4. Dealing with Outstanding Employees Some of your employees obviously outperform the others.

Thats good news for your organization, but it presents its own set of challenges. Outstanding employees need special treatment. You want them to keep doing an exceptional job but that usually means that youll have to pay them special attention. They need recognition for their talents and efforts. They need encouragement, training and guidance. And above all they need to know that they have a career path in your company, even if that career path takes them out of your organization. Youll be tempted to hold on to your outstanding employees and keep them from being promoted out of your organization. You shouldnt do that. When an employee star outgrows your organization, the best thing for your company is to make sure that the employee finds a home in another part of your company where he or she can continue to contribute. And ultimately, youll be rewarded for your good deed of helping the employee achieve his or her potential. Your reputation as a team player and good manager will grow, and your own career will be enhanced.

1. What Is an Outstanding Employee? o What Are the Qualities of Outstanding Employees? o Do They Possess Strong Leadership Qualities? o Can You Meet Their Career Aspirations? 2. How Do You Beat the Competition? o Can You Offer Employees Stability? o How Do You Attract Competitors? Employees?

Whats In It for Me? 3. Where Do You Find Outstanding Employees? o Create an Exciting Job Description o How Do You Attract Outstanding People? 4. How Do You PreScreen Applicants? o What to Look for in a Rsum o Start by Asking the Right Questions o Always Look for Winners 5. What Should You Do Before the Interview? o Preparing for the Interview o Team Interviews o Posting Job Openings 6. How Do You Qualify Candidates During an Interview? o Sell Every Candidate o Ask the Right Qualifying Questions o Avoid Pessimists 7. How Do You Uncover Hidden Problems? o Use Questions to Uncover Hidden Problems o Do They Have the Skills That You Need? o Personal Appearance 8. How Do You Sell a Candidate On Your Organization? o Mastering the Art of Persuasion o Using Hooks o The Final Persuader 9. What if the Candidate Rejects Your Offer? o Why Did They Turn You Down? o Lead With Your Best Foot Forward 10. Why Should You Only Hire Team Leaders? o What All Teams Need o Make a Great First Impression 11. What Can You Do To Minimize Employee Turnover? o What to Watch Out For o Questions You Must Ask to Uncover Turnover Problems 12. How Do Informal Rewards Help Retain Outstanding Employees? o Easy Ways to Implement Informal Rewards o Low-Cost Rewards 13. How Do Formal Rewards Help Retain Outstanding Employees? o Formal Reward Guidelines 14. How Do You Set Up Achievement Reward Programs? o Outstanding Employee Rewards o Sales Goal Rewards o Group Rewards o Team Rewards 15. How to Use Contests To Excite Outstanding Employees o Contest Reward Ground Rules o Travel Reward Contests

16. What Can You Do To Keep o Your Team Motivated? o How Do You Motivate Your Team? 17. Where Do Fringe Benefits Fit Into Your Rewards Program? o Offer Incentive Plans o Add a Profit-Sharing Plan o Compensating with Training o Offer Your Employees an ESOP Program 18. How Do You Motivate Outstanding Employees? o Common Motivational Drives We All Have o Maintaining Motivation Throughout Your Organization o Give People Real Work to Do 19. How Can You Get More Out Of Your Outstanding Employees? o Speak with a Vision that People Can See o What the Experts Say o Get Your Outstanding People Involved 20. What Does the Future Hold for Your Organization? o Embrace Change o Future Roles and Structure 21. Where Are There More Ideas to Attract Outstanding Employees? 22. Chapter 22 o Summary and Conclusions

How many management articles, books, speeches and workshops have pleaded plaintively, "How do I get employees to do what I want?" Motivating people to do their best work, consistently, has been an enduring challenge for executives and managers. Even understanding what constitutes human motivation has been a centuries old puzzle, addressed as far back as Aristotle. When Frederick Herzberg researched the sources of employee motivation during the l950s and l960s, he discovered a dichotomy that still intrigues and baffles managers: The things that make people satisfied and motivated on the job are different in kind from the things that make them dissatisfied. Ask workers what makes them unhappy at work, and you'll hear them talk about insufficient pay or an uncomfortable work environment, or "stupid" regulations and policies that are restraining or the lack of job flexibility and freedom. So environmental factors can be

demotivating, but even if managed brilliantly, fixing these factors won't motivate people to work harder or smarter. It turns out that people are motivated by interesting work, challenge, and increasing responsibility--intrinsic factors. People have a deep-seated need for growth and achievement. Herzberg's work influenced a generation of scholars and researchers--but never seemed to make an impact on managers in the workplace, where the focus on motivation remained the "carrot-and-stick" approach, or external motivators. What do we mean by motivation? It's been defined as a predisposition to behave in a purposeful manner to achieve specific, unmet needs and the will to achieve, and the inner force that drives individuals to accomplish personal and organizational goals. And why do we need motivated employees? The answer is survival. Motivated employees are needed in our rapidly changing workplaces, and to be effective, managers need to understand that and do something about it. A review of the research literature by James R. Lindner at Ohio State University concluded that employee motivation was driven more by factors such as interesting work than financial compensation. John Baldoni, author of Great Motivation Secrets of Great Leaders, concluded that motivation comes from wanting to do something of one's own free will, and that motivation is simply leadership behavior--wanting to do what is right for people and the organization. More recently, due to the expanding field of neuroscience, we've acquired new insights into the motivation issue. In the July, 2008 issue of theHarvard Business Review, authors Nitin Nohria, Boris Groysberg and Linda-Eling Lee describe a new model of employee motivation. They outline the four fundamental emotional drives that underlie motivation as: The drive to acquire (the acquisition of scarce material things, including financial compensation, to feel better); the drive to bond (developing strong bonds of love, caring and belonging); the drive to comprehend (to make sense of our world so we can take the right actions);and the drive to defend (defending our property, ourselves and our accomplishments). Norhria and associates argue that managers who try to increase motivation must satisfy all of these four drives. Best practice companies have initiated reward systems based on performance; addressed the bond drive by developing a corporate culture based on friendship, mutual reliance, collaboration and sharing; addressed the drive of comprehend by instituting job design system where jobs are designed for specific roles, and those jobs are meaningful and foster a sense of contribution to the organization. And finally to address the defend drive, best practice companies restructure their leadership approaches to increase transparency of all processes, ensure fairness through the organization and build trust and openness with everyone. In his new book, Drive, Daniel Pink, author of A Whole New Mind, describes what he says is "the surprising truth" about what motivates us. Pink says that true motivation boils down to three elements: Autonomy, the desire to direct our own lives; mastery, the desire to continually improve at something that matters to us, and purpose, the desire to do things in service of something larger than ourselves. Pink, joining a chorus of many others, warns that the traditional "command-and-control" management methods in which organizations use money as a contingent reward for a task, are not only ineffective as motivators, but actually harmful.

