Winning Hearts And Minds Through Workforce Engagement

Winning Hearts And Minds Through Workforce EngagementInstead of focusing more of their efforts on keeping the talent they have, businesses often spend too much time and money finding talent from the outside. Given that it is always cheaper to keep your existing workforce than it is to replace it, what can be done to improve retention?

Retention depends on a number of factors and – of course – a reasonable level of voluntary turnover is actually desirable. In fact, there may be a need to dispassionately assess whether the people you currently have are the right ones to take your strategy forward. If that is not the case, then you clearly need to be worrying about things other than retention. But if it is, then a well thought through program to address workforce engagement (assuming it is also integrated with the rest of your talent management initiatives) is likely to pay for itself many times over.

Let’s not forget, however, that there can often be knee-jerk reactions to retention problems which do not work. They can be desperate and too late in the day, and often involve throwing money at people when dollars are not the underlying driver of dissatisfaction. In fact, such a reaction may be very costly and still not result in true engagement.

What do we mean when we talk about engagement?

Engagement comes when your workforce feels committed to your organisation. Such engagement has to be more than just loyalty to the organisation as demonstrated by showing up each day. It has to be a willingness to go above and beyond, and a feeling both that the organisation is something special and that employee’s individual contributions are valued.

Getting that kind of engagement depends, of course, on the complex interplay of many factors that are ideally measured and analysed through an employee survey specifically designed to measure engagement. But, if you can isolate those factors, you can then better determine what the pressure points are that matter to your people.

Those pressure points can be issues such as:

  • Career development opportunities.
  • Trust in leadership.
  • Rewards and recognition.
  • Organisation and staffing levels.
  • Work/life balance.

Identifying these pressure points will drive the direction of HR programs and processes you need to have in place to influence those issues.

As you compare the list of engagement issues to your HR policies and practices you should aim to answer the following questions:

  • What are we doing right that we need to continue to do well?
  • What are we not doing that is conspicuous by its absence to people?
  • What are we doing that has little effect on commitment ie. why are we spending time and money on this?

Simply coming up with a long list of action items to address these issues is not going to guarantee that your workforce will be any more engaged. For example, if – as part of a pay-for-performance initiative – a better annual pay review process is implemented, but the corresponding performance evaluation process does not measure the right things, engagement is likely to stay in the danger zone.

What is needed is a comprehensive and integrated talent management plan. One that for example:

  • Defines the skills and behaviours required by the organisation,
  • Identifies where those skills currently reside and where the gaps are,
  • Creates a continuous learning environment to fill those skills gaps through stretch assignments and other development opportunities,
  • Recruits from outside those critical skills that cannot be provided internally,
  • Supports a meritocratic culture that rewards people for developing and exhibiting the required skills and behaviors, and
  • Encourages communication and dialogue between leadership and the workforce.

However, the single most important success factor is that leadership is firmly on-board – both with the need for workforce engagement and the talent management plan that will deliver it.

In summary, the key conclusions about employee engagement are as follows:

  • It is easier and less expensive to re-recruit your existing workforce than it is to replace it.
  • By measuring employee engagement and understanding what drives it, you will uncover what HR programs should be implemented or re-worked.
  • Optimum engagement is most likely to be achieved when all your HR activities are integrated via a comprehensive talent management plan.

In the final analysis, the true benefit of workforce engagement is not reduced recruiting costs. It is the increased productivity and morale brought about by a workforce that has faith in the organisation’s future and its role in it.

Guest Author

Bill MacKenzie, Capital H Group. Capital H Group is a consulting firm that takes a value-based approach to helping companies manage, and invest in, their human capital. Partnering with our clients, we focus on creating value through their people. For further information, visit web site: http://www.capitalHgroup.com
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Do Your Staff Suffer From ADE?

 computer-man-boredBy now you would have heard of the predominately childhood condition ADD or “Attention Deficit Disorder”. This should cause some concern for managers as they struggle to deal with the needs of staff with short attention spans. I believe there is another condition, however, that is of even more interest if you manage people – ADE. It stands for the Actively DisEngaged employee, a new phenomenon we are seeing in workplaces all around the world.

What it is

To understand ADE, you need to identify two other related terms as well. The Gallup Organisation has come up with an easy to understand guide to the 3 levels of engagement we see in employees currently populating the workplace:

  1. Engaged – people who work with passion and feel connected to their organisation
  2. Not Engaged – people putting in time but not energy or passion into their work
  3. Actively DisEngaged – people acting out their dissatisfaction for others to see

Why it matters

Lack of engagement is a real issue – with real costs attached. A survey of 50,000 employees by the Corporate Leadership Council found that only 11% said they were fully engaged at work, 76% knew they could demonstrate more commitment and 13% described themselves as actively disengaged.

Let’s put those statistics to work and see what they might actually mean for your organisation. Imagine that each of those 13% of actively disengaged employees earns $40,000 per annum and each one is producing 20% less work than your engaged employees (a fairly conservative estimate). If you do the calculations, that means each disengaged employee is costing your organisation a minimum of $8,000 per annum and that’s without considering the many on-going costs.

How to tell if you have any ADE employees

Here are 5 easy to observe characteristics that will help you identify them.

