“Show hakaras hatov and treat them like family, because they do feed your family and financially support you”

The best way to keep employees motivated is by genuinely caring about them. The rest is details. If you care about them, you’ll ensure the schedule fits their personal lifestyle, offer career advancement opportunities, pay them well, listen to their ideas and suggestions, and give them the credit for their good ideas, while taking the blame for the bad ones.

Truth be told, motivation should never be needed. Good employees in a healthy setting are self-motivated. What they need is encouragement, respect, and permission to share their talents freely without fear or concern.

 — Shmuel Septimus, CEO, Quality Recruit

Recognize their work; share your satisfaction and how excited you are with their results. Compliment them and show them how much you appreciate their efforts. Share client satisfaction with them; if a client said something good about an employee’s project, pass it on to him. Don’t stop there; publicize the compliment so that all team members have a chance to express their excitement at his success. People want to feel part of making something a success.

Learn to recognize the three factors that contribute to a miserable employee (based on Patrick Lencioni’s book, The Truth About Employee Engagement):

1. Anonymity: If nobody cares what you’re doing and you feel anonymous, you’re not going to feel satisfied with your work.

2. Irrelevance: If your job doesn’t matter to people. It’s not enough that it matters to the manager. Employees need to see the connection between their work and the satisfaction of others, both in large and small ways.

3. Unmeasurable: If you are unable to gauge your progress and level of contribution at work, you won’t feel fulfilled.

If you can give your employees tools to fulfill these needs, you will create a great culture where employees feel motivated and fulfilled.

— Yossi Gottehrer, founder and CEO YossiG, a high-end interior-design firm

I’m a big believer in acknowledging your staff. Team-appreciation events are one of my favorite events to plan. Occasionally give them something meaningful and special, and of course, always compliment them on their outstanding work. A nice word goes a long way.

 — Yosef Flohr, Joe Flohr Events

The way to keep employees engaged is to communicate as much as possible.

Show hakaras hatov and treat them like family, because they do feed your family and financially support you. We offer our employees restaurant gift cards, shares in the company, allowance for car payments, and anything that will show our appreciation to them.

Bottom line, it takes a village to raise a child. It takes a team to build a company.

 — Moshe Frank, Founder, Spritzly Drink Company

The top quality I look for in a new employee is:

 A mensch! Being a kind person who values his/her  interactions with others is an important starting point. We can teach tricks and tips on how to build a better video — menschlichkeit is not teachable.

— Moshe Shindler, Director of Productions, Mint Media

Motivation. An employee who is not motivated, and not a team player, will not be able to contribute.

— Melissa Chehebar / Founder and Co-Owner, Undercover Waterwear

Honesty. Honesty is key in any business. An honest employee can create a good name for the company he works for and pulls in repeat customers. Such employees enable you to give over more responsibility so you can focus on growing your business.

— Leo Gartenhaus, CEO Glyde Painters

Competence and soft skills. Every person has unique strengths and they should look for a job that utilizes those attributes. Once competence is established, we evaluate whether the employees would be able to integrate with the team. It is typically the soft skills that get people in the door in our company.

 —Tzvi Zicherman, Partner/Executive Vice President of Finance, LTC Ally

A self-starter and self-learner. A person with the skill, confidence, and ability to make their own decisions and implement their own ideas. Such an employee can be trusted to take complete ownership of their role, enabling the business owner to focus on growth.

 — David Konigsberg, Founder Brand Hero

Team player. I like to say that we hire for “culture not credentials.” Having someone who is dedicated and willing to learn makes all the difference.

— Ben Kurland, Allaire Health Services

Loyalty and dedication to the team. We look for employees who have a positive attitude and are solution oriented.

— Resa Shapiro, Shapiro Realtors

Multitasking Doesn’t Work

As much as people don’t want to hear this, the research is definitive — multitasking doesn’t work! Moreover, multitasking is actually a myth; when we think we’re multitasking, what we’re really doing is abruptly shifting our concentration back and forth with each new interruption.

Neurobiologists describe the brain’s energy-draining process when it shifts attention between tasks: disengaging, shutting down, rerouting blood flow, assessing the new task. The process then repeats itself, constantly forcing the brain to reorient itself each time. This makes us not only weary, but less efficient. Research finds that a person who is interrupted takes 50 percent longer to complete a task and he makes up to 50 percent more errors. Focus is the key to productivity.

 — David Lieberman, world-renowned speaker, therapist and NYT-ranked bestselling author

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 944)