Implement policies that you really believe in and then properly train management. If you're going to set up an unlimited PTO policy, stand by it. If you want to work in agile, make sure teams understand how to do it.
-
Empower your employees and your lower-level managers. Get rid of some of the red tape and allow people to interact on a more personal level. Let lower-level managers actually manage their employees.
-
Break down some of the barriers between teams and departments. Learn to collaborate.
-
Work on your processes for letting people go. If you lay someone off, please actually say the words "We're letting you go," or something along those lines. Please don't just hand someone a folder with their separation agreement. Perform exit interviews. Find out what people like and what they don't like. And when it is time to lay people off, make the decisions based on the employee, not what team they worked on. It's disappointing to see that a company like TriZetto would lay off entire product teams regardless of an individual employee's worth.