What has Employee Appreciation day to do with Improving Your HR? Well, everything! Service is the essence of improv! Service is all about making the lives of employees easier.
Join HRLearns and Neelie Verlinden for a session on how to reduce burnout. Register here: There is no HR for Human Resources: How to Prevent and Improve Burnout.
Here are 10 ways you can make the lives of your employees easier.
1. Get rid of a stupid rule.
, you have a stupid rule . It’s almost a guarantee. What stupid rule is this? What about a note from a physician for each absence? What about having your exempt employees track each minute (who don’t bill time to clients?) What about deducting PTO from exempt employees every time they’re not in the office but giving them extra PTO if they work over 40 hours a week? All of these rules are stupid. They should be discarded.
2. Firing the terrible employee
You most likely have one. You haven’t had any dealings with this person for whatever reason. She may be a slacker or a gossip. He might be a bully. Or he could just not do the job. Getting rid of a problem employee will make your other employees appreciate you.
3. Acknowledge your employees’ extra efforts.
We decided, for whatever reason we chose, that a standard 40-hour week would be the norm. Many exempt employees regularly work more than 40 hours. In many industries, it’s a given. It doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t thank them. Non-exempt employees get overtime pay for extra effort. Exempt employees deserve a special thank you for their extra efforts .
4. Listen to a thought.
You may be the boss but you hired others because you wanted their ideas. Listen to them. Encourage them. Consider implementing their ideas. Consider their hard work and ideas. This will make your employees feel valued.
5. Do not play favorites
You like certain personalities more than others. You shouldn’t let dislike or like the person dictate the type of work you do and the rewards that you give. Look at performance and productivity instead. Reward performance, not personalities. Remember that while it is legal to give people special treatment based on personality, it is not legal to do so based on race, gender or other protected categories.
6. Allow people to breathe.
Do not hover over someone new who has never made a mistake. Guide them, but let them do their job. If you don’t hire people badly, they can do the job that you hired them for. Everyone makes mistakes in hiring, even experts. But if you’re consistently making mistakes, it’s a big problem. Allow your employees to do their jobs and let them know that you are available for help if needed. That’s it.
7. You are responsible for your mistakes.
I will never forget the time I warned and cautioned repeatedly the head of compensation about his plan to raise pay. He was adamant that he had it right. He blamed me for the failure of the plan when it fell on his head. While he was not my boss (thankfully), i never trusted him again. It would have been then that I would have started searching for a job if he was my boss. He messed up. He did. Don’t be him. Say “Yes, Suzanne warned you, but I overrode it.” “This is my fault.”
8. They have their backs.
Your employees will make mistakes. Sometimes they are big. You got it. If the employee made a mistake that was honest, then support them. Don’t let her career be ruined by the mistake. Give her tools to fix it. You need employees who will take risks. You will soon run out of people willing to take risks if you punish them for failing. Tell your employees that you will reward them for their efforts, and even if they fail.
9. Bonuses and raises are deserved.
Although I claimed that these ideas would not cost you anything, I’m now talking about money. What is a 3 % raise for an employee who earns $50,000 per year? Do the math quickly: $1500. What is the cost to replace a $50,000-a-year employee? The cost of replacing an employee earning $50,000 varies widely, but is usually more than $1500. Rewarding a good employee costs you less than replacing them. You can estimate the cost of replacing an employee at 25-50 per cent of their salary. For executives, the figure is 100-200 per cent. Reward your employees wisely.
10. Be honest.
You can’t share certain things with your employees. These are rare and few things. The majority of things that management keep secret are done so they don’t have to explain themselves to their employees. It makes your employees feel like they can’t rely on you, and that you do not trust them. How can you create a positive working environment if you do not trust each other. Be honest about the situation. You can say that you are unable to say something, such as if you are in the middle contract negotiations. We’re currently in the middle or negotiations and will let you know as soon as things are resolved.
These 10 tips were originally published at Inc.
