Employees in the high-tech sector reported higher levels of commitment than those in financial services or manufacturing. Healthcare workers demonstrated the lowest level of commitment. Commitment was also found to be related to the employee’s position in the organization — fewer workers and supervisors were as committed as managers and executives.
Why is commitment important? Watson Wyatt has determined that companies with highly committed employees had a 112 percent three-year total return to shareholders, compared to a 76 percent return for companies that exhibited low employee commitment. Clearly, commitment makes a difference.
Generating commitment among employees through motivation can be a daunting task. As we’ve seen, employees do not respond collectively to an employer’s practices or a supervisor or manager’s efforts; employees respond individually.
Employee Retention
Joan Stewart, author of the booklets 113 Tips for Recruiting Valuable Employees and 107 Tips for Keeping Valuable Employees (www.publicityhound.com/tips.html) says companies are responding to employee needs in a variety of ways. These include —
• flexible work schedules so people can take care of kids and elderly parents,
• mandatory paid sabbaticals that must be taken aside from regular vacations,
• advertising themselves as “gay-friendly” workplaces to attract gay job applicants during this difficult labor shortage,
• offering more and better training that contributes to the employees’ career goals,
• offering closer contact with executives at the top through things such as “Breakfast with the Boss” programs, and
• doing quarterly performance reviews instead of annual reviews.
Today’s tight labor market and increased desire for work/life balance is leading to employees demanding — and receiving — more unusual recruitment perks such as portable vacation time, outsourcing laundry services, and providing child and elderly care, says Drake Beam Morin (DBM), a global workplace consulting firm.
How can you find out what it will take to retain the front-line workers at your organization? The answer may seem simplistic — and it is simple. Ask them. What might asking them entail? With a small company, it could be as simple as talking to employees — and listening. (See chapter 6 for a discussion on communication.)
With larger groups of employees, or to get more quantitative results, employee surveys can prove useful. Employee satisfaction surveys can help uncover issues that need to be addressed before it’s too late. They can help management avoid losing a good employee because of an issue that could have been remedied. Another benefit is that employee surveys can indirectly communicate to employees that management is concerned about making the workplace a better working environment.
Finding Out What Your Employees Want
Do you really know what your employees want? To determine just how much your perception of what your employees want differs from what they really want, complete Sample 1 and, without revealing your rankings, ask your employees to complete the same form.
Sample 1: What Do Employees Really Want
“There’s a huge gap between what managers think employees want and what they really want,” says a credit union executive. “It seems as though the employees we hire these days aren’t looking for security in long-term careers, whereas the managers have already decided this is the path they want to take. They don’t understand that everybody doesn’t think the same way. I’ve been here for 22 years and I can’t imagine working anywhere else, so for me it’s hard to understand how a young person coming in doesn’t see it in a long-term perspective.”
The differences in the way you rank different aspects of employment may surprise you. Don’t assume you know what your employees want. They may not be like you — in fact, they probably aren’t like you. Take the time to discover what your employees really want.
How can you determine what motivates your employees?
1) Ask them. Go to each of your employees and ask them what things they like most (and least) about their jobs. Ask them specifically, “What are some of the things that the company does to increase your self-esteem?” “What are some of the things that the company does to decrease your self-esteem?” Their answers will give you the starting point you need to develop some effective ways of motivating them.
2) Find out what your employees do in their spare time — both at work and at home. Observe them during break periods and lunch hours. Do they spend their time relaxing? Socializing? Reading? Working?
3) Consider past experiences. To what has the employee responded favorably in the past? What type of projects or assignments really create a high level of productivity? What types of assignments create apathy?
It seems so easy, yet far too many managers and small-business owners fail to take this very important step. Don’t make the mistake of transferring your own likes, dislikes, and desires to employees. The simplest way to find out what motivates your employees is to talk to them. Another way is to observe them. Knowing the interests of your employees when they are away from work is as helpful as knowing their interests on the job.
Putting It All Together
Once you’ve listened to your employees comments and observed their actions, how can you put this new information into motivational practice?
First consider the maintainers: pay and benefits. You need to make sure that your pay and benefits package is equitable internally and competitive externally. These basics do matter. But today, companies also need to look beyond the basics at some less typical considerations, like non-traditional benefits. Do you have flextime? Do you have pto (paid time off) days, rather than the traditional vacation days? Is your technology up to date? Even things like whether employees’ office furniture is in good shape, or how clean the breakroom and restrooms are can make a difference.
Next, consider how well you keep employees informed and involved. Today’s employees have a hunger to learn and to grow. They want to be involved — and they have a lot to offer.
Front-line managers have a critical impact on employee relations in any organization. Managers are the first point of contact for employees and have a very strong influence on employees’ job satisfaction, morale, and motivation. Management can impact employees at many stages in the employee life cycle and in many ways. Managers are responsible for a great many tasks and topics, including hiring, conveying job requirements, communicating, training, and redirecting, or, in some cases, reprimanding employees. These issues will be discussed in detail in later chapters.
Organizations can’t afford to ignore employee relations issues that can have a negative impact on recruitment, retention, and motivation. Have a look at Sample 2 to help you determine whether your company is in danger of losing unmotivated, yet important, staff.
Sample 2: Retention Risk Assessment