  1. Come to work when they are sick and stay home when they are well
  2. Only work hard when their manager is around or just before performance review time
  3. Enjoy recounting every bad experience they have been through with the company
  4. Sabotage change programs and new initiatives either overtly or covertly
  5. Negatively influence the attitude of other people around them

Why do we allow it to continue?

So if the ADE employee is costing us so much money and, let’s face it, is fairly easy to recognise, why is it that we allow their behaviour to continue? Surely it would be in the interests of every manager to find a way to re-engage those people as soon as possible.

Well, the reality is, there are a number of reasons. Firstly, it’s hard work to fix! Secondly, we often really need that person’s skills so we overlook their less desirable traits. Finally, add to this the fear of legal implications in terminating someone’s employment and you have a lot of barriers facing managers.

But it’s a bit like the old training adage “what if we train them and they leave; what if you don’t and they stay”. In this case it’s “what if we take action and it’s painful; what if you don’t and it’s still painful and other people follow their example”.

How to fix it

If left unchecked, the symptoms of ADE can spread throughout your organisation like a contagious disease, so it is vital that you take action and quickly. This is equally as important if you have inherited the problem employees.

As difficult as it might be, the best thing you can do is confront the ADE employee and give them an offer: you will help them find a way to get engaged or you will help them find their next employment opportunity. The choice is theirs.

Now I know there are discrimination laws and lots of other legislation that will make it difficult for you to just make this happen overnight but you must take action. If you don’t, other employees will start to question your leadership skills and you may lose one of them instead!

Guest Credits

Karen Schmidt from Let’s Grow! is an award winning professional speaker, workshop leader and author who creates fresh workplace attitudes that help people and organisations grow! To book Karen for your next conference or professional development event contact her on 0411 745 430 or visit http://www.letsgrow.com.au.
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Are Performance Reviews Dead?

Are Performance Reviews Dead?Performance reviews are essential to increase employee engagement and staff performance, but they do need to be structured in a way that fosters engagement. How can an organisation achieve that?

Performance reviews can be a high stress situation for employees as sometimes pay, promotions and benefits can rely on the outcome. In high-stress situations we are rarely at our best and we may close down our conversational capabilities and be hesitant about speaking up if we don’t agree with feedback from a manager.

Annual performance reviews under these conditions are not sufficient to ensure true personal growth of an employee. Clear communication is needed from both parties in order for a review to be a catalyst for change in an employee’s behaviour.

The two most common mistakes made when conducting a performance review are:

  1. Managerial attitude – The mistake managers often make is to see performance reviews purely as a process or a ‘tick the box’ exercise. To make performance reviews effective and valued, managers need to invest time in developing a relationship with the employee that is built on trust. To do this, managers need to be able to conduct effective workplace conversations by listening with interest and engaging in regular dialogue with staff. Managers need to wholeheartedly believe in both the relationship with the employee and the performance review outcomes in order for them to be effective.
  2. Regularity – Annual performance reviews as a stand-alone method are not enough. Managers should provide feedback as often as is required, highlighting areas for improvement as development opportunities. It can be a quick two minute conversation to let an employee know they are doing a good job, or a scheduled meeting to discuss how an employee could do a task more efficiently the next time around. A once a year conversation is not enough to engage employees and make them feel valued.

Now that you know what’s wrong with performance reviews, what are some habits and tools to use to increase effectiveness?

Enhance conversation skills

There are a number of tips to keep in mind to increase conversation skills, such as:

  • Set clear expectations
  • Ensure there is agreement on those expectations
  • Seek clarification as necessary
  • Don’t avoid conflict, as it may then become a bigger problem later on
  • Think before you speak
  • Always remember to listen

Conversations are at the base of everything we do, but not every organisation sets expectations around effective conversations between managers and employees.

Relationship, relationship, relationship

The quality of the relationship is the strongest factor in the effectiveness of a performance review. A good relationship provides the foundation for giving feedback which empowers and motivates employees and accelerates the learning process.

Individualise reviews

No two employees are the same, and while you may have hired them for the same, or similar, roles, each person will have a different skill set which adds value to the organisation. This should be recognised and taken into account when assessing someone’s suitability to a role. Individual skill sets should be embraced by managers and discussed regularly. The performance review process is an opportunity to work through all factors to a point where both employee and manager are happy that all the variables have been taken into consideration.

Foster a learning environment

A workplace conducive to fostering learning outcomes is one where ideas from everyone – from the junior to the CEO – are respected and employees have access to resources and training to allow them to increase their capabilities. Leaders with strong coaching skills can aid the encouragement of a learning environment in the workplace, leading to greater engagement and staff motivation.

Performance reviews can increase positive business outcomes and support growth within an organisation if they are prepared strategically, keeping the above tips in mind.

Guest Author

Julie Parkinson, Director, The Institute of Executive Coaching. The Institute of Executive Coaching works with organisations to provide innovative leadership and coaching support to improve the performance of individuals, teams and organisations. Since 1999 the Institute has trained more than 2,500 coaches and become known as one of the region’s most respected executive coaching, coach training and leadership development organisations. All of the Institute’s services are designed on the key principles of the Institute’s mission to empower people to fulfil their potential and develop the leaders of tomorrow. http://www.iecoaching.com/

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Make Yours The Greenest Pasture – Retaining Your Top Talent

Employee turnover can cost companies up to 40% of their annual profit. The financial impact of losing a significant number of high performing and high potential employees can be exponentially higher.Make Yours The Greenest Pasture - Retaining Your Top Talent

Furthermore, these top notch employees are the ones who are being contacted daily by executive recruiters. Are they ready to bolt? Consider these recent survey findings from Salary.com:

Over 66% of employees surveyed said they plan to look for a new job in the next three months; nearly double the 36% that employers believe are looking.
More importantly, employers are at risk of losing their most productive talent – people who have been in their positions for 3-10 years. Nearly 66% of tenured employees plan to find new jobs over the next 3 months.

