5 Resolutions You Need to Keep
I know many of you don’t believe in New Year’s resolutions. And if you’re like me, when it comes to things like exercise or dieting, I’ve blown it before the end of January. But when if comes to work, making resolutions and keeping them can mean the difference between success and failure, especially when it comes to managing people.
So here are some resolutions that I hope you embrace:
1. Get Organized. I’ve written several blogs about delegating and organizing. Maybe 4 ways to de-clutter your brain and your office would be most helpful. The bottom line is that you cannot manage others if you can’t manage yourself and that means staying organized.
2. Start Stay Interviews. I recently read a great article in TLNT about the value of stay interviews. Instead of exit interviews, why not interview your top performers and find out what keeps them there. They basically had 4 questions:
Why do you stay at this company?
If you have been contacted by a headhunter why have you not been interested?
What are the things that you enjoy most about your job?
If the company could do anything better, what would it be?
3. Make feedback part of your culture. Incorporating feedback into your daily and weekly routines will encourage your employees to do the same. Instead of waiting for an annual or semi annual review, everyone knows where they stand, when they’ve done well and when they fell short. Overall performance should improve dramatically.
4. Have fun.For a lot of businesses, the last few years have not been too much fun. Between layoffs and financial results, the focus hasn’t really been on the employee. So make this the year that you not only get back to focusing on your staff, but have some fun. Have a contest or team building. Give people a chance to blow off steam. They’ll be reenergized and re-focused.
5. Make the hard decisions. You’ve tried coaching and goal setting and still you have someone who cannot step up their performance. It’s time to cut bait. It’s hard to fire someone, but believe me, you don’t do anyone any favors keeping them in a job that is a poor fit. Plus once they’re gone. Your best employees will come in and thank you.
As you turn the calendar to 2013, focus on the things that can improve your performance and the performance of your team. If you do that, you’ll have way more time to hit the gym.