Here’s a twist on the usual employer advice. We’re going to tell you what NOT to do if you want to be a successful leader of teams or individual employees:

• Don’t hire indifferent applicants: You can’t teach passion. Limit your hires to people with passion. Whether it’s for a hobby, their accomplishments, previous jobs, or your company, product or customers, passion is the secret ingredient that makes good employees great.
• Don’t multi-task: Pay attention to one thing—or person—at a time. New studies show that multi-tasking is not an effective way to manage your to-do list. Encourage your employees to focus on what they’re good at, and to not try to solve every problem.
• Don’t ignore your gut: There may be a good reason you feel you can’t trust a particular worker. However, if you feel that way about the majority of your employees, the problem is probably you—learn to give up control and to trust people. Let go of the little things and manage from a higher place.
• Don’t be stingy: Generosity breeds loyalty. Make it part of your company’s culture to give time, energy, and presence, as well as fair pay and benefits, to the best of your physical and financial ability.
• Don’t shut out ideas: Listen to your staff’s ideas. Out of ten ideas, you might hear eight that are just bad, one that’s promising, and one that knocks your socks off. And when you hear that great idea, execute it—make it happen. It could be good for the company and will definitely be good for employee morale.
• Don’t be all business: If you’re not enjoying what you do, it’s not likely that the people who work for you will. Make a joke. Ask how people are. Bring in cookies. Take a half day off just to goof off. Have fun.

Any business that survived 2009 is positioned to improve in 2010. Hopefully, lending will loosen up, enabling businesses to invest in equipment or facilities. Hopefully, job losses will halt, employment will tick up, and consumers will again have cash to spend.

If your planning for next year includes adding employees, it’s a good time to reflect upon your most important asset—human capital—and plan on how you’ll inspire your people to perform at their best, while keeping them enthusiastic and productive about their work and your company.

Effective teams of workers are not happy accidents. In the leadership role, business owners and managers directly affect the performance of their teams. Hiring the right people and placing them in the right position on the right team is a delicate, but necessary practice. If it’s done well, your business will run better and more profitably.

Asking the right questions starts before the hiring process does. Ask your current staff what additional personnel they would hire, given the chance. Ask what they need. Ask what’s working and not working in their current team relationships. Listen well, and ask for input. Have a brainstorming session. While your employees may not have all the answers—or even many usable ideas—it’s important they feel included in the process. And usually, the workers on the ground are acutely aware of what’s lacking in their world.

During the hiring process, look for attributes that will fit in well with established teams. This doesn’t mean that your staff cannot work with someone who doesn’t share their musical taste or hobbies. It’s good to have a diverse group of people working toward a common goal, so everyone contributes his or her strengths. While skills can be learned, enthusiasm, a positive outlook, and passion to do well cannot. Debbie Downers will often bring everyone around them down, too.

Acknowledge and quickly deal with conflicts as they arise. It’s part of gluing a good team together. Certain rules, like fostering a sense of mutual respect, should be adhered to. Let your team know that open communication is always okay, and they’ll be more likely to put conflicts behind them.

Take the time to find the best people, thorough sound procedures, including pre-employment screening. Turnover is costly both in terms of dollars spent and goodwill lost when team members have to deal with new hires more than they should. Nurture your new hires, integrate them fully, and provide all your people the resources they need to succeed. Spend time and effort in 2010 to keep your most valuable asset—your people.

Firing employees is not easy. For most employers, it’s not something done lightly, either—termination can have many consequences, from a decline in morale to litigation. While the tips presented here should not be considered legal advice, general knowledge and awareness is important, too. For dealing with a specific situation, a human resources professional or employment attorney can always be consulted for expert advice.

If you’re an employer faced with the unpleasant task of terminating a worker, consider the following ideas and tips to make the process a little easier on everyone:

1. Don’t do it alone: have a witness in the room. Whether it’s the HR director, the employee’s supervisor, or a non-management staff member—a corroborating witness will be handy if the employee decides to sue. A witness also discourages any allegations of misconduct, and can help keep anger in check.

