Making Work a Great Place

Starting a new job always involves a "honeymoon" phase. This is a time when everything is wonderful, amazing and exciting. At some point the honeymoon ends and we are faced with the reality of our position.
Every job has it's ups and downs. The keys to more ups then downs are listed below. Some of you may agree with me and others may not. These are thing that I have observed along the way that have worked for me in creating an amazing work environment and retaining staff.

1. Take interest in your staff and co-workers ever day - As a boss take 2 min first thing in the morning to greet and interact with each staff member. Make them feel like a valuable member of the team and not just an "employee"

2. Have an "Open Door" policy - Keep your door open all the time and make yourself available to your staff.

3. Take a "time out" and do something out of the ordinary - Everyone can use a little stress management every now and again. Try a snowball fight in the winter, or bring treats for the morning coffee break... it's up to you

4. Take your lunch breaks - Create an environment of self care by setting the example. Encourage the staff to leave their offices to eat and enjoy the outdoors. Employees that practice self care are more productive.

5. Approve all Time off Requests - Better yet, create an environment of respect where by nobody asks for time off. The expectation is that ALL requests are approved. Now I know many of you are in strong disagreement with me. Here is the thing. Everyone has a personal life outside of work. Providing that proper notice is given, it is possible that everyone at some point will have to cover for another or "take one for the team" Employees that know that time off is never an issue will never have a reason to quit because of unapproved time off. I have personally implemented this strategy and found it highly successful when the environment is created that we all have to work together to cover for each other. It's worth a thought or two.

Most of all... HAVE FUN AND LAUGH AT WORK.

Now i know there are some of you thinking " too touchy feely for me.. I just want to go to work, do my job and go home...work is no place for friendships"

Well, my answer to that is, "You spend more time with your co-workers than you do your family. It is in your best interest to cultivate some sort of relationship with your coworkers. We work in a day and age that promotes a TEAM ENVIRONMENT. How can a team work together if they are not all on the same page??

Until Next time...