3 Steps to Help Employees Find the Meaning in Their Work

Recognize This! – It really is as simple as Listen, Tell, Praise.

Psychometrics Canada came out last month with a study on employee engagement. One of the findings buried in the report was more interesting to me, though:

“Those working in government (80.3%) and business (74.4%) sectors are more likely to identify engagement as a problem than are people in education (64.2%) and not-for-profit (54.2%) organizations.”

Why is this? I tend to think it’s because those who choose to work in education and non-profit organizations are naturally much more connected with the “meaningfulness” of their work. I’ve written before about employees ranking “doing something meaningful” as more important to them even than recognition and cash rewards.

The challenge becomes, then, how do you help those in government and business “find the meaning.” Psychometrics own research lends some insight:

“When asked what leaders could do more of to improve engagement, respondents endorse these actions:
• Listen to employees’ opinions (71%)
• Communicate clear expectations (68%)
• Give recognition and praise (58%)”

That’s a pretty straightforward path for managers:
1) Listen – really listen – to me.
2) Clearly tell me what it is you need me to do and why.
3) Let me know when I’ve delivered what you needed. Recognize me!

How well do your managers follow those three steps with you? Do you believe you’re listened to? Do you know what is expected of you? Are you told – in an appreciative way – when you meet those expectations?

Also, don’t forget I’m moving to my own Recognize This! blog on Monday, May 2. Subscribers will move with me. If you want to subscribe to the corporate Globoforce Blog for new multi-author content on Globoforce news, events, customers and products, please subscribe here.

Increase Productivity by 31% Just by Saying “Thank You”

Recognize This! – “If managers just increased their praise and recognition of one employee once a day for 21 business days in a row, six months later, those teams as opposed to control group had a 31% higher level of productivity.”

Please, if you do nothing else with anything you read in my blog, take 15 minutes to listen to this podcast on HBR by Shawn Achor, CEO of Aspirant and author of The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work.

If you can’t listen in, the post below is quoted highlights from the podcast:

This is research about how you affect the bottom line. And that requires changing the formula for success. People used to think if you worked harder right now, you’ll be more successful. If you’re more successful, you’ll be happier. This is wrong for two reasons:

1) If we follow that formula, we never get to happiness, because every time we get to success, we move the goal posts of what success looks like. If happiness is always on the opposite side of success, we push happiness over the cognitive horizon.

2) More importantly, your brain works in the opposite order. When your brain is positive, it outperforms your brain when it is negative, neutral or stressed.

When we’re at work, our brain is usually negative neutral or stressed, which hamstrings our brains ability to deal with all we could if our brain were positive.

You can change your brain and rewire it much more quickly than we thought was possible. If managers just increased their praise and recognition of one employee once a day for 21 business days in a row, six months later, those teams as opposed to control group, had a 31% higher level of productivity.

Think about what a 31% change in productivity would look like and what a small change in recognition practices would require.

One thing we suggest is when you open your inbox every day, write a 2 minute email praising and recognizing someone. You just activated 21 people in your environment making it easier to have a feedback loop with your people in your circle. Your brain also begins to recognize that you also have a lot more social support in your network. The greatest predictor of your success and happiness during a time of stress is your social support network. If you create social cohesion at work and home, you start finding more meaning at work, connect to more people, and your job satisfaction and life satisfaction skyrocket.

“When companies decide to invest in their employees to make sure they have a positive and engaged workforce, they’re reaping back a long term return on their investment that’s much higher than what they put in initially.”

I challenge you – take the 21 day experiment. Take 2 minutes every day for 21 days to recognize and praise one person. See how that changes your own positive perception of the workplace as well as those around you.

Signs Employees Are Ready to Walk and What You Can Do to Retain Them

Recognize This! – Employees are regaining control of their value in the workplace.

Where does employee retention fall in your priorities for 2011 list? Too many are still complacent, believing the poor job market will keep workers in place. But hiring is steadily ticking up and unemployment steadily falling.

