How a Great House Manager Inspired and Motivated His Team
Front line managers in our agencies make all the difference in employee engagement. Of that I am sure. In my presentations, workshops and writing
I make this point over and over again. In my travels, I have interviewed front line managers in BC, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario for many different reasons. In these interviews, I often hear some great examples of specific actionable things that have been successful.
Here is one of them as told to me by a house manager in Manitoba.
“The house was in a funk. No one was taking the supported individuals anywhere; we were on cruise control… To get things moving I started a contest. Handi-transit tickets – whoever uses the most, I am buying you diner. Not I am taking you to diner; I am giving you the money to go out for dinner for two.”
I know that this type of funk happens all the time in the field, a pattern of behavior sets in, everyone is comfortable and things get stale and predictable. One approach to dealing with it would be to point out the situation to the staff and hope for improvement, but I like this approach better. It is non judgmental, no one was indirectly or directly criticized by putting this contest out there. It shows that the manager really cares about both the outcomes for individuals (getting them out of the house) and the staff (willing to put his own money out to create a prize and taking the time to think this whole thing up in the first place).
The result of this contest was a very large improvement in the number of outings AND a boost in morale for the staff. I am not sure how the awarding of the prize was handled in the end, but my suggestion would be that along with awarding the winner the prize, the manager should show the whole team the improvement in the numbers and congratulate them, from the heart, on the team success.
Follow us on .
Leave a Reply
Demo the Inclusion System
- Let us show you how the Inclusion System makes agencies efficient and less stressed.
Demo Shiftshark
- Fill shifts in seconds
- Reduce Overtime
- Reduce grievances in unionized environments
- Put a smile on your on-call manager's face
Learn more about Shift Bidding!
- The simple way of filling vacant shifts.
- Just open shifts to your employees.
- Let them choose the shifts that work for them.
- And save time and stress from scheduling.
Try Shiftshark risk-free for 30 days
- Free live training delivered by system experts.
- Constant support and communication throughout your entire trial.
- Full-featured access to absolutely everything.
- Your data, your CBA, your rules, your way.
Trial the Inclusion System
- Free live training delivered by system experts.
- Constant support and communication throughout your entire trial.
- Full-featured access to absolutely everything.
- Your data, your CBA, your rules, your way.
Inclusion System extends our profound respect and immeasurable gratitude to all the ancestors and keepers of the land on whose traditional territories our work takes place. We acknowledge that we are on Treaty 1 territory, the traditional gathering place of the Anishinaabe, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota and Dene people and the traditional homeland of the Métis people. This land is sacred, historical, and significant.
Every time we acknowledge this truth, we have an invitation and an opportunity to reflect on the wrongs of the past, what we do in the present, and what we can do to continually honour the people whose lands and water we benefit from today.
This statement only acts as a first step in honouring the land we reside on and its peoples, and must be paired with education, understanding and informed action.
Great share Darryl! Everybody benefits on so many levels here. I love it 🙂 Simple solutions are so powerful.