photo by photomish dan
A sobering article from the Economist illustrates how unhappy people currently are with their jobs. When the economy turns expect to see a massive surge in voluntary turnover. The article included some alarming numbers from the US-based Center for Work-Life Policy:
Between June 2007 and December 2008 the proportion of employees who professed loyalty to their employers slumped from 95% to 39%; the number voicing trust in them fell from 79% to 22%.
Employers have the upper hand these days, but what good is that if nobody is willing to bring their best? Quality work doesn’t flow from mistrust.
The employment process is a two-way street. Employers need to get quality ideas and execution. The employees, however, are trickier. They all need something different. Each is motivated differently, has different goals and needs to be communicated with in a certain manner.
There is no magic bullet to engaging people except by taking the time to know what makes them tick. Clearly, these economic times are tough. And companies are taking the opportunity to pare back and let loose the dead wood.
This requires doubling down on the efforts to learn about the others in order to make sure they don’t all check out as well.
Better yet, build this into your process. Don’t wait for dire economic times to trim the workforce. Frankly, people who aren’t engaged and aren’t fitting in with the culture are a drag on your time and bring others down with them.
Start with who you hire and remember it.
Times are dire. Not just for the unemployed, but for the employers as well.
The job market is far more fluid these days and once companies start hiring again we’re guaranteed to see that fluidity in action. Protect your most valuable assets and get the most out of them as you can.
photo by phineas h
Interviewing is hard enough.
But, last week I had a great meeting with a forward-thinking, culturally aware Corporate Development officer. He was touting the benefits of re-interviewing.
Put simply, it’s the company taking an active interest in the employee’s career development.
It’s something he does every 4-6 months. And its purpose is to probe into whether people are getting what they need out of their job. Whether they are heading in the right direction. Whether there is anything that is preventing them from fully engaging in their job.
The cynic will say that it’s the company trying to extract more blood from the turnip. And there is some of that. But ultimately, the employment relationship is just that…a relationship. You have to give in order to get.
By inserting himself into the individual’s career management process, he learns what they want out of the job and can help deliver upon that. How else does the company know what buttons to push in order to properly motivate? (Hint: money isn’t usually it.)
To illustrate he told me the story of someone in the Corporate Development realm (aka HR) who really wanted to be an accountant. She had been taking classes at night and had recently completed her certification. While there wasn’t a position open, he was able to get her involved in projects with the AP/AR groups.
She was still expected to fulfill her duties in the HR space, but she eagerly took on the additional work because it was what she really wanted to do and because the company (and one individual in particular) was willing to take the time to understand what she needed to get.
A role may not open up and she may have to leave in six-months in order to find full-time accounting work. But the alternative was losing her outright now and getting less out of her while she ’secretly’ sought a new job.
It was an important arrow in his quiver to be able to better understand his team. And a practice that motivates and engages his team. If people are a good fit with your company’s values then moving them to a different seat on the bus is a no-brainer. It builds goodwill and the sense of reciprocity fiercely kicks in. These people become far more likely to go the extra mile that will make a difference to your business.
He made a few additional points that are worth sharing:
Do you do something similar? What works/doesn’t?
photo by mrpattersonsir
Work is draining. For many, rare are the days when we leave the office feeling energized.
As a manager you have to recognize that people are going through this. Chances are you are too. But change has to start somewhere.
Sure, technically your job is to make sure the ball is being advanced down the field. But if your team is too exhausted (or detached) to run the plays how far is the ball going to move?
Your real job is to make deposits into the emotional bank so that when the inevitable time comes when the team needs to hunker down and everything has gone sideways that people are present, engaged and have the persistence to get through the rough patches.
From the employees perspective, they have gone out of their way to make the relationship work. They started in their role excited and ready to roll up their sleeves and make a real difference. But every slight along the way has made a withdrawal on their emotional involvement with you, the team and with the company.
It all adds up and you may be responsible for making many of those emotional withdrawals. If you expect them to dig in then you need to exert the energy to refill that account.
Focus on your people. Feed them the projects that keep them energized. Recognize they’re all different and build those relationships accordingly. People do want to be treated differently. They’re not all the same and not universally motivated by the same things.
Start today. Hold one on ones that don’t focus on tasks but rather the individual. The work will still get done.
photo by keela84
ChangeThis has posted another excellent set of presentations this month. One that deeply struck a chord is Flow, Flee or Fight.
As always, it’s worth the full read, but for those leading teams and running companies there is a lot to be gleaned by reading between the lines.
Following the golden rule never hurts. If you start to treat people as you’d like to be treated and start listening to what they say, but also for what their actions are saying then you’ll be in a better position to harness effort and channel the ‘negative’ energy into something positive.
We all want to hire people who are going to make a difference. Who will drive our businesses forward.
We want people who will remain engaged long after the honeymoon period.
The circle of engagement is pretty clear. An employee likes her job so she works hard and does well which in turn produces rewards that matter to her so she tries harder still.
But where is the on-ramp? What fuels this virtuous cycle?
photo by robotography
It’s easy to put the onus on the employee by saying you’re paying well, you have free yoga classes and M&Ms. But none of those spin the wheel. Despite what you may think those are only ‘nice to haves’ for most people. People who are intrinsically motivated to do something amazing.
You’ve spent a lot of time and money to bring the new employee on-board. So why not suck up your pride and take that first step? Do everything in your power to ensure the people you hire succeed?
Engagement is a two-way street. There is give and take on both sides, but we far too often neglect the new employee and trust them to ‘quickly get up to speed.’
Take the lead in engaging your employees and that lead will be followed.
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