How at risk are you? According to MetLife’s Ninth Annual Study of Employee Benefit Trends:
• 1 in 3 employees are a flight risk
• Employee loyalty at a three year low, dropping 11 percentage points (after a steady decline)
• Employee satisfaction is also dropping at a rate of 8 percentage points over the last three years

Since employers also admit being less focused on employee satisfaction and work-life balance at the same time they’re report dramatic productivity gains is it any wonder employees are less loyal to the companies trying to wring blood from a stone?

Forbes reported a much worse scenario of 74% of workers would consider leaving if offered another job. What will you do when those top performers do choose to leave for a better environment? Towers Watson tells us 52% of US employers say it’s difficult to attract “critical skill” employees and 25% say it’s hard to retain top performers.

Signs employees are ready to walk:

1) You no longer value employees. Have you stopped recognizing and appreciating your employees for the good work they do? Our Employee Mood Tracker found 78% say being recognized for their efforts motivated them in their job. Simply saying “thanks!” has a powerful effect. Towers Watson research found “reward policy and practice is the number one driver of intent to stay.”

2) You haven’t communicated change. Yes, change is inevitable. And usually employees will be on board with it — if you tell them what you need them to do, not just the esoteric “change.”

3) You’re ignoring employee well being and engagement, even as the economic environment improves. What does this mean? When I feel valued – when I believe my contributions are helpful to my team members, my customers, my company – I perform at my peak. But only 10% of employees feel like they’re vital company assets. Employee engagement is another key indicator of intent to stay. If people are engaged with their work and the culture of your company (their working environment), they will not easily leave.

Where does your company lie in this picture? Ready to make good on the “employment promise” to do right by employees or still living in the recession mindset of “employees are just grateful to have a job?”

Top 5 Critical HR Priorities: #5 Performance, Planning, HR Effectiveness

Recognize This! – HR priorities are many. Solving one can be the solution to many others.

Concluding my week-long series on the Top 5 Critical HR Priorities for 2011 from the Corporate Leadership Council HR global agenda poll, is a tie!

Priority 5 for HR in 2011: A Tie! -- Improving Employee Performance, Workforce Planning, Improving Strategic Effectiveness of HR

Improving Employee Performance has a lot to do with management of the company culture itself. Two research studies on this topic seem to contradict each other. The first argues changing culture is hard because it’s “sacred.” If you break culture down into climate, and then into habits, change becomes easier because are more willing to change habits. Based on brain science, the second study argues habits are, in fact, hard to change because doing so is actually painful, requiring a conscious override of “deeply comfortable neuronal circuitry. But (and this is a critical point I think the first researcher would also agree with):

“Therefore, to engender change among people in an organization, it’s important to keep attention focused on the desired end state, not on avoiding problems. This goal-directed positive reinforcement must take place over and over. The most effective way to achieve this is to set up practices and processes that make it easy for people to do the right thing until it becomes not only second nature, but an ethic taken to heart (and to the brain) by the entire company.”

Managing goals has just as much to do with improving employee performance. An HBR blog pointed out:

“For goals to be meaningful and effective in motivating employees, they must be tied to larger organizational ambitions. … No matter what level the employee is at, he should be able to articulate exactly how his efforts feed into the broader company strategy.”

Articulating goals and strategy and appropriately recognizing those who achieve the goals is all well and good for improving employee performance, but that requires retaining key employees, which is likely why Workforce Planning is of equal concern to HR pros. The Corporate Leadership Council says 27% of high potential employees plus another 20% of non-high potentials are actively planning to leave their jobs in the next six months. An Accenture survey found 30% were ready to switch employers. More concerning is results from an American Psychological Association survey showing just over half of employees feel valued on the job. This doesn’t necessarily mean they want higher pay. Only 43% said they receive adequate recognition for their contributions at work.

