With Employees, Money Isn't Everything
According to experts, in 2009 it appears that very few employed people were actively looking for a job; the most prudent thing to do was to keep your head low and be glad that you had a job. In early 2010, employees lifted their heads out of the 2009 sand trap and started cautiously looking around. The market finally turned around in each quarter of 2010, and according to Manpower, "a positive outlook was reported for all four quarters of 2010 and quarter one of 2011." Furthermore, "employers in the Midwest and South have the most upbeat hiring intentions with a +10 percent outlook."
A recent MetLife study said that "the workforce has grown more dissatisfied and disloyal, to the point where one in three employees hopes to be working somewhere else in the next twelve months ... a loyal and satisfied workforce is part of the foundation of business growth. Widening cracks in this foundation may force employers to pay a price in reduced retention and productivity..."
So how do you keep them down on the farm in your green pasture rather than exiting over the fence to a competitor? The motivators to move or stay may be as surprising as they are complex.
According to an internal survey at McKinsey, a global management consulting firm, they "found that financial incentives were not the best way to motivate your workforce." The following non-financial incentives were ranked higher:
• Recognition from a manager
• 1-on-1 meetings with company leadership
• Opportunity for leadership roles
Bob Wilson, Chief Human Resource Officer at Elliott Davis, says that "even though we stay very competitive from a salary standpoint, we don't depend on pay as a prime motivator to hire people or get them to stay." This is reiterated by Vicki Peek, the Chief Operating Officer of Find Great People (FGP), who says, "You need to be more creative than just relying on dollar compensation. The financial piece is just one component of the employee package, and we are constantly telling our clients to look beyond that one aspect."
So what motivates us as employees? There seem to be some common themes which are also common sense.
Communication is one important key to employee satisfaction. Elliott Davis does periodic employee surveys, as do a lot of companies. The difference is in what you do with the information gathered. If you ask for input and do nothing with it, that is worse than not asking. As a result of their survey in 2006, Elliott Davis formed a "Woman's Initiative" program so that females would be represented to senior management. Now they are senior management, with over 20 percent of the women in the firm as shareholders.
FGP often recommends a blind study to their clients as a way of improving communication. Again, the key is to act on the information. Listen to employees actively — that means pay attention to what they are saying and also share company information with them. As always, communication is a two-way street where both parties have to be actively engaged in talking and listening. Otherwise, Peek says, people will "fill in the blanks." There are very few secrets in a company, so being upfront about issues is critical.
A good environment is critical to keeping good people. The environment relates to the culture and how a company treats its employees with respect to sustaining employee satisfaction. We are all looking for experiences in life and the workplace can be a positive one. Peek says of finding employees and helping her clients keep them, "People perform to the level that you care. Provide tools through professional development and keep your finger on the pulse of employees; what will result from this is a healthy balance and value for both parties." And according to Wilson, part of this healthy work environment is dependent on flexibility. In many cases with both parents as working parents, employee schedules need to be adaptable. Seasonality of some businesses also require that there is "downtime" to recuperate from an especially busy season. Elliott Davis also has established a wellness program for employees with a voluntary clinical assessment to ensure that employees are healthy and therefore happier.
Another key to sustaining employee satisfaction is to develop a real partnership between employer and employee. It has always been key that companies form a relationship with their clients but it has not always been stressed that a partnership is critical within, too. At Elliott Davis, "There is an opportunity to be an owner in the firm and just as our employees are fully engaged with our clients, we try to be equally as involved in their progress toward partnership."
In advising clients on hiring and retention, Peek encourages employers to "take the time to find great talent, but don't stop there. Once you get the best talent, do all that you can to develop and retain [them]...do not just regard them as 'people in a seat.' Ultimately establishing a solid relationship will profit both parties."
With all these motivational ideas there is one thing that an employer cannot change. You have to like what you do in order to have any satisfaction in work. So maybe this is the first question to ask prospects and hires and then get into the details.