1. Let them do their job. People are individuals, no two of which are created equal. Stop trying to force them into position descriptions that fail to capitalize on their strengths and interests. Get to know their personality types, and communication and learning styles. You’d be much better served learning and understanding how they operate than by requiring them to operate in the manner that seems best to you. And stop wasting their time. If nothing of substance is getting accomplished in a given meeting or training – postpone it until something that matters emerges.

2. Help them do their job. Too much of what we dwell on as managers is about us. Employees recognize that. If you’re only motivated to serve your own needs then stop expecting your employees to do differently. In stead, ask them what you can do for them. Agree on a plan of action, set a deadline, and live up to it – empty promises do quick and long-lasting damage. Stop giving them all the answers. Employees ask you for a solution because it releases them from responsibility. But responsibility is the foundation of confidence. Instead of answers, ask them something like “What would you suggest we do?” or “How would you like to see this handled?” If it’s not to your liking – discuss it. Get them thinking and participating – you’ll be amazed how quickly they (and you) will gain confidence in their abilities.

3. Recognize them for a job well done. Too often our rewards are canned. We give standard awards and kudos that are void of real meaning. When an employee does a good job, let them know it immediately and make it personal. Calling someone into your office to let them know how pleased you are with their performance today is far more powerful then giving them a framed certificate a month from now. Make your praise unanticipated – anticipated praise is forced and impersonal.

It’s not hard to motivate people: give them an objective and get out of their way. Let them show you that they can succeed and excel. We all have ways of living, working and communicating – stop presuming that your way is the best way. Give your employees the room and resources they need, and they’ll give you the attitude and drive you desire.

Employees generally want to be a productive and valued. Basically, they really want to do a good job. Most of all, they want to be recognized for their unique skills and contributions. Being recognized for the work they do is still the most desired part of employee compensation, even more important than money or job security. Keep that in mind while you consider the following suggestions for handling increasing workplace diversity:

Recognize and Celebrate Differences

• Inquire about and understand the motivators for each employee. Do not assume that what motivates a baby boomer will be the same thing that motivates a gen Xer.

• Be open about the differences represented by your employees and team. Encourage team members to share the unique things about them with others and you.

• Be aware of cultural differences. There are differences in how eye contact, touch and gestures are perceived.

• Be aware of language differences. Words can have different meanings even within the same language.

Dealing with Conflict

• When a difficult situation comes up deal with it quickly and openly with the employee(s) involved in a private setting. Even though it’s important to handle difficult situation quickly be sure to allow yourself time to prepare.

• If an employee is angry or made you angry allow for time to cool down before addressing the issue.

• Be clear and concise about any criticism that you have for an employee.

Most of all, view team members as individuals. Get rid of your own stereotypical ideas. Interact with each employee or team member as an individual. Be respectful. Give employees and team members your full attention when speaking with them. And don’t forget to be generous with genuine praise. Regardless of age, sex or culture, the universal employee motivator is recognition.

The way regions, divisions, departments and people link together and interact is set out in a management structure (sometimes also referred to as an organizational structure). The two main types of such structures are flat and hierarchal.

Organizations that have few or no levels of management that intervene between the workers and the leaders are employing what is known as a flat management structure. A flat management structure promotes the involvement of staff in the decision-making process by decentralizing said process.

A flat management structure can help to speed up decision-making, as it promotes real-time suggestions and commentary from the front-line workers, and eliminates middle-management. This structure promotes frequent communications and results in a more personal relationship between staff and leaders of the organization.

Within a hierarchal management structure each person is charged with reporting to, or dealing with, a specific manager, who then takes information up (or down) the chain. In this structure, each body within the organization, except one, is subordinate to an immediate supervisor.

Such a structure is best visualized as a pyramid, where the height of a person depicts their status, power and influence, and the width of that level represents how many people or business divisions are at that level relative to the whole. The highest-ranking people are at the apex, and there are very few of them. The base may include thousands of people who have no subordinates.

The benefit of a hierarchal structure is also its primary limitation in that it will reduce the level of communication that goes directly to the top. The hierarchal configuration, however, is the most prevalent for large corporations, governments, and even organized religions.

Flat management structures will typically only work well in smaller companies, or within smaller defined units of a large organization. Once an entity reaches a certain size, this type of structure will not work as well and could end up having a negative impact on productivity. Certain financial responsibilities may also require a more conventional structure, and some theorize that flat organizations become more traditionally hierarchical when they begin to be geared towards productivity.

An organization’s complexity can be related to its size and how widely distributed it is geographically, and it is this complexity that governs which management structure is most beneficial to it. In that respect, there is no straight answer as to which management structure is best overall.

Whichever management structure is implemented need to be regularly reviewed to ensure that an organization and all of its subsystems (processes, departments, teams, employees, etc.) are working effectively to achieve the results desired by the organization. Such reviews (referred to as performance management) can be carried out on a general basis, or on units of performance, such as quantity, quality, cost or timeliness.

The factors at the macro level that could affect the occurrence of low productivity include:

(1) Economic conditions: low taxes Reit; savings and increased investment; excessive regulation; high inflation rates; economic fluctuations; high energy prices; limitations of raw materials; excessive protection and limitation of quotas and subsidies that lead to excessive inefficiency.

(2) industry conditions: a lack of research and development and excessive antitrust regulation.

(3) Government regulation: the long bureaucracy; low productivity of government; government waste and high-level corruption.

(4) Labor Force Characteristics: low educational standards; Reit low literacy; low work ethic; shift to service sector; Reit high crime; shift in value systems and attitudes.

Micro factors that could affect the occurrence of low productivity include:

(1) Organization: old factories; old machines; lack of tools and factories; research and development and lack of physical conditions less comfortable workplace.

(2) Management: lack of attention to quality; overstaffed employees; excessive specialization of workers; less attention to human factors; attention to the excessive legal issues; lack of attention to the issue of merger; lack of attention to training and development of excessive executive salaries, while the salaries of employees is not adequate; resistant to change; attention to risk reduction work; hostility to unions and management of authoritarian leadership.

(3) Employees: more pleased with the time to relax; resistant to change; not proud of the work; violence because alcohol and drugs; less work experience; lack of work ethic; lack of knowledge, skills, abilities, attitudes and behavior; conditions poor health and lack of communication skills.