Solving this last challenge would help dramatically in Improving the Strategic Effectiveness of the HR. As discussed in my Monday post, CEOs don’t see the performance and ROI benefit of employee engagement and employee recognition. The two are closely linked. My CEO, Eric Mosley, explained this well in an article in last month’s Chief Executive magazine:

“If recognition is implemented in a strategic way, it gives senior management a new window into the health of the organization. Acting as a barometer for engagement and employee performance, companies can monitor how often recognition occurs as well as in which divisions, geographies and teams. ... The link between prolonged neglect of consistent recognition and deteriorating company health is not always realized -- the focus is on productivity rather than on what LEADS to productivity (i.e., happy, fulfilled employees who are fully engaged in their work).”

Can you prove the value of what you do to bottom-line?

What is your top priority for 2011:

Prior posts on 2011 Top HR Priorities
Priority 1: Improving Senior Leader Capabilities at Managing the Workforce
Priority 2: Improving Manager Capabilities at Managing Their Direct Reports
Priority 3: Engaging Employees
Priority 4: Managing Organizational Change 

Top 5 Critical HR Priorities: #1 Improving Senior Leader Capabilities

Recognize This! – Senior leaders need to improve respect for employees, trustworthiness, and caring to better manage the workforce.

The Corporate Executive Board recently shared with us the Top 5 Critical HR Priorities for 2011 from their Corporate Leadership Council HR global agenda poll. Each day this week, I’ll address one priority.

Priority 1 for HR in 2011: Improving Senior Leader Capabilities at Managing the Workforce

Senior leaders constantly juggle innumerable priorities, each often requiring a different capability. Which should HR focus on to help senior leaders improve? I suggest senior leaders can’t hope to manage effectively unless they have the respect and trust of their teams. Their employees must also know the senior leader cares about them as people, not just “human capital.”

RESPECT
Paul Marciano, author of Carrots and Sticks Don’t Work, recently offered seven “critical” ways managers show respect for employees. His way was employee recognition: “Thanking employees and acknowledging their contributions on a daily basis.”

I don't know if Paul listed these in order of importance, but there is no denying that acknowledgment of ourselves, our work, and the value of our contributions goes a long way to telling us we are respected in the workplace. Paul’s last item was trust: “Demonstrating faith and belief in their employees’ skills, abilities, and decisions,” which leads in the next capability senior leaders need to manage the workforce.

TRUST
BlessingWhite’s CEO points out that without trust in leadership, employees question where they fit in the company. Towers Watson’s 2010 Global Workforce Study found “the most desired leadership characteristic is to be trustworthy, but only 47% of respondents agree that their leaders are, in fact, trustworthy.”

Why is this? Les Allan suggests on his Business Performance blog: “It can be more difficult to ascribe honorable motives to a ‘faceless’ leader.” To become more present to employees and “add a face,” senior leaders must show they care.

CARE
In his book The Thank You Economy, “King of Social Media” Gary Vaynerchuck, said:

“I care more about my employees than I do my customers, and I care more about my customers than I do breathing.”

Do you care more about your employees than you do breathing? Do your employees trust you? Do you have respect for them? If not, I can guarantee they do not respect you, trust you, or care about you and your success.

Every Employee Owns Their Own Business

Recognize This: No one owns “human capital” except the individual human.

Any entrepreneurs out there reading this blog? Any small business owners?

I would argue every employee reading this blog is a small business owner – you own your “human capital assets.” You make the decision every day whether you are bringing all of your talent, skills, efforts, creativity and desire to “do a good job” to the workplace.

However, for the vast majority of workers, we cannot rely on a “workforce of one.” We must work with and for other people to get the job done. Perhaps along the way we can have fun, too.

A couple of months ago Fortune magazine came out with their Best Companies to Work For list. While the list itself is interesting, I was more caught by how the Great Place to Work Institute, the non-profit that compiles list, defines a great place to work: 

“A great place to work is one in which you trust the people you work for, have pride in what you do, and enjoy the people you work with.”

Since we all choose to bring ourselves to work every day, I think we can all choose the attitude we bring as well. I choose to trust those I work with, take pride in what I do, and enjoy the people I work with. It certainly colors my attitude every day. I like to think it makes it easier for those who work with me to feel the same.

Do you work in a “great place to work” – even if the company didn’t make the “official” list? Tell me the company and why it’s great!

