BW Online | August 14, 2000 | Earning Employees' Admiration

Headlines
Columns

Tax Adviser
Management
Finance
Your Money
Technology
Staff & Benefits
Going Global

Small Business Guide

PREMIUM CONTENT MBA Insider

BW MAGAZINE Get Four Free Issues Subscribe Customer Service

ONLINE FEATURES Book Reviews BW Video Columnists Interactive Gallery Newsletters Past Covers Philanthropy Podcasts Special Reports BLOGS The Auto Beat Byte of the Apple Europe Insight Eye on Asia Getting In Investing Insights The New Entrepreneur NEXT: Innovation Tools & Trends On Media Technology at Work The Tech Beat Traveler's Check TECHNOLOGY Product Reviews Tech Stats Hands On AUTOS Home Page Auto Reviews Car Care & Safety INNOVATION
& DESIGN Home Page Architecture Brand Equity Auto Design Game Room SMALLBIZ Smart Answers Success Stories Today's Tip FINANCE Investing: Europe Annual Reports Bloomberg BW50 SCOREBOARDS Hot Growth Companies: 2008 Mutual Funds Info Tech 100 B-SCHOOLS Undergrad Programs Rankings & Profiles

BW EXTRAS BW Digital BW Mobile Podcasts RSS

RSS Feeds

Reprints/ Permissions Conferences

AUGUST 14, 2000

BOOK EXCERPT

Earning Employees' Admiration
Act On It! Solving 101 of the Toughest Management Challenges

POLL INSTANT SURVEY >>

PEOPLE SEARCH

Search for business contacts:

PREMIUM SEARCH
Search by job title, geography and build a list of executive contacts

When you became a manager, you signed on as a problem-solver. Successful managers solve new and ever-changing problems. Unsuccessful managers not only confront new problems but also continue to wrestle with old ones that they failed to solve in the first place. When you follow the ACT model, you will not only solve new problems but also decrease the number of old problems that resurface.

You have the power and now the model to become a successful problem-solver. You simple have to ACT: Analyze your situation, Choose the best strategy, and Track your choice. In the words of the Wise One, "The answer is in your hands."

The following is one of the 10 questions asked and analyzed in Act On It!

"Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing."
-- Theodore Roosevelt

How can I get employees to be proud to work here?
One of the best ways to hang on to good employees is to make them feel proud of their employer. Have you earned your employee's admiration?

Analyze Your Company
1. The quality of our products and services is unrivaled in the industry.
2. Our competitors are constantly seeking to emulate us.
3. We consistently meet yearly performance goals.
4. Our performance -- growth rate, profitability, and other measures -- consistently beats the competition.
5. We are the innovation leaders in our industry.
6. Our salaries and fringe-benefits package are the envy of the industry.
7. We share the wealth created by the company through employee-stock options, bonus plans, or profit-sharing.
8. We operate our business with a core set of principles that reinforce morality and ethics.
9. We support charitable and philanthropic causes.
10. We give back to our community and provide our employees with time to do the same.
11. Our work climate enables employees to meet performance goals while satisfying their personal needs as caregivers and family members.

Choose
Ask employees to assess the company on these eleven dimensions. Their scores will reveal how you can do an even better job of building pride and generating loyalty.

Track
Establish a companywide task force charged with suggesting ways to increase employee pride. Get top management's commitment to respond positively to the task force's recommendations.