
~Dementia/Alzheimers Care
~Trach Care
~Ostomy Care
~Peg tube Care

•  LPN

Aug 2007 – Feb 2008

Great Urgent Care Center

Charge Nurse~Acute Care After Hours Center Adult/Pediatrics
~In charge of Acute Care Assessments
~EKG Tests
~Holter Monitors
~Stress Tests
~Blood Draws
~Injections
~Charting
~Prescription ordering
~Physician Orders
~UA, CBC lab stat orders
~Pain Management

•  LPN

Mar 2007 – Jul 2007

H Manor

Supervisor: Denise Simms X
40 hours per week
Charge Nurse for skilled nursing and rehab unit. Responsibilities to include:
~ Medication administration
~ Thinking
~ Wound Care/Treatments
~ Trach Care/Ostomy Care/NG Tube Care
~ Computer charting/Medicare Charting
~ Physician Orders
~ Supervision of CNA Staff
~ Medication ordering/tracking

EDUCATION :

RN Nursing Program

Mar 2007 – Present

Exc College

Online

GPA:3.86
Associate of Science Degree~RN
Currently completing RN program

LPN

Jan 2006 Dec 2006

Career Training Institute

LPN Diploma
GPA: 3.90
American Heart Association Certified

Pre Nursing

Jan 1994 Apr 2003

Valley State University

GPA: 3.5
Pre Nursing Course Work
RN Program prerequisites
63 Semester Credits

SKILLS :

• Motivator, Team Leader, Excellent Communication skills, ability to establish rapport with contacts easily.

~Competent in multiple Medication Administration

~Critical Thinking Skills ~Lab Value analysis ~Computer Charting ~Head To Toe Assessments ~Wound Care/ Treatments ~Patient pain control measures

ACHIEVEMENT •  Dedicated and Committed to being a quality nurse •  American Sign Language •  CPR certification

REFERENCES :

The use of Assessments in the Recruiting Process

There is an important role for assessments in the recruiting process.  But it should not be used to replace any step of a good recruiting process.  I have seen employers who use assessments but they do not speak with references (see my previous blog on the importance of references); or, they do not invite good candidates in for a 2^nd interview.  I have seen assessments replace background checks.  This is not the purpose of assessments.  Every step of the recruiting process is critical in choosing the right candidate.  It is also important that the assessments are administered by, and feedback given, by a qualified professional.

I have recently partnered with Dr. Sandy Gluckman (www.sandygluckman.com) to integrate assessments as a part of my recruiting process.  Dr. Sandy Gluckman has a PhD in Clinical Psychology  and a post graduate degree in leadership and organizational development.  She has been working with business leaders, employees and teams for over 30 years.   We are offering two assessments to clients –  the Discus and the HBDI.   Both are available for assessing individuals as well as teams. The Discus represents a superb new generation in professional profiling solutions. Among the many extremely useful reports that Discus offers is  the Job Match’ report, that examines a candidate’s suitability for different roles,  and indicates strengths, weaknesses and training requirements for a particular candidate.  Other reports offer objective insights into how the person behaves in various business situations,  how they approach their work,  relationship assessment, team building, job matching, negotiation profiling.  The HBDI is a cutting edge tool for senior positions that involve strategic thinking, top level decision making, leadership skills, communication, and creativity.  It is based on identifying the different thinking styles as related to the left and right brain,  and reveals how to leverage these natural talents and address the gaps in thinking.

The ideal way to use these assessments is to administer assessments for the team before the hiring process even takes place.  This will give employers a strong understanding of the teams’ strengths and what gaps may exist in style and capabilities.  Offering a team assessment will also facilitate us in targeting the right candidate to fill in the “gaps” within the team and avoid creating teams that consist of individuals that are like-minded clones of each other.

The most effective and economical way to use assessments within the recruiting process is either before the second interview or after the interview process before a decision has been made.  Consider the various parts of the recruiting process:

• We start by communicating the open need (i.e posting).  Sometimes hundreds of candidates respond.
• Resumes are screened and then phone interviews begin. 
• Typically after the phone interview 2-3 professional references are checked.  At that point, strong candidates who have been interviewed over the phone and have strong references will be invited in for the first interview.
• After first interviews a short list of candidates will be invited back for a second interview.  This is a great time to administer either The Discus or The HBDI. After administering the assessment and Dr. Gluckman analyzes the results, questions for the candidate will come up.  These questions can be asked during the second interview to have an even better understanding of the candidate and their fit within the organization.
• Not only can the assessments be used to support the recruiting process and determine a candidates fit within an organization, the results can also help assess a new employees’ development needs.  This information can help both employers’ understand training and development needs of their new employee.  And, The individual will be able to use the information derived from the assessment to encourage responsibility for addressing areas for improvement. 

In my search process for an appropriate assessment to be used as a part of my recruiting practice it was most important for me to find an experienced and credible administrator.  I also wanted to make sure that the assessments would not “break the bank”.  Given the number of clients I have who see the value in assessments in the recruiting process, Dr. Gluckman was able to give me a very good rate to offer my clients.  So there is nothing stopping you from integrating the use of assessments in the recruiting process!  Contact me and we can move forward!