Staying Connected in Order to Stay Motivated
By Cindy Ventrice

Years ago a good friend was diagnosed with a life-threatening disease. She did a curious thing. She withdrew from her friends and family. The very people who wanted to help her and support her were shut out of her life. (read more...)

To be a Strong Leader, Ask the Right Questions
By Bob Nelson

Ever puzzled by a problem at work? How to improve your numbers? Decrease errors? Enhance customer service? Managers often spend hours analyzing reports and brainstorming potential solutions to problems and challenges of the business, yet often the answers already exist, waiting to be tapped simply by asking your employees. (read more...)

101 Innovative Ways to Make Your Company a Great Place to Work: Tip #7
By John Putzier

Get Out of Jail Free Card
When a high-performer leaves, don't let your ego get in the way of your success as an employer. Show regret, wish them well and tell them that you would love to have them back if their new employment doesn't work out like they had hoped it would. (read more...)

Staying Connected in Order to Stay Motivated (^ top)
By Cindy Ventrice

Years ago a good friend was diagnosed with a life-threatening disease. She did a curious thing. She withdrew from her friends and family. The very people who wanted to help her and support her were shut out of her life.

It puzzled me completely. Why would anyone confronted with a difficult challenge want to face it alone? Wouldn't it be easier to cope with the support of people who care?

More recently, a friend lost a child in an accident. It was truly a tragedy. By now, I understood that withdrawal from the people who care about you is a sign of depression. I did everything I could to maintain contact, but within a very short time she shut herself off. How painful it is to think of her coming to grips with her new reality or even getting through her day all on her own.

Over the past few years many friends and colleagues were laid off. As their job search progressed, I watched in frustration as many withdrew from their support network. At a time when they most needed to stay connected, they chose instead to go it alone. They cut off their source of emotional support, intellectual stimulation, and even job leads.

Others have jobs where they are continually pushed to produce more and more. The challenge has left them exhausted. They don't have time to stay connected, or so they think. In reality, staying connected is crucial. Alone, they lack resources. Their support networks provide ideas for better ways to face challenges and offer simple emotional support and opportunities for distraction that allow them to recharge.

It may be a common response, but not everyone withdraws when faced with an extraordinary challenge. When my sister-in-law was diagnosed with cancer she maintained contact with everyone who cared about her. She was surrounded with people who loved her, right up until the end. She asked for help when she needed it and we all felt honored by the experience.

Are you faced with a challenge at work or in your personal life? It doesn't have to be a matter of life or death. Any difficult challenge can zap your energy and make it hard to stay motivated.

A sense of community is a powerful thing. It can really make a difference. Several years ago a study found that people with a strong community of support live significantly longer. They are happier, healthier, and more resilient.

Don't go it alone. Let the people who care about you, help you. Reach out to friends, trusted coworkers, colleagues, and relatives. They will listen, offer suggestions, or help you by simply taking your mind off your problems for a while. Stay connected. It's the right thing to do even when it seems too difficult. Staying connected will help you stay motivated. Remember that people want to help. Let them. Everyone will benefit!

© Copyright Cindy Ventrice 2003

To be a Strong Leader, Ask the Right Questions (^ top)
By Bob Nelson

Ever puzzled by a problem at work? How to improve your numbers? Decrease errors? Enhance customer service? Managers often spend hours analyzing reports and brainstorming potential solutions to problems and challenges of the business, yet often the answers already exist, waiting to be tapped simply by asking your employees.

Case in point, Steve Heller, an assistant manager at Costco Wholesale in Carlsbad, CA recently told me how he and his front end manager were racking their brains trying to find ways to improve the productivity of their cashiers. He knew he had good people that were committed to doing good work, but like most managers he viewed problem solving as his domain. So when the warehouse was consistently below the company's goal for the speed at which they processed members at the checkout registers, he met with other managers to develop a "hit list" of solutions. Seemed like the logical thing to do.

Afterward, as he was leaving the meeting he noticed a cashier, Pam LaBlanc, on the Top Performers Board for the first time and decided to go congratulate her on her success. Picking up a lunch coupon for pizza and a soda for her, he went to thank her and asked: "How were you able to reach that goal?" Her answer came as a surprise to him.

Pam said to reach her goal she needed the help of others around her. As a result she took time to make suggestions as to how an assistant could help her speed things up and to ask, in turn, for their ideas and suggestions. "Since she works with different co-workers almost every day, it became an ongoing discussion of sharing and learning from each other."

"I learned more in 15 minutes about improving the productivity of cashiers," Steve said, "than hours of discussion and brainstorming I had done on my own and with other managers!"

Pam and her assistants then shared with the other cashiers what they had learned about how they could all help to reach the company goal. "Now we have more cashiers above the goal than below," Steve says. But perhaps more importantly, they have a momentum and excitement to improve, with any employee having the ability to be a positive leader by way of their own example. "Not only has it made a difference in our productivity," says Steve, "but it has made a difference in our relationships as well - all from a 10-minute investment in asking the right questions!"

Next time you are stuck on what to do or what to do better, try asking those employees that have been doing it the longest. They may just have some tricks they have learned along the way that you and others can benefit from as well!

101 Innovative Ways to Make Your Company a Great Place to Work: Tip #7 (^ top)
By John Putzier

Bridge Over Troubled Waters
When a high-performer leaves, don't let your ego get in the way of your success as an employer. Show regret, wish them well and tell them that you would love to have them back if their new employment doesn't work out like they had hoped it would.

Next, to capitalize on the fact that the honeymoon period always wears off, tell them that if they return to your company within one year, you will not only restore their prior service, but you will also "bridge" their service for the time they were gone (i.e., they will be treated as if they had never left). This means that their vacation schedule is reinstated and any other perks of tenure continue to build as if they had never left you.

Think about this. It costs nothing if they do not exercise the option, and next to nothing if they do, but it plants a year long seed in their brain that they can defect from your competition and be kept whole by coming back to you. They can have their cake and eat it too! If you have to justify it another way, think of them as having been on a leave of absence or a sabbatical. The ROI (return on investment) on this incentive is huge if you recover valuable talent. Bottom line: Employees who leave and come back are the most loyal employees you will ever have.

There are several other twists that you can put on this incentive. For example, what if the first year lapses and you still want to lure them back? Offer to restore but not bridge their service. Or, you can add the caveat that this bridge or restoration of service will not take effect until they have been back with you for at least another year. Don't just reward returning, but retention as well.

Again, it is a very inexpensive yet effective way of keeping your hooks in them for as long as possible, to start realizing a return on your prior investment and to maximize retention all at the same time!

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