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Boosting Productivity - When consultant Roger E. Herman hears small business owners complain that "people go where the money is," he quickly retorts: "False! All the studies show otherwise." He points to a Robert Half International survey which demonstrates that "compensation is not the predominant reason why people leave their jobs for supposedly greener pastures."

Instead, asserts Herman, "People are hungry for opportunities to grow into their jobs. They crave advancement, both in position and stature, and in responsibility and opportunity."

Herman has just finished his fifth book on employee management, titled Facilitative Leadership. He maintains that the most effective way to boost employee morale is to provide an optimum working environment. He warns that this can't be done with pep talks when you notice a drop in the level of enthusiasm. "You have to create an optimal environment in the employee's perception, as part of an integrated strategy that inspires people to do their best day in and day out."

There are seven key issues in creating such an environment:

Appreciation
Research shows that people often leave an employer because they haven't received the recognition they want, or feedback on how they are doing.

Perhaps the first step in creating an atmosphere that will motivate employees is expressing appreciation. Supervisors should commend progress toward agreed-upon goals in a continual and consistent manner. Remember to express your appreciation for the invisible people- the receptionist, the janitor, the payroll clerk as well as the stars. These employees all need to be singled out from time to time and commended for their efforts in keeping the company running smoothly.

Ferdinand Fournies, author of Why Employees Don't Do What They're Supposed To Do, counsels that verbal praise should be given immediately after an employee has completed a successful project. Generally, the praise should be specific ("Thanks for getting the marketing report in on time") and honest ("Sections One, Two and Three are great, but let's discuss making changes to Section Four"). Fournies also claims that tangible rewards such as bonuses, time off or gifts are effective ways to express appreciation, especially when given more frequently than on a once-a-year basis.

Show pride in your staff. You might reprint an article that quotes an employee and send it to interested customers. Publish news about an employee's participation in a trade or professional association in your company newsletter. And post copies of letters of appreciation to personnel on the staff bulletin board.

Celebrate successes. When people work hard to complete a project, make sure their accomplishments are acknowledged before tackling the next challenge. Celebrating today's win provides the inspiration for tomorrow's effort.

Involvement
People want to feel involved in their jobs and important to the success of their companies. They are closest to the work for which they are responsible, and know how it can most effectively be done. Supervisors can motivate staff by asking them to set their own job goals and suggest better ways to do things.

Employees appreciate knowing they work for a company with a clear sense of the future; they are even more committed when they help define that future. While the benefits of having a company mission statement are great, the benefits of involving each and every employee in constructing that statement are inestimable.

In a family, people care about each other, stand together against outsiders (the competition), and support each other through times of personal stress. When loyal family members have grievances, they possess sufficient trust to deal directly with those differences. These attitudes work just as well in business settings.

You can promote a family environment by encouraging people to car pool or work on projects together, by holding gatherings such as a summer barbecue, and by creating a health and fitness program for workers and their families.

People who enjoy one another are usually more productive in the workplace. They have greater loyalty to each other and to the organization.

Social Environment
A company's reputation rests on more than just the quality of its products. People judge firms by their philosophy and level of customer service, their involvement in community activities and their commitment to moral, environmental and even political issues. Today's employees are concerned about whether the values of the company for which they work are compatible with their own personal viewpoints.

It will become increasingly important for businesses to demonstrate their civic responsibility through involvement in community activities. When you can do so in ways that involve your staff, you also increase their loyalty. Low-cost and effective methods of strengthening community and employee ties include matching financial donations to nonprofits, allowing time off for community service, donating obsolete equipment to local organizations, and having personnel give career-choice talks to area students.

Management Concern
People appreciate help on personal problems, and want the boss to care about them as individuals. Today's manager must invest a significant amount of time in advising, counseling, coaching, training and listening. Employees who are helped to perform will feel better about themselves and the company for which they work.

Managers often worry that staff members don't want them "interfering" in their private lives, but when people are hurting they appreciate whatever assistance is offered. Supervisors are often among the few people who can influence an employee who needs mental health counseling, or should attend a drug or alcohol clinic. Often people need assistance, as well as confidentiality, to use these facilities.

Managers can also help workers find child care facilities, legal specialists and other professionals. It's not unusual for employers to pay for some of these services, advance paychecks and commissions, or grant special leaves of absence to help valued employees through periods of personal difficulties.

Some firms allow employees to use company equipment or facilities during non-business hours. For example, workers may use company trucks to move furniture, borrow shop tools over a weekend to work on home projects, or use the photocopy machine at night to reproduce a community newsletter.

Concern for your employees, as well as your liability, mandates a healthy -- not just a safe -- workplace. If a safety inspector stopped by tomorrow, what infractions would be found? Even the most conscientious company can let conditions deteriorate. And employees can get careless about wearing earplugs and safety glasses just as managers can get lax about enforcing the use of safety devices. If your people are working in areas that cannot be kept dust and odor free (as in some production facilities), they should have breathing masks and "clean" rooms. Employees appreciate your concern for their health and safety.

Management Loyalty
If you expect your people to be loyal to you, you have to be loyal to them. That means avoiding layoffs as much as possible, backing up personnel when they need help in dealing with customers or suppliers, and understanding when they make an honest mistake. Make it clear to employees from the very beginning, advises management consultant Fournies, that they will never be ridiculed or punished for well-intentioned actions.

If there's a difference between how you want employees to treat customers and how they actually do treat them, you might look to see if there's a similar difference in how you treat your workers. Preaching attentiveness to customer needs is hollow if the needs of your own staff are not given equal priority. And if employees perceive a double standard, they'll resent being on the losing side of it.

