Shackleton’s Way of Developing Individual Talent

Create a work environment comfortable enough to entice professionals to spend the greater part of their waking hours there. Allow for some personal preferences.

Be generous with programs that promote the well-being of your staff. Healthy bodies and minds are more productive.

Make sure each employee has challenging and important work. Even the lowest-ranking workers must feel they are making a valuable and appreciated contribution to the company.

Match the person to the position. Be observant of the types of people who are working for you and what jobs might best suit their personalities as well as their experience.

Give consistent feedback on performance. Most workers feel they don’t get nearly enough words of praise and encouragement.

Strive for work relationships that have a human as well as professional element. No matter how large your company, get to know as many employees as possible. Memorize their interests so you can chat about something other than work.

Reward the individual as well as the group. Public acknowledgement of a job well done-a birthday or a work anniversary-will make an employee feel appreciated.

Be tolerant. Know each employee’s strengths and weaknesses and set reasonable expectations. Occasionally indulging individuals, even if you think they’re being too needy, can have a powerful effect in high-stress situations.