This could have tremendous hard and soft cost implications for employers. HR professionals estimate that the hard costs to replace an employee ranges between 33% and 50% of their base salary, in addition to soft costs such as the loss of productivity and institutional knowledge, as well as new hire recruiting and training expenses.

How do you stem the flow of your top talent from leaving the organisation? While one can never reduce the flow completely, there are five clear steps that can be taken to ensure that people aren’t attracted to what appear to be greener pastures elsewhere, and you are prepared to address the eventuality that everyone will not stay forever. These five steps are:

    • Know who your top talent is and where they are located – Too many organisations only begin to recognise how valuable their talent was when those employees have decided to leave the organisation. Work is not getting done as quickly, effectively, or creatively. How can this be prevented? An effective performance management system should identify and differentiate top, acceptable, and marginal performers. This requires that:
      • Clear, challenging performance standards demonstrate how each employee adds value and contributes to the overall business objectives.
      • Clear, challenging performance standards demonstrate how each employee adds value and contributes to the overall business objectives.
      • A meaningful performance rating scale differentiates talent. Often, a 3-point scale to assess the extent to which goals/results were met coupled with a 3-point scale to assess the extent to which competencies were applied will suffice.
      • Managers calibrate their ratings to ensure they are using the rating scales consistently.
      • Communication and education are provided to enable managers to have performance-based conversations.
    • Communicate with your top talent – do they know they are valued? – Special attention should be given to those identified as top performers by the performance management system. In order to continue to reap the value that these employees provide, managers should take time to have sincere dialogue with them throughout the year, ensuring that managers do the following:
      • Recognise their efforts and accomplishments
      • Explain how their contributions add value to the business, and to other leaders
      • Ask what additional help and resources they may need
      • Pay attention to any indicators that may suggest that their interest is waning, and address it promptly
    • What is the Employee Value Proposition for high performers/potentials? – Several organisations conduct periodic employee engagement surveys. This data is often analysed in terms of various demographic criteria (e.g., geographic location, functional area, etc.). In order to keep the data anonymous, it is rarely analysed in terms of high performers/potentials. However, we need to measure the attitudinal pulse of this group. It is important not to fall into a “one size fits all” trap; instead, get a good handle on the needs and desires of this employee population as well as regularly monitor their levels of engagement. Some suggestions on identifying the Employee Value Proposition for this community include:
      • Convene focus groups with this targeted group of employees and determine their key drivers (what does the organisation offer to them that they value) as well as what organisational barriers get in the way of them feeling completely engaged.
      • Consider establishing task forces to explore these barriers in greater detail and determine how they can be minimised or eliminated. Involvement of high potentials in these task forces can be a great way to help them have additional organisational impact and be a part of the solution.
      • Use the outputs from this process to develop and communicate a unique “employee brand” that can be used in recruiting other top performers to your organisation.
    • Ensure they are receiving rewards that are meaningful to them –  None of us would likely turn away more money. However, a total rewards program considers not just monetary rewards, but also non-monetary rewards that are valuable to many. Consider the following list as you explore how to build engagement with all top performers, and ensure you are effectively communicating the rewards that people have at their disposal. Employees often do not realise the true market value of the benefits they receive – distributing a customised Employee Benefit Sheet providing the market value of salary, benefits (e.g, employer retirement contributions, employer contributions to health care, sick time, vacation time, etc.) to show the “total rewards package” is very meaningful and can make someone think twice before they jump ship.
      • Monetary rewards:
      • Base pay
      • Benefits (retirement, healthcare, paid time off, etc.)
      • Annual incentives/variable compensation and cash recognition
      • Long-term incentives (pension, stock options, increased paid time off, etc.)
      • Non-monetary rewards:
      • Growth and career development
      • Non-monetary recognition and visibility
      • Training
      • Work environment (e.g., telecommuting options, flextime, collaboration with others, etc.)
    • Develop a Workforce Plan – Realistically, we cannot hold on to our best performers forever. Some attrition is expected, especially as employees near retirement age. It is important to analyse your demographic data for your most critical roles in order to identify and prepare talent for future roles, as well as ensure that a great deal of your institutional knowledge does not leave the organisation as people retire. Consider the following as you develop a workforce plan and determine your future recruitment and development needs:
      • Current numbers of employees
      • Projected growth rate for the organisation
      • Expected turnover rate
      • New entrant turnover rate
      • Retirement rate (based on age distribution of workforce)

If you are able to hold on to your better performers longer, and ensure that a plan is in place to replace them when they do leave, the bottom-line savings are dramatic.

Consider an organisation that loses 20 high performers/high potentials per year, with an average salary of $50,000 per hire. Assuming the organisation stays the same size over five years (no growth), and the recruitment and lost productivity cost of replacing this talent is at least 50% of their salary, this turnover costs the organisation $2.5 million over that five year period.

