Protect your employees

What do you do to protect your employees. Not only protect them physically, but protect the employees who really make your business run. Many employers do not understand that without their employees they do not have much. And, if you depend on yourself to do everything, your business will never reach it's potential and you will burn out. Good employees are hard to find and really hard to keep.

First of all, protect them by making sure that they know they are doing well. Be encouraging and positive especially about the business and how they fit in. If they are doing well, make sure their evaluations show that WITHOUT giving the highest grades on everything which would indicate they are perfect in every way and not even I am that perfect. If you can give them a raise. Does not have to be huge but give them something. I am an advocate of several smaller raises throughout the year rather than one larger raise (or not raise) at the end of the year. I am also in favor of performance bonuses rather than contracted bonuses (a la Merrill Lynch). As a matter of fact, I would take the bonus pool in its entirety and whack off some for managers and divide the rest up equally over all employees which would get everyone the same bonus at Christmas. If you cannot give them any money, tell them and tell them why! Be up front. It may cost you an employee or two, but if they are going to leave you might as well find out now.

The employees that are doing bad show know that. Besides just being told they are doing bad and in what areas they are doing bad, you should come up with an improvement plan with attainable steps to accomplish that can be monitored and a determination of what will happen if they accomplish the goals and what will happen if they do not. If they accomplish the goals, you have created a good employee, if they do not, send them out the door. Do what you say and say what you do. No BS. Seriously. If they are not doing it, do not hesitate to terminate them.

Physical protection int he workplace is serious business these days and during these economic times. Where I live a woman was killed recently at the counter where she worked as a clerk. A guy came in and shot her for no apparent reason other than to rob her of the $28 in the cash register. Amazing! If you are located in a bad area or if you handle a lot of money OR if you have disgruntled employees who make threats, make sure you have some security in place and procedures in place on what to do in case of emergency. Train you employees on what to do in case of emergency. That might be one of the most boring things I do as a consultant, but I have been in situations where it was extremely important.

So think about it and take action. What do you think?