Irrespective of age, everyone wants and needs to feel valued. The following points offer ideas for strategies to ensure that we attract and retain the right people in the right job at the right time.
– Worthwhile work — who wants to work in a job where the role is not clear and they can’t see the relationship between what they are doing and what the practice is trying to achieve?
– A sense of direction — does the team know where the practice is going? Are they coming along for the ride?
– Useful Information – we all want to be kept informed. Is your communication strategy effective?
– Values — does your practice communicate the values of the practice to team members? Do these align with the values of individuals?
– Reward and Recognition — everyone seeks to be recognised for what they contribute. How do you reward and recognise people — this isn’t only about money.
– Feedback — we all seek feedback on how we are doing. We all like to hear positive comments. Sometimes we need advice and feedback on how to improve at the time when we need to improve — great managers don’t save this up for appraisals, they address it immediately.
– Development and Growth — is there a process to identify the development needs of all team members? Do you regularly undertake a training needs analysis and document training plans? Is succession planning part of your practice strategy?
– Working conditions — does the practice have strategies that offer flexible working conditions but still meet the needs of the business?
We often hear that there are differences between the Baby Boomers, Generation X and Generation Y. Whilst these groups may have differences, they all have one thing in common — all of us wish to work in an environment that is interesting and stimulating, we all seek to be recognised for our efforts and we all need to have our skills developed to be able to contribute the best we can to the business.
Having a staff member perform poorly or leave is costly. Having staff members who are not part of the team is also costly. Effective businesses know what motivates individuals and have strategies in place to encourage and reward great performance.
We become what we do repeatedly. Therefore excellence is not an act but a habit. – Aristotle
Contact SED Consulting Practice Management Directors Lisa Phelps on 0418501835 or Vicki Hayward on 0407418081 for more information
