HR Business Links: For Business Sake…Keep the Hope Alive!
According to an article I read in the Sacramento Business Journal, small business owners continued to cut jobs in November. “NFIB’s index of small-businesses indicators fell 0.8 points in November to 88.3”, mainly due to the shortage of customers as Chief economist William Dunkelberg writes.
The good news is, the data reported is telling about the state of small business job cuts, but not plant closures. This translates to me, that there is still hope! Hope for the re-hiring of skilled and talented employees when the economy turns around to the positive, and get a return on investment as your business invests in the human capital in the areas of the business where jobs were retained!
Several years ago, I worked for a company that closed the plant to relocate to another area within the state of California, approximately 3 and a half hours away from the existing plant location due to expansion. Before this was communicated to all the employees, productivity was averaging 18-27 units per hours during non-peak season. The leadership team formulated communication to inform all the employees of the plants’ closure and to relocate. Some of the communication keys included:
Why the decision to relocate the plant/operation?
What the plans were for the employee’s employment until closure. (EDD, Severance Packages, time lines, and relocation incentives). Most importantly, the appreciation and talent that the employees possessed were communicated and therefore incentives to relocate were provided. Lastly, at each milestone towards the plant’s closure was communicated in small teams. At the end of the first quarter after the announcement, productivity averaged 18- 30 units per hour during peak season. 25% of the workforce relocated with the company and trained the entry of the newly hired team at the new plant. With all things considered, productivity sustained because of the communication between the management team and the employees in what could have been a time of turmoil for the company.
Have you looked for opportunities to capitalize on your existing talent and boost morale? The impact on your ROI and retention strategies is vital while the economy recovers to better health.
Here are a few ideas you can use as strategies to retain employees and increase your employee morale:
Communication- by “any means necessary”-remember you have oratory, visual and data driven- type learners as employees; an example would be the posting of the operations score card will cover some bases. Results may very well show greater employee engagement and ownership of their job.
Safety – Managers/Supervisors communicate the open door policy.
Results may show an increase in employees’ sense of having a safe work environment to bring resolutions to problems in the work place.
Morale Booster(s) –Review your employees who are on any Leaves of Absences. Send them a get well card, or a holiday card would be timely, or call them to see how they are doing. Have a team meeting just to uncover hidden skills; you may have a chef, or perhaps a comedian that could make your holiday party or team building meeting fun. The result of morale boosting programs may be employees having a spirit of “I can do this” which can result in EXCELLENT customer service!
Have a “Dress for Success” day at the office, which is a unique and fun way of reinforcing the dress code.
Review schedule of employees – 90 day and annual reviews can be very helpful. It is highly probable that employees and staff are uncertain about their jobs even if no job cuts have occurred, therefore, a review to get a good or bad “reality check”- is better than no review at all. Reviews reflect the organization of management and sets accountability of job responsibilities for the employees. A timely delivery of a performance review of an emloyee is most beneficial as it may translate in to a more efficient, deliverable product to your customer.
It’s never too late to capitalize on your human capital, you have nothing to lose, and everything to hope for. Create a spirit of hope and have some fun while doing it.
Your comments and insights are always welcomed. For specific questions or more information, please email Vanessa at hrprophetsstrategy@yahoo.com.
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Posted by Vanessa Blakley
on Dec 17 2009. Filed under Viewpoints.
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Nice job Vanessa. Communication to employees is vital. In addition to what Vanessa points out above, it’s important to educate employees on what their benefits (health, dental, etc) are, how to use them efficiently and their cash value. The employer spends upwards of 10% of their payroll dollars on benefits, so employees need to understand, appreciate and get the most value from them.
Hi Vanessa,
you are so focused on the issues that I am concerned about.Thanks for shedding light on the impact of the employee as well, with communication and a sense of “I have a voice” in my company as well as a valuable skill that may help energize and produce a team effort that we all can benefit from. COMMUNICATION is the key,from the lower up to the higher down.,(if you will)think of how much brainstorming and fun it would be to think of ways to keep that one employee working, or strategically make team efforts to improve their public relations skills,that seem to have disappeared in this past decade,would be refreshing as well. This keep me enlightened on BUSINESS ETHICS.
Koodos to the company’s that are exhibiting these suggestions.
Well done Vanessa! Thank you for giving voice to the continuously underestimated value of Human Capital! In an ever expanding environment of technology, we need to not lose focus on our most precious resources of all. Each employee is not only a staff member, but has the capacity to be a “raving fan” of your business or a negative or neutral force in the community. Here’s to creating Raving Fans!!!