Reducing this turnover by 20% per year (four top performers decide to stay each year) produces a very conservative savings of at least $500,000, and undoubtedly more when one considers the impact that high performers leaving an organisation has on the morale of those who are left behind. If your projected growth rate is greater than 0% or your high performers earn more than $50,000 per year, the savings are even more dramatic.

Author Credits

Scott Cohen, Capital H Group. Capital H Group is a consulting firm that takes a value-based approach to helping companies manage, and invest in, their human capital. Partnering with our clients, we focus on creating value through their people. For further information, visit web site: http://www.capitalHgroup.com

Republished from IIDM – your online business resource – www.iidmglobal.com. Get valuable business tips and easy-to-read articles delivered direct to your inbox. Register NOW for your copy of IIDM’s FREE e-newsletter: http://www.iidmglobal.com/subscribe/

How To Motivate Unmotivated People

How To Motivate Unmotivated PeopleAll it takes is an understanding of the appropriate steps to take and a willingness to do them. This article contains the steps. The willingness is up to you.

If you walk around a Walt Disney World resort or theme park, you are likely to witness something that in most other settings would seem bizarre. Not the presence of a large animated character, although you may witness that also. Rather, at any given moment, a person in dress clothes will be walking from one destination to another and will stop, pick up a piece of paper, a cup, or other piece of trash someone dropped, and throw it in a trash can. Executives do it, front line managers do it, hourly employees do it, everybody does it.

There is no special monetary compensation for this behavior. No point system exists where $5 bonuses are given out for every fifteen pieces of trash that someone picks up. There is also no special monitoring system in place which watches for people who don’t do it and then issues penalty points or demerits. Yet, people are motivated to do it anyway.

Now picking up trash may not be your top concern, but are there other things in your department, division, or company that you would like your employees to do? Are you looking for ways to motivate your people?

The answer is not pixie dust or magic. The key is being very good at employing five essential motivation steps.

To some leaders these steps can seem intimidating. First time managers in particular, who were promoted because of their individual skills are often uncomfortable with these ideas. Many times they feel people should just do what needs to be done “because that is what they get paid for”. Or they believe the only way to motivate people is to give them more money.

Successful motivators don’t think that way. They know that by following the five steps, people can be motivated far beyond what they get paid for, and far more effectively than when money is the only incentive.

Step #1 – Clearly articulate what needs to be accomplished and why

Often the problem with getting people to accomplish things is not that they are unmotivated, it is that they are uninformed. Leaders discuss goals with their peers and superiors on a regular basis and are therefore intimately familiar with them. Because of this familiarity, they mistakenly assume all of their employees also know them. Usually this is not the case.

Take time to explain to all of your employees exactly what needs to be accomplished and the reasons why. Don’t forget the “why?” Knowing that enables people to make educated choices in their day to day decisions. For example, the output from a team at a market research company whose goal is to launch three new products, will vary greatly, depending on if they know that the “why?” is because the company is losing market share to competitors with products that can be downloaded from the Internet.

Goals should always include specific numeric objectives and timelines. A goal of “Improve Customer Service” is nebulous and people won’t know how they are doing in their efforts to achieve it. However, “Decrease customer wait times to 10 seconds by June 1st” is something people can visualise and work towards.

Step #2 – Involve people in finding the solutions

People are more motivated to succeed at something if they personally choose to attempt it. Therefore, managers should involve their people in choosing the goals the group needs to accomplish. If this is not possible, then involving people in the creation of how to achieve the goals is the next best thing. Their involvement will generate buy-in and also opens up the opportunity for an optimal solution.

Successful coaches use this technique on a regular basis. While it is true they watch hours and hours of game films looking for weaknesses in their own team as well as their competitors, they also involve their players in finding the best way to win. They do it because no matter how much film they watch, or how close they are to the game, they aren’t in the game. The perspectives of players or employees who are in the midst of the action can be drastically different from a coach or a manager who is near the action.

If those perspectives aren’t incorporated into the solution, two things will happen. First, those in the midst of the action will feel that no-one is listening to them, and they will become unmotivated. Second, decisions will be made without incorporating all the relevant data. Both of these will negatively impact progress toward the goals.

Step #3 – Explain the rules of the game

Have you ever played a new sport or game against people who are experienced players? In the early stages of learning how to play, every few minutes you do something which you think is correct only to be told that it is illegal, or against the rules. It can be exceptionally frustrating.

This scenario often plays out in the workplace. Employees are given a task, but are not told all the parameters or rules. Weeks into a project they present their work to someone, only to be informed that they need to change direction because of something they were never told about.

This is particularly demoralising and should be avoided at all costs. People can find solutions to almost any problem, but they need to know the rules of the game.

Step #4 – Link people’s personal goals with the organisations goals

There is a reason that each employee goes to work. Successful motivators know what that reason is for every person who works for them. Each day they help their employees fulfill those reasons. Really successful motivators understand not only the reason, but how the reason ties into the person’s bigger life goals. When necessary, they help their people think about and articulate those bigger life goals. When a person no longer thinks “I work so that I can make money,” and instead thinks “I work so that I can enable my daughter to attend a school that will give her a chance to go do what she wants in life,” there is a significant mental and motivational shift that occurs.