If you can, join me for my last session at the complimentary IHR Rewards & Recognition virtual conference at 11:00 (Eastern) in which I'll be presenting The Future of Rewards and Recognition.

Free Recognition & Rewards Virtual Trade Show * March 30-31, 2011

Do you wish you could attend more events that would contribute to your knowledge and efficacy as an HR professional, but budgets are too tight to allow for it?

Join me for the IHR Rewards & Recognition virtual conference March 30-31. The complimentary conference lets you attend live Virtual Workshop Sessions, which are eligible for HRCI re-certification credits and IHR credits. You’ll also be able to visit virtual exhibitor booths and network online with other HR professionals with the same questions and concerns you have employee recognition and rewards.

I'm excited to be presenting with Betsy Walker from Quintiles, a Globoforce customer on The New R&R: Increasing Retention Using the Power of Recognition on Wednesday, March 30, at 12:30 (Eastern).

Then I’ll be presenting again on The Future of Rewards and Recognition on Thursday, March 31, at 11:00 (Eastern).

You can register now for these sessions and any others you might find interesting. You can also learn more and visit the virtual trade show floor.

Attendees to our sessions will also receive a free excerpt from our book, Winning with a Culture of Recognition, the step-by-step guide to implementing a strategic recognition solution that is guaranteed to increase employee engagement by double digits in less than a year.

Limiting Employee Recognition Only Limits Potential Improvement

Recognize This: Putting limits on employee recognition only limits potential impact on employee engagement, productivity, performance and retention.

Adding to my thoughts on appreciation tips that have been tweeted to #appreciationtip (and keep those tips coming) is this one:

"As you sip your morning coffee, remember it's never too early to thank your employees."

I like this tip not for the obvious inference of "recognize early and often," but for the more subtle message of "even new hires can do extraordinary things."

A recognition policy I've never understood is "New hires must be on board 90-days (or some other arbitrary length of time) before they can participate in the appreciation or recognition program."

Why? Are they not likely to do something extraordinary during those months? Personally, I can think of countless examples of a new hire, with their fresh eyes and clear perspective, seeing a challenge or opportunity long-timers had struggled with and arriving at a simple, elegant solution. Should they not be recognized and appreciated for that, just because "they haven't been here long enough?"

What do you think? Are there any good reasons for a 90-day (or similar) moratorium on recognition for new hires?

GenY Grows Up * How They Will Manage the Workplace

Recognize This: The “young ones” soon become the leaders. GenY will forever change management – for the better.

GenY and their needs in the marketplace is frequently a topic for bloggers.Usually, the attitude is one of annoyance about GenY’s need for constant praise, recognition and rewards, or their preference for team-oriented work.

But always remember – GenY, like every generation before them – will grow up. That doesn’t mean, however, their work preferences will change. It’s far more likely GenY will forever influence the way work (at least until the next generation comes along).

James Kerr in a recent post on Management Issues put it this way:

“Today's organizational designs will likely be deemed obsolete. Millennials will demand a shift away from ‘command and control’ reporting lines to more cooperative-based leadership models that provide greater autonomy and freedom of choice in the way work is performed. …

“Clearly, a greater degree of emotional intelligence will be required by senior leaders so that they can proactively guide organizational transformation while continuing to grow and evolve successful enterprises.”

Are you ready for a “cooperative” work style? How does your team function today? What would be your preferred style – either in an individual contributor role as a manager? Do you see these changes happening already?

Kindness or Meanness * Which Is the Better Management Tactic?

Recognize This: You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.

An American colleague of mine used this phrase recently. It came to mind when I happened to read these two article on kindness and meanness in the workplace. While I certainly don’t think of employees as flies, the truth of the aphorism still resonates.

Writing in the New York Times, Bob Sutton, author of Good Boss, Bad Boss, said:

“Widespread meanness not only damages people; it also increases costs and undermines performance by driving out good employees at alarming rates. Numerous studies have also shown that people respond to demeaning and disrespectful bosses and co-workers by calling in sick more often, making fewer suggestions, working less hard and doing lower-quality work.”