And brain science is now giving us some physiological clues as to how motivation works. Consider this: 98% of everything scientists know about the human brain has been discovered in the last 6 years; 80% of what scientists thought was true about the human brain before 1995 has now been found to be false, or misleading. A U.S. National Institute of Health Study using brain scans, has found that the neurotransmitter dopamine is central to the human brain network governing motivation as well as reward and pleasure. Joseph Le Doux, in his book, Human Emotions: A Reader, describes new recent brain research that has shown that emotions are the driver for decision-making, which includes aspects of motivation. In summary, the implications for managers in organizations are significant. Leaders today must be not just cognizant of the latest research on motivation, but take action to make those organizational and relationship changes to take advantage of this research.

Characteristics of the Ideal Employee P. Inglish 1995 - 2009, all rights reserved. . 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Dependability Honesty & Integrity Positive, Proactive Attitude Willing to Work Uses Down Time Productively

DEPENDABILITY Management and executive staff and corporate employers overall see Dependability in these good qualities: 1. Always Follows Directions 2. Consistently Accurate 3. Works Independently 4. Gets Along with peers, management, and clients 5. Good Grooming and Hygiene 6. Always On Time to work and back from breaks. 7. Good Attendance - Does not take off all their sick time just because they have it 8. Cooperative, but asks good questions 9. Upbeat and Proactive Attitude 10. Team Player

HONESTY & INTEGRITY This is more than just telling the truth. It includes doing your best work for your work team, your company and your boss. Holding back because one is afraid of working more than others and not be rewarded for it is an immature belief; such an employee needs to sit down with the supervisor or boss and ask about the chances for advancement and raises and how to accomplish them. The action of doing as little as possible while others make up the difference is not a likeable personality trait at work, at home, or anywhere else. Remember that many founding colonies and new nations began by leaders telling their settlers, "He who does not work, does not eat." Such an employee will make enemies of coworkers and also not be promoted. In addition, this negative trait will definitely show up as a problem on annual performance reviews. Examples of dishonesty and lack of integrity:

Working more slowly than the standard pace. Having coworkers clock in for them when late. This is usually illegal as well. Pilfering work-related supplies and equipment. Extended breaks and rest room visits. Completing personal tasks on the job, using company equipment and supplies, including the telephone and Internet.

POSITIVE, PROACTIVE ATTITUDE Attitudes project your beliefs and values, and what you think of your job, coworkers and boss. It is shown in the quality of your work. The boss is aware of your individual attitudes at work and is watching them every day. They are as important as the work that you produce. A "positive" attitude does not always mean "happy", but it is better to be upbeat at work rather than brooding and angry, "Positive" can also mean proactive, which means you go after things and don't wait for them to come to you (using initiative). Good Attitudes: Smiles

Good posture Pleasant tone of voice Complaining through proper channels, while offering ideas for improvement. Respect and courtesy Managing conflict and anger Good job performance Interested in others

Bad Attitudes: Blank facial expression or a frown

Slumping in chairs, leaning on walls Sarcasm, unmodulated voice, mumbling Complaining on the work floor Trash talking about the company to coworkers; enabling bad attitudes among others Displaying anger inappropriately Substandard job performance Ignoring people at work

Good attitudes help get you promoted, make friends, please customers and raise sales. Good attitudes increase your value to your company.

WILLING TO WORK You show your willingness to work with these qualities: 1. Ability and Desire to Communicate- Organizing and present your thoughts clearly. 2. Intelligence- Showing common sense and the ability and desire to learn. 3. Self-Confidence - Showing assertiveness and initiative. 4. Accepting Responsibility - Takes on new challenges, admits mistakes and fixes them. 5. Leadership - Being a good example, taking charge. 6. High Energy Level. 7. Imagination. 8. Flexibility - Adaptable, accepts changes. 9. Gets along with others. 10. Handles Conflict 11. Sets and Achieves Goals - Continuous improvement. Has personal direction, 12. Occupational Skills - Able to do the job and accept new training.

USES DOWN TIME PRODUCTIVELY When you are not busy at work, or between major projects, be productive by doing these things: 1. Read trade journals and magazine articles about your company and the industry in which you work. 2. Read about current trends in your industry on the Internet. 3. Ask for, or find, new tasks to do; help someone else. 4. Think of a better way to do something in your job or in the company. 5. Clean and organize your work area. 6. Update your filing systems, clean out old email messages, etc. 7. Write an article about your job or your industry and share it with your boss. 8. Take an online class that is relevant to your job. Some of these are free of charge.