Understanding that someone comes to work because they thrive on personal interaction, are trying to gain experience so they can run their own corner deli, or whatever is their personal goal, enables a manager to talk in that person’s language. It also enables the manager to assign responsibilities in that person’s area of interest, and remind them how what they are doing is tied to their bigger goals.

Managers who enable people to fulfill their life goals through work never have to worry about how to motivate their people. The act of fulfilling their life goals is enough to keep them motivated. All the manager has to do is find the links between those goals, and the organisation’s needs, and match the two up.

Step #5 – Move negative people off the team

Nothing can halt progress like someone who is discontent simply for the sake of being discontent. It is demoralising to others and it draws energy and time from the tasks being attempted. That doesn’t mean you don’t want good “counter-point” people on your team. Someone who says “Look, I know what we are all trying to do, and I think there is a better way,” can be a valuable resource to help make sure the team is on the right track. However, someone who just regularly says “We’ll never get there,” will just hold everyone back. Move them off the team, and bring in someone who will assist and support the group’s efforts.

Whether you are trying to motivate people to help create a clean environment for guests, or something more pertinent to your organisation, remember that anyone can be a great motivator. Now that you know the steps, all you need is the willingness.

Guest Author

John P. Strelecky is the international best selling author of ‘The Why Café’ and a highly sought after inspirational speaker on; ‘How to Achieve Maximum Success with Minimal Effort.’ His CD series of the same name has received rave reviews from listeners. A graduate of Northwestern University’s MBA program, John has served as a business strategist for numerous Fortune 500 companies. Through his book, CDs, articles, and appearances on television and radio, he has positively impacted the lives of millions of people. John can be reached through his website at http://www.whycafe.com, or by calling 407-342-4181.
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Recognising The Traits Of Outstanding Employees

Great employees are reliable, dependable, proactive, diligent, great leaders and great followers … they possess a wide range of easily-defined – but hard to find – qualities. A few hit the next level and are remarkable, possessing qualities that may not appear on performance appraisals, but nonetheless make a major impact on performance. Forget good to great – what makes a great employee, remarkable?

Here are eight qualities of remarkable employees:Recognising The Traits Of Outstanding Employees

  1. They ignore job descriptions – The smaller the company, the more important it is that employees can think on their feet, adapt quickly to shifting priorities, and do whatever it takes, regardless of role or position, to get things done.When a key customer’s project is in jeopardy, remarkable employees know without being told there’s a problem and jump in without being asked – even if it’s not their job.
  2. They’re eccentric – The best employees are often a little different: quirky, sometimes irreverent, even delighted to be unusual. They seem slightly odd, but in a really good way. Unusual personalities shake things up, make work more fun, and transform a plain-vanilla group into a team with flair and flavour. People who aren’t afraid to be different naturally stretch boundaries and challenge the status quo, and they often come up with the best ideas.
  3. But they know when to dial it back – An unusual personality is a lot of fun … until it isn’t. When a major challenge pops up or a situation gets stressful, the best employees stop expressing their individuality and fit seamlessly into the team. Remarkable employees know when to play and when to be serious; when to be irreverent and when to conform; and when to challenge and when to back off. It’s a tough balance to strike, but a rare few can walk that fine line with ease.
  4. They publicly praise – Praise from a boss feels good. Praise from a peer feels awesome, especially when you look up to that person. Remarkable employees recognise the contributions of others, especially in group settings where the impact of their words is even greater.
  5. And they complain privately – We all want employees to bring issues forward, but some problems are better handled in private. Great employees often get more latitude to bring up controversial subjects in a group setting because their performance allows greater freedom.Remarkable employees come to you before or after a meeting to discuss a sensitive issue, knowing that bringing it up in a group setting could set off a firestorm.
  6. They speak when others won’t – Some employees are hesitant to speak up in meetings. Some are even hesitant to speak up privately.An employee once asked me a question about potential layoffs. After the meeting I said to him, “Why did you ask about that? You already know what’s going on”. He said, “I do, but a lot of other people don’t, and they’re afraid to ask. I thought it would help if they heard the answer from you”. Remarkable employees have an innate feel for the issues and concerns of those around them, and step up to ask questions or raise important issues when others hesitate.
  7. They like to prove others wrong – Self-motivation often springs from a desire to show that doubters are wrong. The kid without a college degree or the woman who was told she didn’t have leadership potential often possess a burning desire to prove other people wrong.Education, intelligence, talent, and skill are important – but drive is critical. Remarkable employees are driven by something deeper and more personal than just the desire to do a good job.
  8. They’re always fiddling – Some people are rarely satisfied (I mean that in a good way) and are constantly tinkering with something: Reworking a timeline, adjusting a process, tweaking a workflow.Great employees follow processes. Remarkable employees find ways to make those processes even better, not only because they are expected to … but because they just can’t help it.

Guest Author

Jeff Haden learned much of what he knows about business and technology as he worked his way up in the manufacturing industry. Everything else he picks up from ghostwriting books for some of the smartest leaders he knows in business. Visit http://www.blackbirdinc.com

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10 Issues That Concern Your Employees And Productivity

10 Issues That Concern Your Employees And ProductivityWork-related concerns have an equal – sometimes greater – effect on employee productivity. Even the issues of just one staff member often can affect the performance of a team or department.

