Friday’s always remind me of family and friends. As an administrator, I took this night to have as our night together. We had pizza or went out to dinner, and when my daughter was cheering, we took in whatever game she was at to enjoy.
I just finished reading the book Love’em or Lose’em Getting Good People to Stay by Beverly Kaye and Sharon Jordan-Evans. I highly recommend this book to everyone working with individuals!
As I was reading, I did a great deal of reflecting as an employee at different stages in my career and as a leader. I never really liked to refer to myself as the “boss” because I felt like we all worked as a team, but if there was a mistake, I wanted to be the one to take responsibility.
In the book, you will find 26 chapters which matches the 26 engagement strategies for busy managers. I love how the book is set up in the contents. It allows you to have a quick reference of the topic of the chapter, meaning and reflective questioning. Perfect for the readers to prepare for reading for more than content, but with a more in-depth look into beliefs, practices and actions. The best part is you can start at the beginning, in the middle or at the end. To help guide you even further, they have included at the beginning a Retention/Engagement Index to do a self-assessment to help direct you to chapters you may want to read first based on your score. This book meets you where you are! Look at the content list of chapters, complete the REI and see where you want to start. Perfect for everyone!
One of the chapters in the book is Dignity. Ponder and reflect on this word. If you are a leader how do people describe you? What if you are a co-worker? As we work in an environment, it is essential to get to know each other, understand cultures, learn about differences and build trust.
“Honoring others and treating them with dignity and respect may mean managing your moods?” We may have times when we need to apologize to others if we cannot control our moods. An example could be: an open meeting we disrespect another employee by yelling at them or making comments to belittle them. Recognizing this is not the best way to approach any situation. Providing an apology is a sign of respect and is appreciated.
Notice your staff, smile, greet them, introduce them to others, and help to make them feel visible. When people leave a job they often report they felt invisible. Your staff and co-workers want to be noticed and included.
In my blog post Wednesday Window Pain, I mentioned a story of my boss not being in her office after asking me to come over. Bosses who are busy, may seem to be unreachable. In my situation, it was true. I never had a time I could speak to her.
Employees feel unimportant and disrespected when they have to ask repeatedly to meet with the boss. Then when they do not hear back from the boss, you begin to lose them.
“Treating an employee with dignity means acknowledging how difficult and unique this life situation is.” Listen to employees’ needs and wants. Respond to them quickly and follow up if needed. Be helpful to them in their time of need. My boss always told us a story about a person dying because they worked so much. Remember, she said, we will continue to work when you are gone. You will be replaced and we will move on. I think she was trying to motivate us to spend more time with family, but the message was not clear to all.
Treat those you work with and for with respect, dignity, and love. You spend a great deal of time with those who choose a job you each wake up every morning to do! Isn’t it the best job and one you love! Don’t lose people who love what you all do!
Order your copy of Love’em or Lose’em on Amazon!