2. Don’t fire anyone on their birthday: chances are slim that it would be, but it happens—and nothing makes an employer look more impersonal. During your due diligence and preparation phase prior to terminating, check the employee’s file and avoid the week around their birthday, if at all possible.

3. Compile the paperwork ahead of time: Pull together any agreements or waivers the person will need to sign. Have their final paycheck, or severance pay ready—or a document showing when it will be direct deposited to the employee’s account. Any written warnings or job performance evaluations should be handy, as well—in case you need to refer to them for specific reasons the termination is happening.

4. Be ready to give specific reasons for the termination, listing work performance issues—not personality or personal problems. And, be sure the employee knows for certain that they are being terminated. Then, listen patiently and answer questions. Don’t let the conversation go on for long, or over-explain or debate the issue. Let the employee know that the decision is final. Repeat the reasons you have prepared, if necessary.

5. Have an exit strategy: Disbelief and anger are natural. Some employees are embarrassed, and some become emotional. Allow the employee to vent or cry—and then give them time to pull themselves together. If the employee’s anger becomes unmanageable, have someone ready to step in and remove him or her from the room.

6. Don’t allow the employee to disrupt other workers: let him or her know they have a set amount of time to collect personal items, return company property, and leave. Keep an eye out for any trouble, but don’t feel that you must escort them from the building. It’s fine to end the termination on a pleasant note, if possible, by wishing the employee luck.

7. Inform remaining staff: While it is important to maintain the terminated employee’s privacy, his or her fellow workers need to be told about the situation. Just keep the details to a minimum; if the termination affects any remaining staff, let them know how; and if there is a replacement plan, share it. Don’t allow personal questions regarding the employee or the circumstances surrounding the termination.

No one likes to terminate employees. When it is necessary to do so, make it a little less painful by following these steps—and check with an HR professional for legal advice.

For many employers, hiring new staff is not an issue they’re dealing with right now. But for those who are expanding or replacing workers, good hiring decisions are necessary to stay viable. If areas of your business growing and need additional staff, here are some tips to prepare for the onslaught of employment applicants you’ll likely see.

1. Gauge Real Interest: You might receive a hundred responses to an advertised position, so screen for the truly interested candidates—before you start reviewing resumes. Send an email to every applicant asking him or her to complete a simple second step—like attending an information session or answering a few preliminary questions. Those who do not respond can be culled out immediately.

2. Schedule Interviews over One or Two Days: Depending on how many candidates you decide to see, plan to interview them all, back-to-back, over one or two days. Dragging the process out over a week or two is inefficient. And only seeing those job-seekers who are able to meet on your schedule is another way to screen out the less-than-enthusiastic.

3. Involve Your Staff: It’s wise to expand interviewing to more than just HR or hiring managers. When co-workers are encouraged to participate in the hiring process, they feel a sense of appreciation—and this approach creates camaraderie right from the beginning. New employees who know that everyone they work with had a hand in their hiring feel more accepted and transition more quickly.

4. Consider Conducting Personality Tests: Some firms have potential candidates complete 15-minute questionnaires that predict behavior, style, and motivation.

5. Observe Candidates Outside the Interview: Creative companies bring finalists into the workspace for a day or two of observation. Both candidates and existing staff and management do the observing—each side to see if the potential hire and company culture are a good fit. Taking candidates to lunch or dinner, or just hanging out after work in relaxed settings with other staffers can be very telling. Human nature leads us all to behave one way in an interview and another when we’re relaxed and having fun.

What makes employees happy and loyal? Company culture, extra perks, feeling appreciated by their employers—all of these factors are important, but they are not the deciding ones when employees are faced with the decision: “should I stay or should I go?”  The two things employees put at the top of the list are pay and benefits.

According to a survey conducted for the last three years by a Florida staffing firm, compensation and benefits are the most important thing in their relationships with their employers.