Quite true. Management by intimidation must end. The evidence is clear that mean management styles, even just by ignoring employees, does no good and great damage.

In counterpoint to meanness is Davia Temin, CEO of Temin and Co., writing in Forbes about kindness: 

“I am here to tell you that it need not be so! I firmly believe that kindness can still infuse winning, tough-minded, smart, highly competitive and driven organizations. In fact, it can fuel them, and make them even better-functioning, even more outstanding. And it can make those extreme hours we spend in the office that much more pleasant, even fulfilling.”

I know which environment I’d rather work in, and indeed, do work in today. What about you? Is your day more filled with meanness or kindness?

Also, don’t forget to tweet your tips for employee appreciation and recognition using hash-tag #appreciationtip to be entered to win a copy of the Winning with a Culture of Recognition eBook or Amazon Kindle pre-loaded with the eBook.

People Are Not Cogs in a Machine

Recognize This: Individuals bring much more to your workplace than their skill or ability.


In a recent post on Fistful of Talent, Josh Letourneau related the story of Bob. An average, some might even say “mediocre,” employee with no stand-out defining elements of his performance that raised a red-flag when he handed in his resignation. The HR pro figured she’d just replace Bob with a similarly skilled employee.

As Josh points out, the HR pro is missing the key trigger here. Bob is not a cog in a machine that can be switched out. Bob’s connections – his interactions with others, his conversations, his relationships – that’s what made Bob a valuable contribution to the organization. If you insist on the “machine” metaphor, losing Bob would be more equivalent to removing both the Bob “cog” and all the surrounding gears, springs and connecting wires.

Work today is more about the networks we interact in, the people we interact with as we transact business. When we lose an employee, either through actual leaving the workplace or just disengagement in the work, we lose all they bring with their networks and interactions on a daily basis.

Let’s stop looking at our employees as parts in a machine that can be easily replaced and start noticing them for what they are – important elements to how we all work who are fundamentally caring, feeling beings who need appreciation for their work and validation that what they do has meaning.

Where you work today are you seen as a cog in a machine or important contributor within a much wider network?

Articulating Your Company Culture for Better Recruiting

Recognize This: People want more than just a pay range when they’re looking for a new position.

I know what you’re thinking. Pay is the first thing people want to know in reading a job description. That may be true, but how many job descriptions actually include pay or even a pay range? Very few, especially for professional positions.

Sure, they want to know job title and description, but those are so similar across companies there is little differentiation for seekers. (And keep in mind 2/3 of those currently employed are actively seeking a new job today.)

So what do they want to see when seeking a new company? According to CareerEdge:

“Gen-Yers want to understand the corporate culture.”

Culture – working environment, tolerated behaviors, company values – is so important, some will bypass a job listing that doesn’t make culture clear.

How are you communicating your company culture? Even to those you are passively recruiting?

Tell Me “Thank You” or I’ll Leave

Recognize This: People really do quit because of lack of recognition.

Yes, even in this economy, people really do look for other work (and 2/3 of employed Americans are looking right now) because of a lack of recognition.

2008 research at the start of the recession from Salary.com showed that 17% of employees list “insufficient recognition” as a top five reason to leave a job. Other, more recent, research shows 34% list “no recognition” as a reason to leave.

But is this really shocking? If you slogged away every day, giving it your best, and no one seemed to notice or care, would you want to keep going? Or would you want to find a workplace (where you spend the majority of the time you’re awake) where what you do matters. And you know it matters because people tell you so. Frequently. Repeatedly.

It’s no wonder 23% of companies are adding recognition programs, even in this slow recovery, according to Towers Watson.

Have you ever quit because of lack of recognition? Would you? Tell us the story of your breaking point. What finally pushed you over the edge?

A Real Holiday Present: Serve the Public Good

Recognize This: Companies are sitting on record profits, but with no change in sight for their people practices.

How flush are you feeling right about now? If you celebrate Christmas, your wallet is likely feeling quite a bit lighter or you’re waiting in dread for the Christmas present bill to come due in the new year. The harsh reality of the last two years feels much the same for many of us, but not for the corporations.

