Stop Using the “Goodies and Gimmicks” Approach to Retention, Part II

Part Two of a Three Part Series Published by ERExchange.com

In the first part of this article, we discussed why retention strategies based on “goodies and gimmicks” are misguided and how such approaches are also not the key to increasing morale or becoming an employer of choice. Instead, becoming an organization that attracts and retains the best employees, requires basing strategies on essential human needs that, when fulfilled, lead to satisfied, committed, productive workers. Six of the most critical human needs that affect employee commitment and performance are:

Pride in One’s Work and Employer
Work That Has Meaning
Understanding The Goal and One’s Role
To Be a Player And Not Just a Hired Hand
The Chance to Experience Efficacy
To Be Heard

In Parts II and III of this article, we will explore each of these important human needs and how to use them, along with accompanying questions, to help your organization become a Talent Magnet.

Do You Give Your Employees a Reason to Be Proud?

Organizations with a committed, inspired workforce expect excellence from themselves and their employees. Organizations with low morale and high turnover often suffer from a pride problem. In these companies, employees frequently see poor quality products and services tolerated, ineffective managers not held accountable, operational decisions made without due diligence, and flavor of the month fad following, among other pride destroyers.

With respect to employee pride, remember this: “Everything Matters.” Every management, marketing, customer service, operations, and public relations action will affect whether employees feel pride in their work and their employer.

Questions to ask your Managers and Employee Advisory Council:

Do our products and/or services warrant pride?
Do our operational decisions and processes warrant pride?
Do we let poor quality go unchallenged?

Does Their Work Have Meaning?

Perhaps THE secret weapon of Talent Magnet organizations is creating a meaningful work experience, where employees – regardless of their job – feel like they are doing something important. This is such an important “difference that makes a difference” because the desire for meaning and purpose is one of the most fundamental and powerful drives. How do you create a work experience that has deep meaning? First, make sure your organization’s mission and vision don’t just stay on a wall plaque, but instead come to life everyday in the actions of your managers. Second, continually communicate to employees how your mission and vision translate into their daily work. They need to know how they make it happen. Third, connect your workers with your customers through testimonials, videos, focus groups, or face to face encounters. Make sure they can to experience how their behind the scenes work makes a difference on your end user.

Questions to ask your Managers and Employee Advisory Council:

Do we give our employees a reason to care?
Do our mission and vision inspire passion?
Do our employees understand how they contribute to our mission and vision?
Do our employees hear and see how their work affects our customers?

Do Employees Understand The Game They’re Playing?

Years ago, while doing a project in Australia, my host excitedly offered to treat me to an evening of World Cup cricket. I remember staring blankly at the TV screen, not able to muster any enthusiasm about a bunch of guys whacking at a ball with a funny looking bat. If I understood more about the goal of the game, the rules, the strategy, and the skills that made someone great, I might have shared his enthusiasm.

My lack of engagement and flat out boredom reminded me of the experience many employees have of their work, because they don’t understand the game they’re playing. They don’t understand the company’s mission and vision in practical terms, they don’t know the business goals, the role they play in achieving these goals, how they provide the greatest value, how the company itself works, how their market works, how well the company is doing, and how well they themselves are “playing the game.” How can we expect employees to be to be excited about a “game” they don’t understand?

Questions to ask your Managers and Employee Advisory Council:

Do our employees understand the Big Picture and their role in making it happen?
Do our employees understand the workings of our organization and how each piece affects the others?
Do our employees understand the fundamentals of business in general, and ours in particular?
Does each employee understand how he or she provides value and the ways he or she can provide the most value?
Do we communicate regularly what is going on in the organization and marketplace?
Do we give our employees numerical data that allows them to assess their performance and progress?

Are Your Employees Players And Not Just Hired Hands?

People are a lot like cats. If we’re not stimulated, we can be like a housecat – about as lively as a pillow. When our curiosity is aroused, we become like an outdoor cat – a veritable learning and exploration machine. Scientists believe that the drive to learn is hard-wired into us. Some maintain that this need is even more fundamental than the desire to procreate, since it is needed the moment a baby enters the world. When organizations thwart this innate drive by not allowing employees to learn, they create a bored, disengaged workforce.

Giving employees the chance to learn on the job, to solve problems, to offer solutions, can transform a lethargic, disengaged workforce into a vibrant, passionate team. Few things engage workers more than being able to roll up their sleeves and solve real life problems. Yet, so often they only get to be worker bees, little drones mindlessly carrying out strategies created from above.

Making employees players and not just hired hands not only taps into the human need to learn, it also taps into the powerful drive for meaning discussed earlier. Employees want to matter; they want what they do to matter. Having the chance to be a player, to give one’s input and have it respected, is one of the most powerful drivers of employee performance and retention, according to Gallup’s research. The more you can work with employees to design their work so they don’t just feel valuable, but they get to be valuable, the more engaged and committed they will be.

Questions to ask your Managers and Employee Advisory Council:

Do we actively involve our employees in problem solving and process improvement?
Do we give them the information and support to make good decisions?
Do employees actually have the authority to execute their decisions?
Do we constantly ask for input, both for issues related to an employee’s particular process or department, and for overall organizational issues?
Do we give employees a chance to be like small business owners with regard to their work?

In the third and final segment of this article, we will explore the final two critical human needs in our list of needs that affect employee commitment and performance. These are:

The Chance to Experience Efficacy
To Be Heard

We will end off with a list of “Next Steps” to help guide your application of this information.