Although fewer workers have quit jobs this year (according to the U.S. Department of Labor), history suggests that workers who are unhappy will start looking for employment elsewhere as the economy improves. And the main reason they’re unhappy?  Their pay has been cut during the recession.

One study, conducted last May, showed that employees at 235 large U.S. firms are less committed to their employers—so those firms who managed to keep their strongest people during the recession may be at risk of losing them.

What can employers do to hold on to good employees?

1. Make up for pay cuts: it’s a sure way of making affected employees happier. And if you plan on giving raises, say so! Now is not the time for surprises—people need reassurance more than ever. So don’t keep plans to yourself, or use a pay raise to bargain with an employee after they announce they’re quitting.

2. If you promise a pay raise, follow through: nothing is worse than making a promise and not delivering on it.

3. Be flexible: We’ve shared lots of ideas in this blog about boosting morale and supporting employees’ needs. Sometimes it can make up for lower pay—but not always.

4. Pay a performance bonus: If you can, write a bonus plan that rewards your staff for meeting objectives. Pay-for-performance is a good way to give a sense of ownership and commitment.

5. Be open and accountable: if management is getting raises and bonuses, and staff is not, be prepared to explain why.

Employers who cut staff to deal with a business slowdown, often experience a slowdown in worker productivity, too. Here are some free ways to boost it back up.

Be flexible: Not only do employees who work for managers they consider flexible produce more work, they are healthier. A recent study undertaken by eight federally-funded research teams in the U.S. show that employers’ policies affect employees in ways they might not have imagined. Cardiovascular disease is twice as prevalent in employees who have bosses unwilling to work with them on family issues like caring for sick children.

Employers with a culture of flexibility, such as remote work programs and flex hours, have workers who sleep an average of 30 minutes more per night. The same study reported that nearly 80 percent of workers want flexible work schedules, but many believe they will be overlooked for advancement if they ask for it.

The study also shows that businesses with open and flexible cultures have more engaged and supportive employees, and much less turnover.

Be supportive: Employers and workers are both feeling the strain of job cutbacks, losses in sales and profits, and an uncertain future. However, employers should try to be as supportive of their remaining employees as they are demanding of them. Listen to employees’ needs and suggestions, especially when re-prioritizing duties are necessary. Some tasks may have to be eliminated when staffing is decreased. Be empathetic to what your employees can physically and emotionally take on.

Be inclusive: When employers ask workers to take on more responsibility, productivity can be negatively affected. Consider giving your best workers leadership roles and the titles that go with them when you ask them to work longer and harder. A sense of ownership can boost morale and productivity.

After layoffs, benefits cuts and asking staff to do without, employers look for ways to boost employees’ spirits. Some buy lunch, while others encourage fun with Halloween costumes. But some inventive employers seek ideas beyond the norm to improve morale and keep employees productive.

Start an employee garden: One Indiana business owner invested $600 in a 1,500 square foot garden on her business property. Four employees shared the workload and the bounty, estimated at $2,400 worth of vegetables and herbs. Free produce is a sure bet for a crowd-pleasing morale booster, helping employees stay healthier by increasing the fresh vegetables in their diets and saving them money, too.

Take an afternoon off to play: Close the doors, turn on the voice mail, and take your crew to the movies, a comedy show, the ball park, or a pottery class. While it’s true that not all businesses can close the doors during regular hours, with proper planning, many can. Give customers plenty of notice, and do what’s necessary to meet their needs. Most customers can tolerate doing without your services for one afternoon a year—and knowing your business invests in your employees creates goodwill.

Throw a party: Thinking of cutting this year’s holiday bash? Think again—it could kill employee morale. (Unless the annual holiday party is lame, in which case it could boost it.) If funds are tight, ask your employees for ideas. They might come up with a celebration that costs less and is more fun than the one you’ve been doing for years. Try a gathering at your home instead of an expensive banquet room or restaurant. Do put out some nice finger foods or a big pot of chili with all the fixings. Do have a silly gift exchange, play some music, and relax. Don’t ask you staff to bring a dish, pitch in for a gift for the boss, or provide their own drinks. They’re likely already strapped for time and money.

