Attract The Best Employees positions are very experienced. That’s taken into strong consideration, their length of employment.” Interview process: Once specific applicants have been selected, the interview process is the next important step to find the best fit for an opening. Kastel states that his operation calls on a group to conduct interviews. “We use the team approach in inter-viewing employees, meaning we usually have at least three different people ask-ing questions during the interview,” Kastel says. “This way we are getting the per-spective of more than one person during the interview.” According to Kastel, the team uses a pre-set list of questions to make sure they don’t miss the important aspects of what they are looking for. This team approach to the interview pro-cess has definitely evolved for Kastel’s team over the years, and it has become more for-malized as time has passed. “By getting a group’s perspective on a po-tential employee, we found we have made less mistakes during the hiring process and have hired a higher caliber worker,” Kastel states. Yet, there are other things someone might not be so eager to share: “We’re going to have to downsize,” or, “There aren’t going to be any raises this year … and by the way, we may have to reduce your benefits.” Tell employees anyway, Karlgaard says. “Even when the news is bad, people should never feel they’re being kept in the dark,” he insists. “Transparency and trust must coexist.” 2) Show employees that you care. When people don’t believe their leaders care about them, not just as workers but as human beings, of course trust can’t thrive, Karlgaard notes. While it’s true that fake or contrived caring only increases cynicism, genuine caring dis-solves it. This means leaders must be “people per-sons” who stand up for their employees’ best interests and don’t mind showing (ap-propriate) affection. 3) Aspire to predictability. It sounds a little dull as most managers want to be known as creative, outside-the-box thinkers. Many don’t want to be bound by routine or limited by “the way everyone else does it.” Karlgaard says that’s fine, embrace inno-vation to your heart’s content in areas like development and marketing campaigns; just don’t be unpredictable in your behavior, priorities and values. “Unpredictability destroys trust,” he ex-plains. “As a leader, your team should have total confidence that you’ll do what you say you will. They should have no doubt that you’ll keep your promises, act with integrity and look out for their best interests.” 4) Make it safe to speak up. When your employees make an honest mistake, can they admit it without being scolded and belittled? What about input and ideas? Can they share those things and expect to be taken seriously? Hopefully, the answer to these questions is “yes.” Karlgaard states that everyone should feel confident that they can participate in meet-ings and projects, say what’s on their mind, be respected for their opinions and ideas and admit mistakes. Either trust or fear rules an organization, and Karlgaard says managers and owners have to choose. Fear-based culture can kill employee cu-riosity and quell exploration while dulling creative and stunting growth, according to Karlgaard. In climates of fear, people are afraid to make mistakes, and fear saps performance, teamwork and morale. 5) Celebrate grit and gumption. If a manager wants employees to be worker bees — performing the tasks that management designates, on a set time-line — compensate them with paychecks only. If an operation wants employees to be partners, they’ve got to reinforce employ-ees when they act like partners, Karlgaard states. In other words, take notice when they dis-play passion and motivation (grit) and initia-tive and guts (gumption). “When employees do the things you want them to do — persevering through tough tasks, innovating, taking calculated risks — reward them,” Karlgaard instructs. “A simple ‘thank you’ can go a long way. So can public recognition at a meeting or through a company-wide email. The point is, notice and celebrate the behaviors you want more of. ” 6) Constantly drive home the “mean-ing” of the work people do. One of the best methods to increase trust is to identify a greater purpose, your opera-tion’s “true north,” as Karlgaard calls it. Why do you exist? What meaningful value do you offer to employees, customers or society? A great purpose should be aspirational, not merely financial. It should create a common cause and pro-mote a collective effort. It should answer all the tough questions of why: Why commit? Why persist? And, most important, why trust? “Figure out what meaningful things your company provides customers, whether that’s peace of mind, easier lives, reliable support or something else, and look for ways to convey that purpose at your com-pany,” Karlgaard concludes. “It’s hard to be cynical about your work and your custom-ers when you actually do believe in what you’re doing.” Building Sturdy Success A cleaning manager or BSC has done his or her best job to hire excellent employees and piece together a successful janitorial team. How can management encourage this team and push for exceptional results on a day-to-day basis? Rich Karlgaard (www.RichKarlgaard.com), Forbes publisher and author of the book The Soft Edge: Where Great Companies Find Last-ing Success, offered a number of tips as part of a recent article. The article showcased various steps to help managers calm employee cynicism and build a successful company culture based on trust. The most applicable tips to develop a strong team and retain quality employees are included here. 1) Never lie or hide the truth. Karlgaard says there are many things a manager is thrilled to share with employees: “Our customer satisfaction scores are 15 per-cent higher this year,” or, “Our first quarter profits exceeded our goal.” 20 CM/Cleaning & Maintenance Management ® • August 2014
CMM – Archives August 2014: 20
