The Sid Story - Planned Spontaneous Recognition and a Positive Work Environment

There are too many workplaces that are full of negative, fear-based management practices. Managers feel like their employees are "under-achievers" who need a "kick-in-the-butt" in order to achieve. They have low expectations in their employees and therefore their employees live up to these expectations. Dennis Franz who plays Sid in The Sid Story is just this type of manager. He yells and rants and treats his employees like children. He also consistently has the worst production numbers in his company. As the film progresses, Sid find that his management strategy has led to his poor numbers and he changes as a manager and a person.

If your workplace has managers like Sid or you yourself are Sid, there are some simple steps you an implement to make your workplace more productive. Establish a positive work climate in which your employees know what is expected and how they are doing. Provide your employees with a scorecard on how they are doing and provide them with a list of goals to achieve - Both individually and as a team. Don't make it an "or else" scenario, but treat everything in a positive light.

How you perceive your employees, will effect how you treat them. Have a positive personal approach when dealing your employees. See the advantages of being out in the operations that you supervise, looking for things being done right. Leave your desk and get out where your employees are. Find things that they are doing right and commend them for it.

Provide Planned Spontaneous Recognition. This type of recognition takes the form of his wife's banana bread in The Sid Story, but it could be anything that is creative and from you personally. Sid's banana bread is personal and it shows his employees that he has gone out of the way to something specifically from him. This is a way better than simply stopping at the supermarket and picking up bread.

Managers in today's work world need to provide a positive, uplifting place for their employees to excel. Like Sid, managers can change their attitudes and these skills will help any manager start on their way towards a more productive workplace.

Charlie Bentson King is a writer and producer of training videos for TrainingABC. TrainingABC is a distributor of management training videos such as The Sid Story.