Why employee concerns affect productivity

Employee concerns always affect productivity, positively or negatively. Occasions when their concerns have no effect are rare and possibly non-existent. This is not a psychologically complex reality. Most managers have seen tan
gible effects of personal, if not professional issues, affecting employee performance.

Employees find new boyfriends/girlfriends, get married, receive their college or graduate degrees, or have other wonderful events occur, and their productivity tends to improve.

Conversely, people face divorce, foreclosure, the loss of a parent, issues with children, or a variety of other personal issues, and their productivity declines, for at least the short-term.

Concerns that are satisfied by management for just one team member can often uplift the performance of the whole group. On the down side, should management not address concerns of even one team member, performance of that employee – and possibly the entire team – typically suffers.

The obvious conclusion: Management should address any concerns that employees have to maintain continuity of performance. Certainly, at times, the answers that management must provide are not what the employee wanted. Yet, their concerns were addressed and efforts made to resolve these issues.

How to determine employee concerns

Management sometimes maintain that they didn’t address employee concerns because they were unaware that one or more issues existed. While this statement may be true, it is imperative that management stay aware of employee concerns so they can address them before small issues become major performance detractors.

How can they do this? Just ask. As long as your staff have the security of knowing that they will not be punished or criticised for being truthful about their concerns, they normally will be honest – sometimes brutally honest. But, that is good news. Simple surveys or requests for suggestions or concerns have proven to be sufficient.

The top 10 issues that concern your employees

Surveys indicate that the following issues are the most common employee concerns in a cross section of all industries. These are not listed in any particular order of importance, as people have different concerns when in different situations.

  1. Higher salaries and compensation 

    Surprise! Few managers should be surprised by this concern.

  2. Benefits programs 

    This is another very common – and understandable – concern of employees. To limit turnover and increase retention, management typically tries to offer the best benefit program they can afford. Should programs fall short of ideal, management should communicate their dedication to make benefits the best they can be.

  3. Pay increase guidelines 

    This concern might initially surprise you. Compensation guidelines are normally in place for most larger companies, those with unionised workforces, and government agencies.However, most businesses are classified as smaller companies and it appears that this group often lacks this employee feature, generating confusion and concern from staff.

  4. Favouritism 

    This important concern may be related to item number three. Most senior management would dispute this concern, but they may be forgetting one important item: perception.Your company may be diligent in prohibiting favouritism, yet the perception of this failing, or the possibility of its existence, remains a concern of employees.

  5. Pay equity 

    While this concern may appear to relate to the above two issues, employee feedback indicates that it stems from a different source. Employees want to feel secure they are earning compensation equal to those who are in similar positions and have comparable experience.

  6. The human resource department 

    Most HR professionals are aware of this employee concern. Contemporary workers want and expect their HR departments to be fountains of knowledge about a myriad of issues (benefits, compensation, corporate plans and goals, legal and insurance issues, positions to be open in the future, etc.).

  7. Excessive management 

    Sometimes called “over management” or “micro-management”, this concern relates to employees feeling that their every activity is separately managed and little judgment or freedom is permitted.

  8. Inadequate communication 

    Has anyone heard this concern before? Employees have a need to believe they are “in the loop” by having as much information as possible on employer plans, goals, dreams, news, etc.

  9. Over-work 

    Employees are often afraid that their efforts and high performance may only result in management asking them to do more for the same compensation. Extra efforts should be rewarded by additional compensation (if possible) and/or a sincere “Thank you” at a minimum. Concern addressed.

  10. Workplace conditions and cleanliness 

    Management is sometimes caught off guard when advised that this concern consistently appears. But, upon reflection, it is perfectly logical. With more and more people committed to improved health and quality of life in general, it is not surprising that there is deep interest in their workplace’s physical conditions.

It is important to remember that these items are concerns, not necessarily complaints. Senior management in most companies regularly satisfy these and other employee concerns. This compilation of many statistics, however, does display the most common items of interest to the general workforce.

Asking your staff to advise you of their concerns gives management the opportunity to address issues of importance to their employees. Studies indicate that addressing employee concerns – regardless of the answers – is the most important activity.

Management displays their sincerity, their own concern, and their respect for their workforce. Making an honest attempt to address employee concerns typically results in improved staff performance.

Guest Author

Kelly Services is a global recruitment company, operating in 37 countries delivering temporary and full-time recruitment and HR/Recruitment Outsourcing and consulting.

Republished from CEO Online – your online business resource – www.ceoonline.com. Get valuable business tips and easy-to-read articles delivered direct to your inbox. Register NOW for your copy of CEO Online’s FREE e-newsletter: http://www.ceoonline.com/subscribe/

Management Tips To Ensure That Your Good Employees Stay

Management Tips To Ensure That Your Good Employees StayIt is difficult to put a value on maintaining a team of loyal, experienced workers, particularly in the present climate of skills shortages and the looming exit of experienced baby boomers. However most employers would agree that good staff are priceless. So, how do you keep good employees satisfied enough to want to stay in your business?

