HAPPY PEOPLE ARE PRODUCTIVE PEOPLE Dan Moynihan, MBA, NREMT-P Executive Director, Trinidad Ambulance District WORKPLACE ATTITUDES

WHAT WAS MANAGEMENT? Keeping employees in line Firing employees that didn’t “toe the line” Intimidation Watching over shoulders Punishing Not a friend, a boss Interpersonal communication discouraged

WHAT IS MANAGEMENT Making sure people have the tools they need to do the job Encouragement Ensuring production goals are met Enforcing workplace policies Safety Compliance Knowing our people LEADERSHIP!

EMPLOYEE MANUAL…OR SOPs Employee Guidelines Protocols Workplace Rules Directives We can probably name more…

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF YOUR “EMPLOYEE MANUAL”? Establishes standard procedures (rules) for employees to follow Describes your Chain of Command Explains benefits Provides consequences for unwanted behavior CYA (Making the attorneys happy) Job Descriptions MINIMUM STANDARDS = HOW NOT TO GET FIRED

MINIMUM STANDARDS Is our goal as leaders to inspire people to reach minimum standards? Are our organizations better if everyone only meets minimum standards? Is our organization designed to operate with everyone meeting minimum standards? Would our organization be able to continue operating if everyone met, but did not exceed, minimum standards?

LEADER OR WORKPLACE COP? Which are you? Is your job to enforce rules and punish violators? Are you the hammer and employees are nails? OR… Is your job to provide direction and true leadership?

HAPPY PEOPLE ARE PRODUCTIVE PEOPLE Has everyone here worked for a boss or an organization that made us feel like we dreaded having to get up and go to work? Do you have people working for you that feel that way? Have you created an environment where your people actually enjoy coming to work? Do YOU enjoy coming to work? What is your turnover rate? Are your people using almost all their sick time or PTO during the year? Are you experiencing a higher than normal volume of equipment failures? Are your vehicles having to be repaired more often than you would expect?

ROUND PEGS BELONG IN ROUND HOLES

RIGHT PEOPLE IN THE RIGHT JOBS The way to resolve having a square peg in a round hole is NOT:

ATTITUDES MATTER “Hire for Attitude, Train for Skills” Lorraine Grubbs-West, senior executive at Southwest Airlines

HOW DO WE INSPIRE OUR FOLKS? Military has a great carrot and stick system (Rank and prison) Do you have employees or teammates? Are you all working towards the same goals? Have you stated your goals? Are your folks aware of any goals? How do you communicate those goals to your people? Do you measure your achievement? Do you recognize those that go above and beyond? Do you reward those that go above and beyond?

HOW DO WE GET THE MOST FROM OUR PEOPLE? Value your people as individuals. They don’t care what you know, until they know that you care! People need to feel like their job is important. How do they make the world a better place (think Dirty Jobs)? Do you let them know? If so…How? Everyone has to be working towards the same goal. Goals should be like yard markers on a football field. They help you measure progress towards a critical goal. Think football when cheering on your team!

HOW IS WORK LIKE FOOTBALL? Do you have clearly marked boundaries? Are there consequences for infractions of the rules? Is there a level playing field? Are there rewards for achievements? Do you wait until the game is over to cheer, or do you cheer every first down, great catch, sack, etc.? Are you calling the plays and letting your team execute the best they can? Remember, if there’s no score, there’s no game!

80% 10% 10% Generally speaking… 80% of our people come and go, do their jobs, create no problems and don’t stand out from the rest of the workforce. 10% of our people are overachievers that go above and beyond what is expected of them. 10% of our people are the “problems” in our organization. You couldn’t get a fire started under them with five gallons of gasoline and a hand grenade! These 10% take up an incredible amount of our time! How do we lessen the bottom 10% and increase the top 10%? Suggestions???

WHAT IF? Instead of simply punishing those that violate the rules, we actually reward and recognize those people that are going above and beyond? Catch them doing something right! What if those overachievers were placed on a pedestal for others to emulate? I contend that you have people in your organization right now, that want to do more, but feel it’s a waste of time because their efforts wouldn’t be recognized and rewarded. I also contend that when you reward superior performance, the bar is raised for the whole organization. When your people raise the bar on themselves, what do you think happens to the poor performers in the organization? Peer pressure does much more than management pressure!

HOW DO WE RECOGNIZE GREAT PERFORMANCE? You guys are doing a great job Vs I want to personally thank John Smith, who has been doing a great job by making sure the shop has been free from hazards. Because of John’s actions, all of us are safer here. Which is more powerful and meaningful? General is never as good as specific Spontaneous is always better than pre-arranged The more individualized and unique you can make your congratulations, the more effective and appreciated they will be.

LET’S WRAP IT UP Aiming for minimum standards won’t get us where we want to be. If the only goal you set is not getting fired, how will that inspire people to do better? It is better to recognize and reward good behavior than to solely punish inappropriate behavior. We should be creating an environment where we would like to work ourselves. Make sure you’re using your people’s strengths to your advantage. Put round pegs in round holes. Hire for attitude, train for skills. Measure your performance. Remember, no score, no game! Set goals and share those goals with your people.

LET’S WRAP IT UP Cheer every accomplishment our team makes! Value your people as individuals They don’t care what you know, until they know that you care! Peer pressure can be your best friend When recognizing performance, do it the right way People don’t quit organizations, they quit managers! GO HAVE FUN!!!

DAN MOYNIHAN - CELL – (719)