One of the most strategically important and economically sound steps that an organization can take is to attract, develop, and retain a diverse group of the best and the brightest human talent in the market place
All factors considered, the organizations that have traditionally been the most successful are those that have demonstrated a pronounced commitment to their employees by providing a work environment that enables them to achieve at their maximum levels of productivity and potential
Management must recognize and acknowledge both the uniqueness of each individual employee and the bona fide need that individuals have for a reasonable degree of job security and self-actualization
Although a personalized approach should be employed when dealing with employees, undue familiarity should be avoided
Employees who are creative will sometimes require “special handling.” Passionate about seeing their ideas implemented (all of their ideas, as soon as possible), creative people should be made to understand that every one of their ideas will not be appropriate and, as such, will not be used. Coming up with an idea, no matter how brilliant it may be, is just the beginning of the creative process
New ideas are important at every level of the organization. For example, coming up with a unique way to drill a particular technique or a fundamental skill may not be as exciting as reinventing the forward pass, yet it’s very useful and a lot more likely to have a practical application on the football field
Although an organization should demonstrate a reasonable amount of flexibility in the work environment to accommodate the needs of its employees, to management must be totally inflexible with regard to its expectations of the performances of its employees. In this instance, the key step is to document those expectations
People are most comfortable in their working environment when their duties are laid out in specific detail and their performance can be gauged by distinct and measurable parameters. Employee accountability is facilitated when the responsibilities of the employees are spelled out in great detail
It is critical that employee expectation levels are both reasonable and attainable, as well as high
Once the employee expectations have been identified and documented, they must be continually monitored, revised, and refined.