  • Have strong core values which demonstrate that you value long-term relationships with both employees and clients
  • Ensure there is a two-way street of dignity, trust and respect between management and employees|
  • Encourage open two way communication; listen; and back up talk with action
  • Nurture a sense of ‘community’ and connection amongst staff
  • Provide higher than average benefits
  • Build a transparent culture
  • Recognise both work and life events
  • Encourage and support ongoing education and personal growth
  • Encourage a collaborative atmosphere and involve employees in the planning and feedback process
  • Empower by encouraging self-reliance and accountability
  • Be sensitive to individual employee needs and lifestyle; foster a good work/life balance
  • Consider creating an ‘employee care’ program tailored to the needs of your employees

Guest Author:

NSW Business Chamber.

Republished from CEO Online – your online business resource – www.ceoonline.com. Get valuable business tips and easy-to-read articles delivered direct to your inbox. Register NOW for your copy of CEO Online’s FREE e-newsletter: http://www.ceoonline.com/subscribe/

Generation Y: Are They Even Worth The Hassle?

Gen Y: Are They Even Worth The Hassle?“That’s it. I’m only going to hire Baby Boomers from now on… Gen Y are just too much hard work”.

It seems that many managers and business owners have reached breaking point with Gen Y. This younger generation, after all, rarely hangs around in a job for long enough to warrant the financial and time investment of training. What’s more, they have a sense of entitlement and a brash self-confidence that is less than endearing to many older managers.

Gen Y: they have been the topic of countless articles, research papers and books in recent years. Workplaces and employers in every sector are finding this group a great challenge to recruit, motivate and retain. This younger generation seems to operate by a different set of rules. Their concept of patience, respect and work ethic can seem bewildering at best and insulting at worst. Is it any wonder then that many managers are asking if Gen Y are really worth the hassle?

Sure Gen Y may pose some challenges to work with. Sure they may have an approach to the real world that can sometimes seem less than realistic. And yet, this group is a generation of confident, well-educated natural networkers. They are innovative, flexible, tech-savvy and most important of all, at home in the modern era. It is, after all, the only era they have ever known.

Clever managers are recognising that Gen Y are indeed an excellent source of creativity, innovation and a competitive edge. Rather than seeing this group as a challenge or a source of frustration, these managers are seeing the potential of engaging a generation who have a fresh perspective, boundless energy and a keen desire to get runs on the board as quickly as possible.

If you are keen to join the ranks of those that are engaging rather than estranging Gen Y, the following three keys should help:

  1. Put relationship before role

    Gen Y are a connected generation. Community, relationships and a sense of belonging are at the core of both their online and offline identities. They have typified the old phrase ‘I don’t care how much you know, till I know how much you care’. Managers that can build a strong relationship and genuine rapport with their Gen Y staff will find that this will indeed be the key to gaining commitment and loyalty from this group. They will not be loyal to companies or corporate mission statements, but they are loyal to people and relationships. A far cry from the power and control days of management, those in authority can no longer rely on creating a separation between themselves and those they lead. If you want to build rapport with Gen Y, two tips; be authentic, and be interested. They don’t want you to be like them, they want you to be you. Walk your talk, be transparent, have some fun at your own expense and Gen Y will love you for it.

  2. Focus on outcomes not process

    If outcomes are all about why we do what we do, then perhaps process could best be described as how we do what we do. Of course, while both the why and the how are necessary for organisational performance, many organisations fall into the trap of focussing on process over outcomes. They become so obsessed with structure, lines of authority, rules, policies, benchmarks and KPIs, that they lose sight of the reason these processes were put there in the first place. Process itself is not the enemy, but process that seems disconnected to outcomes is. The biggest turn-offs at work for Gen Y are unnecessary structure, excessive bureaucracy and suffocating red tape.

  3. Give regular positive feedback

    Recognition is that all powerful motivator. It’s the one thing that babies will cry for, grown men will die for… and Gen Y will work for. Positive reinforcement is the best and perhaps the only way to bring out the best in the people we lead. Look for and ‘catch’ employees doing the right thing and then reward it, rather than ‘catching’ people doing the wrong thing and then punishing it. This principle is certainly a key to engaging Gen Y.Use positive affirmation, recognition and encouragement with this younger generation and watch them thrive. Two quick tips when doing this; recognise them in person (don’t just send an email), and recognise them in public (they love to be singled out in front of their peers and colleagues).

Engaging Gen Y employees may seem like a lot of hard work. It will certainly require an investment of time and energy and a willingness to change and adapt. However, those managers that can embrace the challenges of working with this group will reap the benefits of a younger workforce that is energetic, switched on and hungry to get ahead.

Guest Author:
Michael McQueen is a leading authority and sought-after presenter on the topic of Understanding & Engaging Generation Y.

Republished from CEO Online – your online business resource – www.ceoonline.com. Get valuable business tips and easy-to-read articles delivered direct to your inbox. Register NOW for your copy of CEO Online’s FREE e-newsletter: http://www.ceoonline.com/subscribe/

Determining Your Pay DNA

Determining Your Pay DNAMore and more, employers are redefining and allocating their mix of rewards based on individual needs – like a stock portfolio of investments – and finding trends amongst workers as they begin to look at work-life balance, flex-time and other original ways to keep people happy and productive.

There’s much talk today circling diversity in the workplace, both in the make-up of workers and the delivery of rewards. Smart companies have also discovered that contributions of this new “multi” workforce – multi-cultural, multi-generational and multi-otherwise – positively impact the competitive advantage of the organisation.

