- Email: [email protected]
Unleashing the power of people
Hints in Human Resources Ramona Pulce
Unleashing the Power of People For the most part, employees need to find meaning in their work. They want to know that the job they perform makes a difference in the day-to-day operation of the organization. To achieve this goal, they must clearly understand the organizational objectives and believe that they coincide with their own. Clear and concise values, priorities, and directions should be conveyed to all employees to ensure that they fully understand the organization’s principles and priorities. These objectives may be expressed in many ways and are briefly summarized as follows.
Recognizing a Job Well Done Employees must be recognized for a job well done. All too often, employees are reprimanded for not completing a project in an acceptable manner, but other employees that do exceed expectations go unnoticed or unrecognized. When that happens, employees feel there is no need for them to go the extra mile to achieve excellence and instead settle for mediocrity. The message is clear: managers should always be willing to take that extra time and effort to say “good job.” Frequently those 2 simple words can mean the difference in having an employee who excels versus one who barely gets the job done.
Giving Clear Expectations A vital necessity in unleashing the power of people is clear communication. Expectations that are not clearly communicated can result in frustration for all parties involved. Part of clear communication is making sure an employee understands exactly what you’re asking him or her to do. Asking the question, “Do you understand?” is not always enough because what he or she thinks she hears and understands may not be what you were trying to convey. It is often beneficial to both parties to have the employee repeat what you have asked him or her to accomplish. By performing this 8 Nurse Leader
exercise, both parties can be confident of what is expected, thus saving time and reducing stress.
Setting Reasonable Goals It is helpful to establish clear, reasonable timelines during which tasks are to be performed. Making unreasonable demands for turnaround time results in overextended, totally stressed employees who cannot perform at their optimal level. This burden regularly results in a finished project that does not meet expectations. Although the process of visualizing the end result and delegating pieces of a project to various employees may take only a few hours, the actual work may involve a much lengthier time frame. It would behoove the manager to remember this when setting expected turnaround times. It is imperative to remember that employees can accomplish only that which is humanly possible.
Getting the Most Out of Your Employees • Some leaders may have to make a conscious effort to commend a job well done. More importantly, making the decision to do so could result in your least enthusiastic employee becoming your highest producing employee. • Effectively communicating your expectations will save a lot of frustration for both you and employees. • Setting reasonable expectations and goals for turnaround times should result in creative and productive employee effort. When any one or all of the above listed items are ignored, employees may view the situation as a lack of interest in their welfare. Such an opinion may result in a lackadaisical “it’s not worth the stress” or “why should I kill myself to get this done?” attitude in the employees. And in fact, why should they?
Continued on page 11 April 2004
Hints in Human Resources Continued from page 8 How people are managed should be every organization’s highest priority if its mission, vision, and objectives are to maximize the intellectual power that leads to capital assets. To effectively accomplish this, it is important to release the power of the people who work for you by recognizing their strengths and abilities. When employees are made to feel valuable, they strive to be valuable. After all, employees are your greatest capital asset. Ramona Pulce serves as the human resources director of Nashville General Hospital in Nashville, Tenn. She can be reached at [email protected]. org. 1067-991X/2004/$30.00 + 0 Copyright 2004 by Elsevier Inc. doi: 10.1016/j.mnl.2004.01.012
April 2004
Nurse Leader 11
Unleashing the Power of People For the most part, employees need to find meaning in their work. They want to know that the job they perform makes a difference in the day-to-day operation of the organization. To achieve this goal, they must clearly understand the organizational objectives and believe that they coincide with their own. Clear and concise values, priorities, and directions should be conveyed to all employees to ensure that they fully understand the organization’s principles and priorities. These objectives may be expressed in many ways and are briefly summarized as follows.
Recognizing a Job Well Done Employees must be recognized for a job well done. All too often, employees are reprimanded for not completing a project in an acceptable manner, but other employees that do exceed expectations go unnoticed or unrecognized. When that happens, employees feel there is no need for them to go the extra mile to achieve excellence and instead settle for mediocrity. The message is clear: managers should always be willing to take that extra time and effort to say “good job.” Frequently those 2 simple words can mean the difference in having an employee who excels versus one who barely gets the job done.
Giving Clear Expectations A vital necessity in unleashing the power of people is clear communication. Expectations that are not clearly communicated can result in frustration for all parties involved. Part of clear communication is making sure an employee understands exactly what you’re asking him or her to do. Asking the question, “Do you understand?” is not always enough because what he or she thinks she hears and understands may not be what you were trying to convey. It is often beneficial to both parties to have the employee repeat what you have asked him or her to accomplish. By performing this 8 Nurse Leader
exercise, both parties can be confident of what is expected, thus saving time and reducing stress.
Setting Reasonable Goals It is helpful to establish clear, reasonable timelines during which tasks are to be performed. Making unreasonable demands for turnaround time results in overextended, totally stressed employees who cannot perform at their optimal level. This burden regularly results in a finished project that does not meet expectations. Although the process of visualizing the end result and delegating pieces of a project to various employees may take only a few hours, the actual work may involve a much lengthier time frame. It would behoove the manager to remember this when setting expected turnaround times. It is imperative to remember that employees can accomplish only that which is humanly possible.
Getting the Most Out of Your Employees • Some leaders may have to make a conscious effort to commend a job well done. More importantly, making the decision to do so could result in your least enthusiastic employee becoming your highest producing employee. • Effectively communicating your expectations will save a lot of frustration for both you and employees. • Setting reasonable expectations and goals for turnaround times should result in creative and productive employee effort. When any one or all of the above listed items are ignored, employees may view the situation as a lack of interest in their welfare. Such an opinion may result in a lackadaisical “it’s not worth the stress” or “why should I kill myself to get this done?” attitude in the employees. And in fact, why should they?
Continued on page 11 April 2004
Hints in Human Resources Continued from page 8 How people are managed should be every organization’s highest priority if its mission, vision, and objectives are to maximize the intellectual power that leads to capital assets. To effectively accomplish this, it is important to release the power of the people who work for you by recognizing their strengths and abilities. When employees are made to feel valuable, they strive to be valuable. After all, employees are your greatest capital asset. Ramona Pulce serves as the human resources director of Nashville General Hospital in Nashville, Tenn. She can be reached at [email protected]. org. 1067-991X/2004/$30.00 + 0 Copyright 2004 by Elsevier Inc. doi: 10.1016/j.mnl.2004.01.012
April 2004
Nurse Leader 11