Management Buzz 07/02
Why you need to spend quality time with your employees
Spending time with your employees is one of the best ways to
convince them you care, says human resources consultant Kevin
Sheridan. He recently analyzed almost half a million employee
surveys showing satisfaction with the boss's presence in the
workplace corresponded closely with perceiving that the employer
cares.
Sound like a problem for big, impersonal companies? Not so.
Sheridan surveyed his own employees at the 20-person HR Solutions
Inc. in Chicago and found they craved more face time. Now he makes
a point to attend staff meetings.
That's one solution. "The other, old school but
underutilized method is walking around," Sheridan says.
"Spend time each day or week visiting departments."
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Sheridan cites the example of East Alabama Medical Center CEO
Terry Andrus, who spends four hours a day walking the
hospital's floors. That's one reason the company (No. 36)
beat out Microsoft (No. 37) on Fortune magazine's list of the
100 best companies to work for.
But don't have the whole management team swarming over
employees, says Sheridan. "It's better to be alone,"
he says. "[You have] a lot more opportunity to connect
individually."
Business writer Chris Sandlund works out of
Cold Spring, New York.
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