Title: Infopeople Webcast: Retaining
1 Infopeople Webcast Retaining Motivating
Excellent Library Employees
- March 6, 2006
- Noon 100 pm
- Presenter Paula M. Singer PhD
- Pmsinger_at_singergrp.com
2Housekeeping
Dont wait for QA to submit questions
- Todays webcast
- presentation 50 minutes
- QA final 10 minutes
- Submit your questions via Chat during webcast
so presenter gets them in time - Fill out evaluation during QA
Webcast Archives http//infopeople.org/training/w
ebcasts/archived.html
3When to Use Chat
- Get help with technical difficulties
- send message to HorizonHelp
- Ask presenter questions
- send message to ALL
- Chat with other participants
- select name from dropdown list
Chat Area There
List of Participants There
4Agenda
- Why retention matters
- Why employees stay
- Orientation
- Retention
- Recognition
5Why Retention Matters
- Costs 1½ - 2 times salary benefits
- Staffing costs costs to hire
- Vacancy costs lost productivity
- Training costs to prepare new employee
- Acting pay
- Loss of knowledge
- Work not done, priorities not met
- Impact on colleagues
6Obstacles to Retention
- Competition for the tech savvy, interpersonally
skilled - Declining supply of library information science
professionals - More choices for both degreed and non-degreed
personnel - Low compensation
- Retirements
- Freezes
7Population Decline
8Talent Pool
35- to 44-year-olds in the U.S. Index 1970
100
Today
15 drop
9The Changed Employer-Employee Relationship
- The contract is broken
- Life Long Employment vs. Mutuality of Purpose
- Free agents
- Flexibility to meet diverse needs
- Work/life considerations
10Think about yourself and your staff.
- What keeps you
- at your library?
-
- Why do you stay?
11Why Employees Stay
- A feeling of connection
- Feeling valued
- Personal and professional growth
- Continuous learning
- Making a difference
- Good management
- Cant afford to leave
- Fair pay and benefits
12Compensation is More than a Salary
- Salary
- Benefits - the other paycheck
- Work environment
- A three legged stool!
- ALA toolkit for salaries
- http//www.ala-apa.org/salaries/toolkit.pdf
-
13Retention Begins with Orientation
14Orientation
- Relationship begins before the hire
- Employees value a personal connection
- Accommodate different learning styles
- Make it interactive and fun
- Complete paperwork and procedural stuff in
advance
15Orientation Beyond the Workplace
- Offer dual career assistance
- Include family in the equation, invite to
orientation - Match new employees with friends and services,
new neighbors, teenage babysitters, etc. - Help with relocation
16Assimilation
- Provide a buddy/
- mentoring
- Create reward best practices
- Develop expectations for management
17Welcome!
- Desk, computer, workspace ready on day one
- Welcome card
- Balloons, food
- New employee party at work site
- Formal follow-up at 30, 60, 90, 120 days
18Keys to RetainingTop Talent
19Job Satisfaction Retention
201. Increase Opportunity
- Challenge
- Interesting projects
- Responsibility
- Team leadership
- Special assignments
- Promotion
21Opportunities for Employee Development
- Internal recruitment
- Support for education
- Job rotation/cross training
- Task forces, project assignments
- Academies of learning
- Career ladders
- Mobility among libraries
22Cultivating Excellence
- Individual development plans
- Coaching/mentoring
- Performance management with real feedback and
coaching - 360 feedback
- Accelerated advancement/steps
- Co-manager opportunities
- Shared staff opportunities
232. Decrease Stress
- Identify stressors
- Distribute work evenly
- Eliminate red tape
- Manage interruptions
- Promote and model
- stress-reducing activities
24Work/Life Balance
- Define work in terms of what
- is to be accomplished
- Provide flexible work schedules
- Evaluate alternative work places and
telecommuting - Appreciate dilemma of child care, elder care,
multiple individual roles - Allow voluntary demotions
- Appreciate diversity of personal values and
priorities
253. Provide Leadership
- Build trust
- Commit to helping others succeed
- Offer motivation
- Seek excellence
- Take action
264. Emphasize Work Standards
- Focus on taking pride
- Link performance to customer satisfaction
- Develop customer service and
quality measures collaboratively - Be very clear on expectations
- Celebrate achievements
275. Provide Fair Rewards
- Employees want fair rewards for the work they do,
based on - Skill
- Responsibilities
- Effort
- Working conditions
- Communicate
- Reward for top performance
28New Emerging Benefits
- Extra insurance(s) at group rate
- Auto, legal, pet insurance
- 529 savings plans
- Counteroffers
- Eldercare 411
- Lactation Rooms
- Research leave/sabbaticals
- Stop the clock tenure
29Convenience/Concierge Services
- Dry cleaner pick-up
- Supermarket / Carry-out delivery
- Financial planning
- Passes, discounts zoo, museum
- Classes on-site educational, fitness
- Discount coupons cleaning services, manicures,
lawn care - Wellness, health screening
306. Allow Adequate Authority
- Empower employees to act
- Encourage employee input to decisions, goals,
and direction setting
31Retaining Talented Workers as They Near
Retirement
- Phased retirement
- Re-hiring as part-timers
- or consultants
- Temp work
- Training/mentoring
- assignment
- Sabbatical
32Recognizing Employees
- People will forget what you said. People will
forget what you did. But people will never
forget how you made them feel. - Anonymous
33Recognition
- Enhances performance
- Helps motivate
- Provides practical feedback
- Makes it easier to get the work done
- Improves productivity
34Old School Recognition Programs
- Formal
- 1 size fits all
- Centrally (HR) managed
- Infrequent
- Culture of entitlement
- Selectively used for top performers only
35Recognition Updated
- Includes informal elements
- Multiple programs activities
- Leader-oriented
- Frequent flexible
- Culture of performance
- Used for everyone
36Carroll County Public LibraryEveryone Counts!
