HR: Your Holiday “To Do” List

This holiday selling season you want your employees to convey to customers the excitement of your new product line. You’d love to see your staff pumped up and ready to handle the increased volume and sales, right? But how do you get them into that mental state in which they’ll happily go the extra mile to satisfy shoppers?

Susan Drake, Michelle Gulman and Sara Roberts, authors of the new book “Light Their Fire: Using Internal Marketing to Ignite Employee Performance and WOW Your Customers” (Dearborn Publishers, $23, http://www.dearborntrade.com), note that to “create inspired and motivated employees who perform well and deliver on your brand promise, consider the four ‘E’ factors.”

1. Engaged: To get your employees fully engaged in their work, have them help you create the company’s vision, and then “paint a clear and vivid picture of how you want them to execute it,” note the authors. The vision should include not just the facts of what you want to accomplish, but the heart, soul, humor and quirky parts of your brand, as well. Also, strive to help employees see their part in the company’s bigger picture.”When you create a community, people feel a sense of responsibility and obligation to support each other,” write the authors.

2. Enabled: Workers who say things such as:”That’s not how we do it,” “That’s not our policy,” “It’s not my job” and “I don’t have the authority to do that” have not been enabled to help their companies achieve their mission statements, note the authors. Tactics to try when possible: “Change procedures that annoy customers and make employees’ work a chore.” Also, as a manager, don’t participate in negative discussions about the company. “Employees remember that you grumbled along with them, and then they lose respect for you as a person who can make things happen.”

3. Empowered: When applicable, tell employees the outcome you want, but avoid the temptation of outlining exactly how you want them to accomplish the goals. “Allow employees the flexibility to do it their way,” the authors write.

4. Ensured: Provide clear guidelines for success, measure employees against those guidelines, and then give appropriate rewards for the performance levels you seek.

“Challenge people, but don’t subject them to excessive demands,” note the authors.”Frustration won’t motivate; it will discourage. If employees make mistakes, guide them.”