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Happywork TV Episode 8: Give Your Employees Variety in Their Work Day

p.s. Really sorry about the sound on this one. I was using my shotgun mic, but it was quite windy. Some gusts of wind really cut into the audio quality a few times. My bad!

In Episode 8 of Happywork TV, I discuss the sixth of 46 commitments in my upcoming book “Happywork.”

Here it is: “I will try to provide some variety in my employees’ work days. Working at Vunorri does not have to be like some Henry Ford assembly line. Cross-training would be helpful. I respect my employees’ curiosity to know how things work, even in other departments.”

If you’re running a company and you’re not giving your employees a little variety in their work day, or you’re not cross-training them, I don’t think you’re committing one of the cardinal sins of management. You’re not firing someone because they’re the wrong color, or sexually harassing them, or threatening them, or sabotaging their work. As I say in the video, providing some variety to your employees isn’t completely necessary. Let’s admit that.

By the same token, let’s also admit that, if we want to cut down on turnover — keep our good employees — and have a workforce working to excel on our behalf, we might do well to keep those employees engaged and interested in what they’re doing. If you don’t care about this, and you just want to keep hammering the square peg into the round hole, you can do that. But please don’t! Boredom is one of the big reasons good people leave their jobs.

So consider the notion that we can build a more cohesive workforce by keeping our best employees, and we can do that by respecting their desire to learn and grow.

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Watch Episode 7 here!

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Happywork is available for pre-order on Amazon – HERE!

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Happywork TV Episode 7: Provide Performance Reviews to Your Employees

In Episode 7 of Happywork TV, I discuss the fifth of 46 work commitments in my new book, “Happywork.”

Here it is: “I will give my employees constructive feedback, taking both their career advancement and feelings into consideration. Such feedback will be provided during the course of everyday business, or in an official performance review, or both.”

Some businesses don’t provide official performance reviews, which I’ve always found odd. Some people are scared to get reviewed. Maybe that’s because they’re doing a poor job, or maybe they think the system is rigged, or maybe the advice isn’t that great.

Here’s a real tough one – I’ve worked at businesses that only told me what they thought of me after I quit. I once quit a job and the damn meeting took three hours. What???? Only after I resign do I start hearing about all the crap I’m not doing right? This is a business that’s being mismanaged.

And when it comes to feedback, if you’re not going to do annual reviews, try to give some feedback every now and then. Note: doing this via email is very dangerous. The intended tone of the emails you send is often completely lost.

Employees don’t just come to work to get their job done. Many of us want to excel at work. We want to achieve. Managers and owners, help us get there!

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Click here to watch Episode 6!

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Happywork is available for pre-order on Amazon – HERE!

Please SUBSCRIBE to my email newsletter! Pretty please – you’ll get these blog posts delivered to you automatically. Gracias!

Happywork TV Episode 6: Give Your Employees a Chance to Improve and Succeed

In Episode 6 of Happywork TV, I discuss the fourth of 46 work commitments in my new book, “Happywork.”

Here it is: “I will provide my employees the tools and training they need to have a chance to succeed … I will remember that it’s not just the business owner who comes to work everyday to achieve great things. Employees want to get better at what they do without having to leave our organization.”

How often have you or someone you know left a job because, “There was no room for advancement?” True, not all companies are large enough to offer robust options for promotions, pay increases, and advancement. However, too many companies have owners and managers who don’t take their employees’ careers into account AT ALL. It is inefficient to have great people leave your employ. If you have an HR department, it keeps them unnecessarily busy. If you don’t have an HR department, who is working to hire new people to come in and replace these great employees?

You might think most employees just want to do their jobs, but I would submit to you that most of them also want to achieve great things at work. It is only the hardest soul whose heart wouldn’t be warmed by a huge success at work.

Owners and managers, give your peeps the tools they need to get the job done, and take a genuine interest in their careers and lives.

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Click here to watch Episode 5!

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Happywork is available for pre-order on Amazon – HERE!

Please SUBSCRIBE to my email newsletter! Pretty please – you’ll get these blog posts delivered to you automatically. Gracias!

Happywork TV Episode 5: Be Kind to Others

In Episode 5 of Happywork TV, I share a quote I read on SI.com. Most NFL players don’t help their opponents up off the field when a play is over, but one player does. And he catches some criticism for it. He doesn’t care, and I love that. Yes, two teams are trying to beat each other, but helping a fellow human being up off the ground isn’t going to make or break your chances of winning. Get real.

Lesson for work: lend a hand when you can. Less competing with each other, and more cooperating.

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Click here to watch Episode 4!

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Happywork is available for pre-order on Amazon – HERE!

Please SUBSCRIBE to my email newsletter! Pretty please – you’ll get these blog posts delivered to you automatically. Thanks!