Buy the coffee, tea, or hot chocolate this week: Many employers have cut the “free coffee” perk. Bring it back for a week—or one week a month. Anything helps!

Let the dogs in: Allowing employees to bring their dogs to work is a huge morale booster, when it works. First, all must be in favor of having canine companions around. Allergic staff members must be accommodated. Dogs must be well behaved—both on their own and in a group. If your business cannot handle every Molly, Spot, and Chance at once, set up a rotation schedule. Your employees will love having their furry family members close by, and studies show that dogs in the workplace lower stress.

The US Congress designated October as National Work and Family Month to remind employers to consider employees’ family needs when making business decisions.

When your staff is stressed out about family issues, work performance will likely suffer.

So encouraging a healthy balance of work and life can increase productivity. It also reduces turnover and increases employers’ gain on the investment they make in hiring and training staff.

How can employers accomplish good work/life balance in their businesses?

Tuning in to your employees’ needs is important to maintaining a happier work place for everyone. Look for cues of discontent and listen when your employees are expressing their needs.

Don’t meddle into your workers’ personal lives. Do offer concrete solutions to employees’ family life challenges. If one staff member is experiencing trouble with a day care provider, or another wants to accompany his mother to a doctor’s appointment, help them find ways to get these needs met.

Improve your staff’s physical health and your business will benefit, too. Healthy employees have lower levels of stress, illness and injuries, miss fewer days of work, and are more productive. Encourage wellness with company-wide gym memberships, by installing bicycle racks, and awarding employees for walking or biking to work.

Try flex schedules, such as position sharing and work-from-home options. If you have two employees who want to work fewer hours, perhaps there is a full-time job they can share. Do you have employees who could work from home a day per week or month? Just reducing those employees’ commutes can add valuable hours to their home lives.

Encourage employees to go for a walk on breaks and lunch hours. Fresh air and movement can make a huge difference in a worker’s day. Don’t require employees to stay onsite for lunch. Getting away is healthy, and could help employees keep their lives in order by allowing them to run errands.

It’s up to both sides of the employment equation to keep things healthy: employers should be creative in helping staff members achieve a healthy work/life balance, and employees should communicate their needs and take advantage of their employers’ attempts to help.

Annual performance reviews can make everyone cranky—most employers don’t enjoy writing them, and employees would probably vote them off the island if they could. Still, many businesses use them as their sole means of communicating to their staffs.

One problem with once-a-year reviews is that the time between an employee’s offense and the manager’s opportunity to address it could simply be too long. That’s why police officers don’t wait until October to issue a ticket for speeding in July!

Immediacy has its advantages. Instead of making a note to add an employee’s offense to their annual review, try offering guidance when they make the error. If your company’s annual reviews consist of a laundry list of missteps and mistakes, it’s no wonder that the staff dreads them.

Some employers encourage employees to “rate the rater,” or evaluate their supervisors, during annual performance reviews. This practice is not likely to produce honest, workable results. Employees who receive high marks in their evaluation are not likely to bite the proverbial hand that feeds them. And pent-up frustrations are more likely to fly after a less-than-favorable review.

It is more productive for managers and bosses to check in regularly with their staffs. Encourage honest feedback by asking what they need, how you are doing as a supervisor, and what you can do differently.

After all, your employees are thinking about the answers to these questions, whether or not they are ever asked. And they are likely discussing their feelings with fellow staff members. Wouldn’t you rather hear about their ideas and suggestions directly?

These are a few ways annual reviews can be counter-productive. Consider giving your employees regular opportunities to offer feedback, and don’t wait until that magic yearly review to praise them for doing a job well—or to correct their mistakes.

Consistent communication is one key to productive, happy employees—and it’s more productive than the annual review that so many employees and employers dread!