1. Communicate your company’s values, mission and vision to your team members. Who are you, what do you stand for and where are you going? This doesn’t mean, especially in the area of where you are going, that you can’t change your route along the way. But at least you give them a map of where you want to take them, as a general guide.
2. There is power in these three traits: sincerity, loyalty and integrity. If you want your team members to learn these three necessary traits, show them by example. As their leader and guide, you have to live what you believe.
3. Raise their level of thinking if you want them to grow. Dumbing down only results in dumbing down and dumb people running around in your organization. Regardless of whether they have a grade school degree, a high school degree, a college diploma or a Phd, people understand basic concepts if explained clearly, in a way they can relate to, of course. I tend to use a lot of practical analogies so my team members can visualize what I mean.
4. It’s not just about the money; your team members want to feel that they have a personal contribution to your company no matter how small and that their voices can be heard. When you promise to get back to them with an answer to their question, request, complaint (yes, no, another time), do so in a timely fashion.
5. Set specific expectations of their performance so they know what it is you want them to accomplish. Give them the tools and the support to perform ably. As a follow-up to setting the standards of their expected performance, evaluate their performance on a periodic basis (monthly, quarterly, yearly).
6. Admit when you are wrong. This is a tough one but it shows them that everyone makes mistakes, can learn from them, must move on and do better the next time.
7. Invest time, money, energy and effort to educate them. Your team members are more valuable to you the more skilled they are and the more they use their heads. The brain is an organ which is severely underused. There is much room for it to get sharper with constant exercise.
8. You can, as an employer, treat your team members extremely well and still encounter those who simply have the wrong attitude and bad character (both incurable, unlike lack of skills and lack of education). This might cause you to be discouraged. Don’t let that happen. Weeding out is part of the process. Sometimes, it’s better to part ways sooner rather than later.
9. Exercise patience. People need time to change their way of thinking, especially if that’s the only way they know and they’re comfortable with that way already. People by nature are creatures of habit so they dread change.
10. Discipline your team members very early on in the relationship. Always be firm but fair (the analogy of the velvet glove rather than an iron fist). Correct when needed, definitely compliment when called for. People, especially Filipinos in my experience, will try to get away with as much as they can, if you allow them.
P.S. On a lighter note, I highly recommend the MANAGING A PINOY STAFF DIET to anyone who wants to lose weight. I must’ve lost anywhere between 8-10 pounds in 6 weeks without even trying.
Tina Vitas
Makati City
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