JANUARY 21

Employees need to know you care about them as individuals.

GET TO KNOW ’EM

When you hire a new employee, ask, “If you had a day off to spend as you wanted, what you would do and where you would go?” You’ll learn a lot about the employee in those few minutes. Maybe the employee likes fishing (half a day off might be a great reward), the arts (tickets to the symphony), sports (tickets to a game) or reading (a new release on a favorite topic).

Make a note of your employee’s interests and then use those interests to determine what day-to-day rewards you can offer. Not only will this give you great ideas for recognition, it will show that you have interest in them as a person.