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Guest post by: Bob Urichuck Become an Author

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These were the questions posed to Business owners in a workshop at an Annual Conference at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort earlier this year. Thanks to their contributions, this article became possible as an employee retention and employee motivation learning tool for you. Teams were created to brainstorm answers to each of these questions. It wasn't long before everyone started to see a common element in all three areas.

The common element was people and how management relates to employee retention and employee motivation, , no matter what area they worked in.

Everyone agreed that it is the people, and their attitudes that make the difference. Finally, we concluded that it is you, the management team that has to first make the difference in employee retention and employee motivation. Therefore, let's look inside.

You can't have something on the outside if you don't first have it on the inside. In other words you cannot attract good employees if you don't first have the right attitude towards your existing employees, provide a good working atmosphere, tools and growth opportunities.

So take a close look at your employee retention and employee motivation strategies, since they are both under your direct management influence.

Here are some of the team's top answers on employee retention and employee motivation:

Employee Retention Employee motivation

Keep your promises Ongoing staff training

Build employees self-esteem Keep employees informed of status

Good access to management Frequent /consistent rewards and recognition for performance

Training and Cross Training

Staff events / Team building Set goals, review, evaluate, feedback

React on employee suggestions Lead by example

Regular staff meetings, parties Mentoring programs

Everyone is equal to each other Be sensitive to personal issues

When you take a close look at these two areas, you can see a lot of overlap. What you do to increase employee motivation also applies to employee retention and vice versa.

Some of the main areas of employee retention and employee motivation that are commonly overlooked are orientation training, the establishment of team and individual goals, having ongoing reviews and providing constructive feedback. Without these elements the employee is wandering around aimlessly, and doesn't get any feedback on their performance. How can you expect the employee to meet or exceed your expectations if they don't know what they are or how they are doing in relation to your expectations?

In a previous article that I wrote, I pointed out what motivated employees the most and how employee retention and loyalty faired out based on the results of National research study. The three top elements were:

1. Full appreciation of work done

2. Feeling of being in on things

3. Help on personal problems

Full appreciation of work done is recognition. Recognition is positive reinforcement. Positive reinforcement of actions gets those actions repeated. Recognition and praise reinforces our beliefs about ourselves, and helps make us think we are better than we may have thought we were.

Positive reinforcement is what builds our self-esteem. Our self-esteem is the way we see and feel about ourselves either internally, through our own beliefs, or externally through what we accept as the beliefs of others. If we feel good about ourselves and we believe others feel good about us, we perform better than we would when we see the opposite side of the coin.

People perform in a manner that is consistent with how they see themselves conceptually. So, the key is to help people build their self-esteem. This is an important employee retention and employee motivation discipline.

You cannot motivate another person to do anything. We all know we could only accomplish so much on our own and that everyone is a product of their environment. You have the opportunity to create the environment.

You can only provide the means and the atmosphere in which others motivate themselves. You are the leader and you must set the example by demonstrating appropriate behaviors. Take the time to define the appropriate behaviors you want to see in your employees, then start demonstrating them. This is an important employee retention and employee motivation discipline.

By bringing all employees together in a room for a meeting you create a team environment. By including them and sharing information with them, you are giving your employees an opportunity to share your perspective.

With inclusion, you are indirectly empowering them to contribute to the success of your whole operation, because it gives them a chance to see and understand the bigger picture. This in turn leads to them taking initiative and improving things in their own area of responsibility, particularly if they are recognized for it.

By sharing the results of the period with them and asking them what went well and what areas could use some improvement, you are obtaining a wealth of information, and including them in the overall success of your operation.

What do you think will happen when it comes time to implement some of their suggestions? Do you think they will object, or, do you think they might take ownership in implementing them beyond your expectations?

This is an important employee retention and employee motivation discipline.

What about personal problems, do you take the time to listen, to understand, to show you care?

Personal problems often interfere with work performance. Take the time to help your employee with their personal problems. Coach them to look for solutions and they will feel closer to you. In turn, they will perform better because you showed you care.

People don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care. This is an important employee retention and employee motivation discipline.

From this point on you will notice that employees will go out of their way to do a great job, because you took the time to include them, empower them, to thank them and to show them that you care. This is an important employee retention and employee motivation discipline.

The Bottom Line: Actions that get recognized or rewarded get repeated. Are you demonstrating appropriate behaviours in your employee retention and employee motivation strategies?

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