However, companies will not benefit unless they keep these widely-varied groups happily rewarded and retained. This presents a totally new compensation challenge: When designing total rewards packages that work for each employee, regardless of segment, it is now necessary to understand multiple needs and desires from different workers, and then compensate them accordingly.

When it comes to packaging pay, employers today are clearly challenged. In the average company, there are as many different vehicles to reward employees as there are diverse segments within the employee population.

To get a clearer idea of how to assess what is important to your top talent, let’s take a look at the four distinct employee population segments and what each group values in the work experience – ground zero for understanding what drives their rewards needs.

  1. Traditionalists (1909-1945), or Veterans, are part of the old school, command and control, brick and mortar chain of authority. And while they may be the “old guard” of a company, they are traditional in the best sense: They know that people, face-to-face communication and ideas are what make businesses run.They are willing to change and see new points of view, but it may not be easy. Hardworking and hierarchical, they have seen business change for decades – and adapted. They are “company” men and women.
  2. Baby Boomers (1946-1964) traditionally have been motivated by money and career advancement. Yet ironically, as Boomers age, yet remain in the workforce, flexibility and work/life balance have become much more important than the need to make senior partner – a goal that may have driven them two decades earlier.Today, many Boomers’ complex lifestyles have shifted to include caring for both their children and aging parents, sometimes in the same household. They have already made a significant mark in the business world, and while they may not be quite ready to relinquish life at the top, they have come to understand the value of balance and life beyond the board room.
  3. Among the most popular rewards requested today for the Generation X (1965-1978) crowd include better benefits: wellness, work-from-home arrangements, education reimbursements and, in some cases, child care in the office. For this independent group, it is critically important to set goals and then step away, letting them find their own solutions rather than “how things have always been done”.They are often unconcerned with long-term loyalty and have experienced significant downsizing during the dot.com bust, fostering a spirit of self-preservation, rather than survival of the company. They build strong relationships and serve as a bridge between older and younger groups.
  4. On the other side of the coin, Millennials (1979-2000), or Generation Y, are looking for a high level of engagement on a team and employment-based rewards, a concept they hold as near and dear as their 80 GB iPods. They like instant gratification over long term investments of time and effort and want to contribute to society and have full and balanced lives.They want responsibility, the ability to make a direct impact and be rewarded accordingly. And they continually redefine their commitment to the workplace with the knowledge that they are able to “move around” significantly until they find the best employment fit – and they will.

Given the variety of priorities across these four groups, it is nearly impossible for a company to be all things to all people. Therefore, an important first step toward developing a competitive package is to examine organisational demographics.

Understanding what people in your organisation value will help guide decisions on setting compensation opportunities and benefit options. However, in looking at demographics, you must consider expectations and timing of future shifts of the makeup of your workforce. Planning for these shifts can help retain high-performers, as well as attract new talent.

In addition to demographic analysis, collecting information that can add an essential qualitative aspect to a rewards strategy is important, sourced from:

  • employee opinion surveys,
  • exit interviews,
  • focus groups, and
  • recruiting feedback.

Armed with this knowledge, competitive compensation and benefits packages should be designed to reflect the values held by employees.

Increasingly, professional and office employees are willing to put pay at risk for the opportunity of being rewarded for superior performance. Team-based awards and project-based bonuses are becoming more prevalent and attractive to lower level employees.

The difference in values across generations can be addressed by varying opportunities at different levels in the organisation. Comfortable base salaries can be offered at the executive level, whereas individual recognition through significant merit awards and variable pay may be more appropriate for middle managers. Similarly, deferred compensation or supplemental retirement contributions will help to keep key leaders engaged and satisfied up through their retirement years.

Individualising rewards

There is no longer a “one-size-fits-all” approach to total rewards. It is time to shift your view on how you promote and reward employees. The system presently utilised in most organisations often promotes and rewards seniority, rather than results.

If you look at most companies today, you find the executive leadership tends to come from the older group and more of the entry positions are filled by the youngest. This approach needs to be exploded and rebuilt, to allow for a more collaborative team ethic that taps into the collective wisdom that all four generations bring to the table.

Younger employees are not going to be patient and follow the path that Baby Boomers set of working up rungs of the corporate ladder. If they are not engaged quickly, they will simply move on. Gone is competitive advantage, and succession plans crumble.

Perhaps the most important considerations employers can incorporate into how they pay today, include a strict performance management assessment process, that is based on individual goals and metrics, unrelated to seniority and utilising the “3-F” appeal to each job: balancing;

  1. family,
  2. fun, and
  3. flexibility.

In fact, an HR executive for one of the world’s largest Internet information portals recently revealed an experimental program for top employees to work in a “few months on, few months off” schedule, an extreme – and workable, in this case – solution to keep a talented team member happy.

Despite differences, all employees want some of the same elements when it comes to the work experience:

  • the ability to be satisfied,
  • valued,
  • have clear objectives, and
  • most importantly, directly report to a superior who empathises with a strong degree of work/life balance.

Using the same rewards vehicles – cash, equity, flex-time, incentives – employers can invest differently depending upon the needs of the individual.

Guest Author:

Jonamay Lambert and Adam Steinbrunner, Capital H Group.
Republished from CEO Online – your online business resource – www.ceoonline.com. Get valuable business tips and easy-to-read articles delivered direct to your inbox. Register NOW for your copy of CEO Online’s FREE e-newsletter: http://www.ceoonline.com/subscribe/