CBS MoneyWatch reported companies have experienced seven consecutive quarters of profit growth and, in the third quarter of 2010, made more money than in the 60 years the Commerce Department has been tracking this data.

Are you feeling the benefit of any of that profit? I doubt. The article goes on to report companies are sitting on the cash, more concerned with “Increasing shareholder value than the public good.”

Many would argue companies are simply following the mandate of why they exist – to make money for shareholders. I disagree. I believe companies exist to do both. It’s only logical. You can’t make money without the brains and brawn behind what you’re selling. It follows that if you look out for the “public good” by doing right by your employees, by reinvesting in them, by restoring pay levels and staff cut during the recession, by showing your employees how much you appreciate them.

Give employees a real gift this holiday season. Return to reason in your people practices. Show your employees you know they can’t keep up this pace forever. Express your appreciation for their herculean efforts and reward them appropriately.

Image credit: CNNMoney.

Hiring Cheap for the Short vs. the Long Term

Recognize This: Talented employees know what they’re worth and are ready to get it.

Did you snap up any good “deals” during the recession? You know – overqualified employees you were able to get cheap?

As the economy (slowly but surely) improves, what are you doing to retain those talented employees and keep them (and their knowledge) away from your competitors?

The Wall Street Journal reported last month that employers who hired on the cheap in the recession should start being concerned. According to a recruiter quoted in the article, 1 in 5 candidates who call him are trying to return to their previous salary levels after being in their current job for a year or less.

This shouldn’t be surprising. Talented people will always find a way to get what they’re worth. It’s up to you be sure you know the outcomes of hiring on the cheap:

• Hiring cheap for the long-term = poor hire. If you’re just looking for cheap labor and those people stay without complaint, you’ve likely gotten what you paid for.

• Hiring cheap for the short-term = quality hire at a good price, but with a catch. Now you have to decide if you’re willing to pay the person what they’re worth, or let them go somewhere that will.

The difference is – are you cheap or are you proactive? A proactive strategy will snap up talent while it’s available then do the right thing as soon as feasible. A cheap strategy will let things fester and watch good talent walk out the door. Which are you?

Yes, Quitting Is Real, Even in This Economy

Recognize This: More people are quitting than being laid off – and it’s not a new trend.

Even after reading my posts from Monday and Tuesday this week, do you still, deep-down, think that your employees won’t quit (either out of loyalty to you or because of the lousy job market).

Give up that false hope. TLNT reported on Bureau of Labor Statistics results:

“2 million people left their jobs voluntarily while only 1.8 million were laid off. That’s right, more people voluntarily left their jobs than quit and it has been trending that way for some time.”

TLNT reports this has been the trend for the last year. You can only push people so far before they leave to potentially join your competitor. Think of the double impact of that – you’re out a star employee and your competitor just got information and skills you’d rather they never had.

TLNT goes on to say:

“With the economy in doubt, employees have been hesitant to be the squeaky wheel and complain — and you can’t necessarily blame them. So when they find a competitive job and move on, the employer is surprised.”

“Surprised” seems a bit disingenuous to me. After rounds of layoffs, extra work, pay freezes, pay reductions, and a general atmosphere of fear, no one should be “surprised” when good employees decide to leave for a hopefully better environment.

The bigger question is, what are you doing about? Yes, they’re really looking for other work. Yes, they really will quit and leave you for your competitors. So what are you going to do right now to stem that tide?

Your CEO is "OUTTA HERE!" Too

Recognize This: Even senior executives need appreciation.

Picture the members of your C-Suite in your mind. How many of them do you think are in it for the long-haul? Can you imagine any of them leaving?

Apparently, they can. According to recent research from ExecuNet and Finnegan/MacKenzie:

“Executives’ collective satisfaction with their current leadership role and employer is demonstrably lower than their steady commitment to carry out the core and ever-evolving responsibilities of their job… Nearly any executive can be hired away at any time. If opportunity knocks, executives will take the risk to pursue it, even in an economic cycle like this.”

Just how many would consider leaving?