Do your policies support or obstruct how effectively your staff can deal with customers? An employee who has to get three supervisors to sign off on a product exchange will have a difficult time preventing the waiting customer from becoming impatient or angry. Giving front-line people the authority to "make it right" for customers reinforces their pride in their company while also building stronger customer relationships.

Working Environment
The physical place in which people work says a lot about the organization, its values and its policies. Employees are more productive when their environment is comfortable, pleasant, and efficiently organized for the tasks to be performed. Make sure the heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems work properly, that desks are spaced so phone conversations can be private, and that the noise level is comfortable.

As you arrive tomorrow morning, look objectively at your neighborhood, building, entrance area and the individual offices. You may be unpleasantly surprised at what you see. And look again on the way home, especially at the parking areas and walkways employees have to traverse if they work until after dark on a winter's night.

Respect
While working with your people as a group, never forget that each of them is an individual. While they see themselves as part of the team, even more importantly, they see themselves as individuals. Value all employees for who they are, and recognize the contribution each person makes to the overall organization.

Make sure all guidelines for staff behavior are reasonable and appropriate. While employee input takes time, it is usually more efficient to have staff participate in formulating workplace rules than to constantly have to reinforce compliance with unpopular regulations. When you make a policy ruling, explain its purpose and enforce it fairly.

Periodically your employees are going to disagree with your decisions. But whether those disagreements result in stalled productivity depends less on the decision than on how it is explained and carried out. When you take the time to explain your decisions, and listen carefully to people's responses, you are acknowledging their importance in bringing about the desired outcome. Another advantage of listening to employees when they disagree with your instructions, as Fournies points out, is that they may be right.

If important tasks go undone, Fournies counsels that for the most part, this situation is not that employees are not working. Instead, they are simply working on what they think is important in contrast to what the manager thinks is important.

Fournies suggests assigning priorities to tasks as you delegate them to employees, and explaining why some tasks are more important than others. If priorities should change, let staff know immediately. And avoid the tendency to label numerous tasks "top priority," or this designation will lose importance.

Don't swear. Profanity makes many people uncomfortable; they find it difficult to respect someone who curses, and hard to believe that person respects them.

Be fair and honest with everyone. You can't expect your employees to believe you are honest with them if they see you cheating on your suppliers.

Tactful discipline is a key issue for employees. While workers respect a policy calling for a reprimand when work is not up to par, or company rules are broken, they still expect to be treated with respect. A reprimand should be private rather than public, and should address the specific fault rather than the person's character.

Provide each supervisor with clear guidelines for disciplining employees, and insist they be applied without favoritism. A well-planned policy prevents capricious actions, and ensures that your disciplinary process will stand up in court. Showing that you respect your people will help build a team with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to perform at the high level of production which will accomplish your organization's mission.

The business that conscientiously tries to meet these employee needs will build a loyal and self-motivating staff. "You have to inspire people by giving them a good place to work and good work to do, and letting them motivate themselves," maintains Herman. "Recently the owner of a chain of floral shops told me a competitor had tried to recruit his top designer by offering her considerably more money than he was paying. She turned the competitor down saying, "I like it here. I've got flexibility. Our views are compatible with what's important to me. I'm appreciated."

Herman warns that despite the best of intentions in creating an optimal working environment, not every employee will respond the same way to everything you do. "A good leader should focus on treating each employee not equally, but fairly. More than ever before, we are leading a workforce of individuals. It is essential we recognize that and appreciate their differences." People are hungry for opportunities to grow into their jobs. They crave advancement, both in position and stature, and in responsibility and opportunity.

Everyone Needs Attention At a time when small business owners are hard pressed to maximize every payroll dollar, recognizing and rewarding employee contributions through recognition programs can be an excellent way to boost productivity and morale. In addition, they reinforce specific behaviors and types of performance the company values, such as innovation or good customer service.

It's important to tailor the recognition program to what motivates your employee base. Workers who put in long hours on a successful project, for example, may be motivated by getting extra time off. Personnel working in companies where top management is not highly visible may value a handwritten thank-you note from the president. Those who work the night shift or behind the scenes may be inspired by having their picture on a poster that is prominently displayed.

Whatever rewards are chosen, all recognition programs should be designed with the following seven principles in mind:

1. Make sure the program is compatible with your culture and values.
2. Clearly define the selection criteria so everyone understands the connection between achievements and rewards.
3. Recognize and reward recipients with open and well-publicized attention so as to acknowledge and communicate desired behaviors and performance.
4. Keep the selection process clean.
5. Never establish quotas or you will destroy the program's spontaneity.
6. Keep the programs fresh with short life cycles of six to 18 months.
7. Don't use recognition programs to mask an inadequate compensation program.

American Business Systems Provides Tangible Morale Boosters to Employees

Despite a lingering recession that has hit the Northeast particularly hard, Portland, Maine-based American Business Systems which sells and services copiers and fax machines D grew 35 percent in 1992. As co-founder Charles Cianciolo asserts, "This phenomenal growth is basically because of our employees." Willing to "pay more to get the highest quality people," Cianciolo's 66-person firm offers a benefits package covering major medical, dental, disability income and pension programs. "We also provide the tools necessary for employees to perform at a high level of quality," he explains, "including full computerization, pagers for all field personnel, and educational opportunities relative to each employee's area of expertise. These are all real morale boosters," claims Cianciolo. "No one in the industry has a package that matches it. Employees know that the better the company does, the more secure their future will be." Cianciolo says that originally he and his partner, James Packard, "started with the little guys and grew as they grew. Our adage has always been that customers come first, and they know we'll do whatever is needed to make it right."

Incentive Program Ideas:

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