Be a Leader
Take the lead in spearheading projects, generating ideas and problem-solving. Your employees look to you as a leader in the field, so be the leader that they expect and need. Defend your team when necessary and let them know that you are on their side.

Listen
Listen to the employees on your team. They are much closer to the clients and deal with procedures a lot more often than you do. They may have insight into the likes and dislikes of the clients as well as ideas on making processes more efficient. Even if they present an idea that will not work, thank them for their efforts and don’t discourage them from speaking up in the future. Everyone likes to know that they have been heard.

Be Fair
Nothing will disintegrate a team faster than playing favorites. Treat your team members equally. Of course, dole out praises and criticisms when it’s appropriate, but avoid giving certain employees special treatment such as extra time off. This could cause resentment among team members and a loss of respect for you.

Distrust among employers and employees causes stress and will distract your team from their goals. Maintaining trust will not only make your workforce happier, they will perform their job better and help your business grow. Your employees will speak positive about the company putting it in a favorable light for PR and recruiting.

A major point that Cloutier makes is that fear is the “best” motivator. Sure, a lot of people fear losing their job, but to quote the movie Office Space, “it will only make someone work hard enough not to get fired”. In my opinion, fear only works as a motivator if you do not care about the quality of the people working under you. Companies that employ this tactic have a high turnover rate and often cannot hang on to quality employees even in this harsh economy. Smart and self-respecting individuals will not stand for working for a company that sees him or her as a mere cog in the machine. You will not get quality work out of fearful employee. Fearful, unhappy employees are also likely to air their complaints to friends, family, potential customers and even potentially talented employees. This could cast your brand in a poor light and it could be difficult to overcome.

There is a great counter-point post in response to Cloutier’s article on the Lead Change Group’s website. You can read it here.

Title
The job title will probably be the first thing that the candidate sees when applying for a job. It should accurately describe the position level within the company. Words that would be useful in a job title are “Manager” , “Assistant”, ‘Representative” or “Executive”.

Duties
The job duties should accurately reflect the title, so don’t say that a position is management to attract more candidates if it’s not actually a management position. To accurately reflect the duties of the position, you may want to consult with someone already in the position to find out exactly what they do on a daily basis as well as what kind of tools or software they use . If this is a brand new position, consult with department managers and find out what they actually want from this new hire.

Requirements
This section should include the education and experience level required and preferred for the position. You want to be flexible in this section as you don’t want to alienate potentially great candidates from applying. For instance, you might want to say “2-5 years of experience” rather than just 4 years. Any kind of specialized training or software experience should also be included in this section. Be sure to indicate the level of experience if you need a candidate with specific software knowledge. For example, if a position requires some use of Photoshop, but not very high level, you can say “Must be familiar with Photoshop”.

Compensation
To incentivize candidates to apply, you should include as much information as you can about the compensation. Salary information and benefits are just 2 examples what could be included here. You may want to brag about the relaxed work environment or flexible schedule here. Be honest though. Don’t make promises you can’t keep!

Instruction for Applying
If you only want applicants to apply electronically, give them the email address, along with what they need to submit (resume, cover letter, etc.). It is also helpful to tell them what kind of file to send, such as a Word or PDF file. To avoid being flooded with phone calls, faxes and mail, state in the ad that only resumes submitted in the requested fashion will be considered.