12 Ways To Create -- And Keep -- The Workforce You Want

8. Compensation That Pays
One VAR thinks paying her people high salaries removes stress and gets them to work harder. Another VAR believes in low base pay and the majority of compensation to be performance-based. Which is right? It depends on your culture, growth objectives and perception of risk.

The bottom line is compensation communicates more about your company values and your personal integrity than any other aspect of your relationship with your employees. Now this does not mean you can abuse or ignore your employees, but pay them well. It does mean that you have to pay people what you would want to be paid if your roles were reversed.

SOLUTION: Consider compensation that's a combination of base pay, benefits and performance pay. The performance pay can also have a partner-pay component for results-oriented employees to create new revenue streams for your organization. If you don't balance your compensation but go with high salaries, then employees often lack the incentive to perform their best, and you have a significant risk when your utilization rates drop due to economic or other conditions.

9. Listen More
"I manage with a long leash," the vice president of marketing tells me. "We only hire senior people," another partner tells me. Often, the problem is the same: Managers are not involved in making the employee a success. The No. 1 reason employees quit is a poor relationship with their bosses. Listen more means you meet with your employees one-on-one at least once a month. The goal is to just listen. If they need your help, guidance or advice then give it to them, and follow up without fail.

SOLUTION: Start today to meet once a month with each employee who reports to you. Do it just to listen. Also consider meeting with one client a week for the same reason. You'll not only increase your knowledge of your business, but you'll also gain valuable insight into what your clients find important, which allows you to properly allocate your people to fill needs and provide services. This, in turn, increases revenue and profits.

10. Goals That Work
In general, VARs and their employees do a poor job of setting and achieving goals. Instead they live day-to-day reacting to customer events and business needs (sales) rather than applying their knowledge and skills to positively respond to opportunities.

Remember Maximus in the movie Gladiator? He wasn't just a great warrior, but a very effective leader. The first test for him and his fellow slaves was when the Romans sent chariots out to attack them in the Colosseum. With no time to prepare, Maximus gives the men instructions that are simple, direct and limited to one action. First he tells them to huddle together. Then step-by-step he gives orders on how to defend and attack. Each time, his directive focuses on a single action. The result is that his men prevail over the Romans against overwhelming odds.

SOLUTION: Define your system for writing goals. Ask each employee to write one goal. Meet and confirm a final version. Follow up to provide support and encouragement so they can succeed. For additional direction on how to write goals, visit Free Stuff on www.successwithpeople.com.

11. Halftime Reviews
A recent study concluded 65 percent of employees have not received recognition or even a compliment on their work during the past year. How would that make you feel?

I call performance reviews "halftime reviews" because the atmosphere of the meeting must be like halftime at a sporting event and you are the coach. It's the time to review what's going wrong, what's achieving results, and what needs to be done to achieve success.

SOLUTION: Using the employee's job description and goals as a foundation, have quarterly miniperformance reviews and an annual review to demonstrate to the employee that you're committed to their success. Affirm the employee's achievements and, to a lesser extent, point out how you overcame obstacles together. There shouldn't be any surprises. The review also serves to document performance in the event of an employee dispute.

12. Coach--Do Not Play
Coaching but not playing means you teach your people how to think, rather than just tell them what to do, or do it yourself. Yes, on the front end you have to develop training materials, take the time to train people and monitor their progress. However, this is the only way your organization can sustain long-term, healthy growth.

One large IT organization that was interviewing departing employees discovered 90 percent quit because their managers were not helping them to develop. This was in an organization that had hundreds of online courses and budgets available to employees.

SOLUTION: Choose one responsibility you have and develop a training program. Pass the baton on that job responsibility to someone else. Train them. Observe them performing the task (very important). Follow up and hold them accountable to excellent performance. Then replicate the process so your company can grow.

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David Russell is CEO of Success With People and author of the book, "Success With People--A Complete System For Effectively Managing People In Any Organization." His company helps IT vendors to improve their partners' ability to hire and retain top talent. For more information, please visit www.successwithpeople.com.