5 Ways to keep your staff motivated?

Use your manners

When people feel appreciated, they are happier, more productive workers. Saying "hello" to employees when you get to work as well as saying "please" and "thank you" are easy things to do but carry a lot of weight when it comes to making people feel valued.

When people of upper management or owners come in, employees can feel anxious or slighted if not greeted properly or even at all.  Approachability of management is a huge must for employees. It humanizes and endears them.

Give credit when it's due.

Considering the hours your employees spend at work--often more than what they get with family--it's essential to tell them when they've excelled on a project or gone above and beyond the call of duty.

Encourage having fun on the job.

Work doesn't have to be a four-letter. Holding employee events that have nothing to do with work, but rather are geared solely on letting off steam, having fun and building team camaraderie.

Communicate clearly, consistently, and often.

Communication is integral to any relationship, including those at work. Ideally, your employees will be crystal clear about what you expect from them and receive frequent feedback regarding how they're doing in meeting goals, not to mention understand and buy into the company's vision.

Offer fantastic benefits.

You can't underestimate how important benefits are to employee’s contentment and retention, whether its health insurance, paid parking, free lunches, generous vacation policies, or a great 401(k) plan. Go overboard giving employees all those things and much more. Offer perks such as subsidized housekeeping, free haircuts, legal advice, travel assistance, and dry cleaning

Want To Reduce Turnover?

What is your problem? You should continuously be asking this question. If you don't know what your problems are, your company will continue to struggle with higher than acceptable turnover. To adequately and appropriately answer the question, you must recognize that the question isn't really about you, it's about your employees. How are you influencing your employees abilities to get their work done in as effective and efficient a manner possible?

The ball might be in your court now, you may have what seems like an endless supply of qualified applicants ready to take over when an employee leaves; but this will not always be. The time is now, to prepare for change. Failure to focus on turnover reduction will significantly impact the viability of your organization.

Your employees are individuals. There is more to them than meets the eye. Are you digging beneath the surface? Be a gold digger. Gold does not sit on the surface, you must dig for it. If you're confused at how to dig, simply ask for the shovel. Ask. The fact alone that you are interested in them, as an individual, will entice them to make digging easier for you. Also, remember that while your needs are of high concern and priority, they are not your sole, and often even most important, concern and/or priority.

Start with an Employee Satisfaction Survey... Here's One For You. 

3 Interview Questions To Avoid

Friendly. Harmless. Deadly.


More employees, more problems. Seriously! 


When hiring a new member of your team, do you know what questions to avoid? Some questions you may consider to be friendly or harmless can cause more harm than you ever thought imaginable. Hiring an individual is serious business and done wrong, you could be in serious trouble.


Avoid asking the following questions during job interviews:

How Old Are You?

Age related questions are never, never, never.... NEVER appropriate to ask a candidate during a job interview. Age is such a hot issue that there is Federal law prohibiting discrimination based upon ones age. If you, for whatever reason, must inquire about a candidates age, do so by asking more appropriate, more indirect questions, such as: Are you over 18? ... This question is generally safe to ask. 

When Did You Move To The United States?

You can and should always verify a persons legal right to obtain employment in the United States. However, you should never ask a candidate directly about citizenship or their birth country. 

Are You [Insert Any Religion Here]?

I can't ever imagine a time when a candidates personal religious affiliations would ever be any of your concern. You should never ask about a persons religious affiliations. Because some religions observe certain days/holidays as days when work can not be done, you can ask about a candidates availability. When asking about a candidates availability, you should always inform the candidate that your organization does make reasonable exceptions for people to exercise their religious beliefs. 

Above are 3 interview questions to avoid asking candidates during job interviews. There are many more questions you should avoid asking interviewees to avoid legal issues. Educate yourself. Hiring is serious business.