“The well director doesn’t work to make people love her, but
makespeople love to work for her.” I proposed this maxim in an article, “The
Well Director,” in the March 1987 issue of Exchange. Since then a
number of people (two) have said, “Well, that sounds just peachy, but how do
you make people love to work for you in real life?” So I’ve been keeping my
eye on the directors of programs where turnover is low, trying to figure out
what they are doing right. Based on these observations, here are 12
practices you can implement to motivate people to stay — 12 reasons people
will love to work for you.
1. You believe in people from day one.
With the shrinking supply of qualified workers, there is a tendency to
be pessimistic about the potential of the people we hire. This pessimism can
result in a self-fulfilling prophecy: we don’t expect high performance; so
we don’t make an effort to encourage high performance; and, in the end, we
don’t see high performance.
You can’t manipulate people like puppets. They alone have the power to
decide whether they will work hard.
Your attitude about a person, however, can have a significant dampening or
buoying impact on their self-confidence. When you believe a person has the
potential to succeed, and when you believe a person has a desire to succeed,
your support can make a difference.
2. You build on people’s strengths.
You will never find the perfect child and youth care worker, or cook, or
housekeeper, or bus driver (or spouse, for that matter). All of us have our
shortcomings. We don’t hire people, however, because of their weaknesses. We
hire them because we see some talent, some experience, or some trait which
is a strength that we need.
To help new employees succeed on the job, you need to focus on the reasons
you hired them. Time devoted to building on people’s strengths is time well
invested. Time spent in dwelling on people’s weaknesses is, more often than
not, time wasted.
There always will be occasions when you must affirmatively deal with
mal-performance which is directly affecting the quality of your program
—conflict, absenteeism, inappropriate discipline, etc. Focusing all your
energy on people’s shortcomings results mostly in frustration, anger and
alienation.
One administrator I visited likes to get things off on the right foot by
finding something a new employee will succeed in on the first day. He
assigns some specific activity or task that employs a skill or training the
person already possesses.
Betty Jones from Pacific Oaks suggests that the early training employees
receive should build on the skills they bring to the job, even though that
may not be the most important thing they need to know to do their job. If
you encourage new employees to improve on an area of strength, they will be
less threatened because they are on turf that is comfortable and familiar to
them. Then, as they feel rewarded by their improvement in a “safe” area, you
can gradually nudge them to grow in areas where they may feel less secure.
3, You provide people with feedback.
One of the most frequent complaints I hear from child and youth care
workers is that they do not receive feedback about their efforts. They do
not know if the director thinks they arc doing a good job overall, or if the
director even cares.
According to management guru Peter Drucker, what employees most need to
improve their performance is an abundance of objective, timely feedback on
the results of their performance. In well-functioning programs, the director
places a high priority on encouraging staff to provide feedback to each
other, in training staff on how to give feedback, and in providing time and
tools for all types of feedback systems.
4. You view people’s welfare as a high priority.
When it comes to worker compensation, we all sing the right tune. We all
lament the low wages and benefits our employees receive. But passionate
speeches don’t pay the rent.
There are no easy solutions to the compensation dilemma. No knight in
shining armor is going to charge in and save the day — not the federal
government, not employers and not labor Unions
The solution will primarily come from tough choices and hard compromises
made one program at a time. A director who is truly committed to making
progress on the compensation issue will be actively exploring creative
solutions to improving benefits.
The bottom line is that workers’ commitment will be impacted by whether or
not they perceive that you truly do place a high priority on their welfare.
5. You build team spirit.
Clare Cherry, in addition to all her writing and speaking, actually
directed a program in San Bernardino, California. In interviewing
prospective employees, she informed them if they were to work in her program
they would be required to accept responsibility for helping all workers
improve.
Workers in Cherry’s program were expected to share ideas, to give each other
feedback, to solve problems together, and to provide each other support. She
viewed teamwork as an essential ingredient of an excellent program. And for
team spirit to flower it requires such commitment from the top to make it
happen.
You need to be continually exploring ways to encourage cooperative efforts,
whether it means rotating the chair at staff meetings, regularly conducting
brainstorming sessions to attack program problems, or taking the entire
staff on a retreat. Team building needs to be a conscious activity promoted
by the director, attended to by the director and rewarded by the director.
6. You inspire commitment.
One of the responsibilities of the leader in any organization is to
serve as the keeper of the faith. You need to have a vision for your
organization that gives meaning to your work and inspires you to act.
If you have such a vision, this will not only inspire you, but it should
infect everyone who works in the organization. Directors I have observed who
are committed to a vision exude intensity and excitement which energizes
everyone in their programs.
When people are committed to the goals of an organization, they will work
hard to insure that these goals are achieved. This is much more powerful
then trying to build people’s commitment to you as an individual.
7. You set high standards.
In the very best programs, the directors have an unflagging commitment
to high performance. Even when crises seem to be breaking Out all over,
these directors do not allow these frustrations to serve as an excuse for
letting up on quality.
Achieving high standards in a child and youth care program is indeed a very
imposing challenge. Pressure to maintain these standards can understandably
put a heavy burden on all staff. These frustrations, however, are far
outweighed by the feeling of pride that comes from working in a first class
organization.
8. You remove obstacles to people’s success.
The most effective directors I see do not view themselves as making
things happen by sitting atop the chain of command issuing orders and making
inspirational speeches. Rather, they view themselves as servants to the
team.
These directors see their job as helping workers succeed by getting them the
resources they need to grow and perform. They take seriously the
responsibility of removing obstacles that get in the way of people doing
their jobs, whether it be replacing equipment that’s worn out or
reorganizing a staffing structure that doesn’t work.
9. You encourage people to take risks.
We all view ourselves as open, supportive and encouraging. But sometimes
our intentions are belied by our actions.
We may encourage staff to be creative, yet convey through body language a
sense of disapproval when they try a new activity and it fails. We may ask
people for their solutions to a problem, but criticize any suggestions they
make.
If you expect your people to act creatively, you have to send a strong
message that you support them. You must praise people for taking risks. You
need to thank people for having the courage to disagree with you. You must
provide a rich environment of books, materials, trips and workshops to keep
people thinking and growing. And, most importantly, you should demonstrate
that you are willing to take risks yourself.
10. You make working fun.
One of the most consistent features of programs where workers love to
work is a relaxed, happy atmosphere. Child and youth care is hard work with
serious implications. But no one can thrive without laughter and joy.
11. You cultivate professional pride.
A disquieting aspect of all the media attention child and youth care has
received in recent years has been the "crisis" mode of much of the coverage.
Documentary after documentary, and article after article, decried how
horrible conditions are in this country.
This coverage may have served a purpose in focusing attention on the need
for additional resources and to improve working conditions. It has also
tended to disparage, however, the valiant efforts of those working in
programs today.
Child and youth care is not a recent fad or new profession struggling to get
its act together. We have a long, proud tradition of caring. Your staff
should take pride in being a part of the child and youth care profession.
12. You help people see results.
As a director, the most effective way you can get workers hooked on
continuing in your program is to help them see the real impact they are
having on the lives of children. You can do this by training workers to be
better observers so they can see the children progress, and by encouraging
them to give each other feedback on the changes they observe.
William Frankiin, speaking at a Director’s Network conference in New
Orleans, quoted the remarks made by Pericles to his troops, noting that he
could just as well have been addressing child and youth care professionals:
“What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what
is woven into the lives of others.”
There are many great reasons for working in child and youth care, not the
least of which is the real difference we can make in the lives of the
children and families we serve.
