Inform your employees. You watch the news at night, and it’s like a doomsday report. All you hear about all day is companies closing, salaries being cut, layoffs left and right. There are multiple announcements every day, and that’s just in Indianapolis. I know that’s what is going on all over the country.
One thing you have to do is manage that fear. You need to manage that fear yourself as the owner or manager of your business, but you also have to manage the fear of your people. The last thing you want are good employees left in the dark wondering what will happen. I read a survey recently, and I believe it was 85 percent of employees in this survey felt they would be working with a different employer in 2009. That number is extremely high, and it represents the fear in uncertain times. Certainly times are not good, but we can’t afford to lose people because of fear. You have to manage that fear through communication and trying to keep your people as busy as possible and reassuring them whenever you can that things are good. We try to reassure our people that we are financially stable, that we have a plan and are moving forward with it.
Let them know what you are doing to combat the struggling economy. We let them know that we are being proactive, we are financially sound, that we are looking ahead, and instead of making cuts, we’re looking to make investments in the business. Now is the time to make investments. If you have money, now is the time to invest in your business if you believe in your business and it is strong enough for you to do so. We’re letting our people know that we plan to be in this for the long run.
Measure your progress. One thing you can’t lose or sacrifice is trying to put quantifiable benchmarks in place for people so they can clearly see what their goals are, what is expected of them and the company, so they can be effectively and objectively measured.
We’re putting stricter guidelines in place and measurements, so at the end of the year, we and the employee can look back and see what was achieved and at what level.
But the constant focus on the goals is what we really want. You can measure results, you can refocus jobs and define missions, but if you get people in the first place who share the same philosophy in teamwork and customer service, that’s something they’re going to do naturally. The goals make sure that everybody stays focused and everybody is growing in the same direction, so that we can get through the storm.
How to reach: Perpetual Technologies Inc., (800) 538-0453 or www.perptech.com