- Mission Created to celebrate the contributions
of CCPL staff members, and to foster an
atmosphere of appreciation, respect and
motivation - Coworker
- Supervisor to Staff
- Formal
37Coworkers Recognize Colleagues
- Dedication
- Achievement
- Character
- Service
- Can doattitude
- Respect
- Cooperation
- Helpfulness
- Flexibility
38Supervisors Recognize Staff
- Handling an emergency or difficult situation
- Filling in on another job
- Completing a special task
- Consistently presenting a positive attitude that
inspires - Giving time assistance to an area or staff
person outside dept. or responsibility
39More Formal Rewards
- Customer Service Award
- Spirit Award
- Service Awards
- Retirements
-
- Muffies_at_ccpl.org
40Spirit of CCPL Recognition
- Providing consistently outstanding service to
internal and/or external customers - Bringing innovative idea(s) to the system
- Enhancing operations
- Accomplishing a specific project
- Contributing to the mission and/or goals of CCPL
- Providing exceptional service in spite of
extraordinary circumstances - Presenting an idea or recommendation that
resulted in a cost savings to CCPL
41Tulsa City County Library
- Rave Review
- Team Award
- Standing Ovation
- Applause
- smcconn_at_tulsalibrary.org
42Low Cost - High Impact Recognition
- BRAVO award coupons
- Special recognition for pages and hourly
employees - Xerox hand
- Bragging sessions
- Start each staff meeting with good news praise
for employees who deserve it - Read thank you letters from customers
- Self-recognition days
43More Ideas
- Anniversary letter
- Thanks button on website
- Lifesaver award
- Employee nominated EZTDBW award
- Eagle award
- Employees write about others
44Developing a Recognition Program
- Focus on the areas that have the most impact
- Involve employees
- Announce the program with fanfare
- Publicly track progress Have lots of winners
- Allow flexibility of rewards
- Renew the program as needed
- Link informal and formal rewards
45Getting Started
- Start in your own sphere
- Do just one thing differently
- Focus on what you CAN do
- Dont expect perfection
46Building Commitment
- Focus - employees know what they need to do and
what is expected of them - Involvement - people support most what they help
to create - Development encourage opportunities for
learning and growth - Gratitude - recognize good performance (formal or
informal) - Accountability - employees are responsible for
their performance and lack thereof
47Fine-Tuning Retention Strategies
- Analyze turnover - address any problems
- Do exit interviews and USE the data
- Survey incumbents
- Paper/pencil, online
- Town hall meetings
- Meetings with senior management
- Not one size fits all! Target to individual needs
48(No Transcript)
49Resources
- ALA. Advocating for Better Salaries and Pay
Equity Toolkit. www.ala-apa.org/toolkit.pdf. - Bob Nelson Dean Spitzer, The 1001 Rewards
Recognition Fieldbook, Workman Publishing, NY
2003. - Public Libraries, Recruitment and Retention
Issue, Vol. 45, No.1, Jan/Febr 2006. - Paula M. Singer Jeanne Goodrich, Retaining and
Motivating High-performing Employees, Public
Libraries Recruitment and Retention Issue, pp
58-63. - Paula M. Singer, Designing a Compensation Program
for Your Library. ALA, 2002.
50THANK YOU!
- Paula M. Singer, Ph.D.
- The Singer Group, Inc.
- 12915 Dover Road
- Reisterstown, MD 21136
- 410-561-7561
- Pmsinger_at_singergrp.com
- www.singergrp.com