“92% of CEOs and 94% of all other management respondents say a leader can be engaged in their work and with their employer but still open to considering new career opportunities with other organizations.”

Why would they consider leaving? The research delves into possibilities, but money isn’t a leading factor. I suggest another reason – even your senior executives need to be appreciated for the work they do. Even those in the ivory tower need to know that those who work for them appreciate their efforts and recognize how hard they are working.

Are you in a senior leadership position? When was the last time someone thanked you for what you do? When was the last time you felt you and your efforts were truly appreciated?

If you’re not in senior leadership, would it feel odd to you to recognize someone above you? Why? Have you ever done that? Share your story.

I'm OUTTA Here! (and there's nothing you can do about it)

Recognize This: 66% of your employees are actively seeking or open to a new job.

How wedded are you to the idea, “My employees have a job. That’s recognition enough for their work.”

If that’s your attitude, get ready to start recruiting to replace your top talent (and good luck trying to retain competitive advantage without them). TLNT reported on a recent Jobvite survey:

“Two-thirds of currently employed Americans, roughly 77.5 million people, are either actively seeking a job or open to taking a new opportunity. An additional 33 million American adults – unemployed job hunters or soon-to-be college graduates – are also looking for work, for a total of 110.5 million job seekers looking to make a move overall.”

That’s not much better than the results reported by Right Management in a December 2009 survey:

• 60% - Yes, I intend to leave
• 21% - Maybe, so I’m networking
• 6% - Not likely, but I’ve updated my resume
• 13% - No, I intend to stay

Workplace trust is in its death throes. Employee loyalty seems to have become a quaint 20th century emotion. What does all this mean to you?

Which employees do you think are the most likely to stay? I guarantee it’s not those with the most options – your top performers. Look at it another way. The majority of your employees are distracted by thoughts, plans and actions to leave. (When do you think they’re interviewing? On the weekend?)

Think about the impact of that. It’s not just the POTENTIAL loss of those employees someday, it’s also their attitude on the job right now.

Are you ready to rethink your stance on “a job is recognition enough?” Or are you one of those 77.5 million who will leave as soon as you get a chance? Why? What could your company have done differently to keep you on board, productive, happy and engaged?

Individual Contributors Are Ready to Walk * Can You Afford to Let Them?

It’s no surprise that employees, for the most part, continue to be disheartened in their workplaces. Why? They at least have a job, don’t they?

That’s precisely the argument lending to employee disengagement. The “survivors” of the actions taken during the recession – layoffs, cuts in pay, pay freezes – also took on much more work, likely in tasks or roles they’re not particularly good at or fond of. But they did it to help the company make it through the recession.

And what kind of thanks do they get? Very little. Talent Management magazine recently examined the current state among an oft ignored but vital group of employees – individual contributors. Here’s the story in a nutshell”

The Problem – No growth opportunities mean a desire to change jobs.

“The study found a high number of individual contributors feel their roles are stagnant. What's more, they reported they will leave their organizations as soon as they feel the time is right. … When DDI asked respondents if they would move to another company if given the opportunity, 55 percent of the sample said yes. Among stagnant workers, that number jumped to 77 percent.”

The Impact – Customers will notice.

“In most organizations, this would lead to massive, costly and disruptive turnover. Individual contributors far outnumber leaders, and these workers usually comprise the majority of any organization's population. When individual contributors begin to leave, it's likely that customers will notice.”

The Contributing Factors – Managers skipping the “soft skills.”

“Additionally, individual contributors are disappointed in their bosses and managers, furthering dissatisfaction with their own roles. Stagnant workers were twice as likely to cite their boss as the one thing they'd change about their workplaces. And when asked about the inferior skills of their managers, individual contributors overwhelmingly chose soft skills, with communication and listening next in line.”

A Solution – Empower managers to recognize their teams.

“One final option to optimize the engagement of individual contributors and to ensure they stay is to evaluate leaders. Do leaders have the skills to develop their teams and provide recognition? Are they focusing too much on problems while ignoring their people? Do leaders have the authority to act?”

Are you acknowledging the disengagement of the largest body of your workforce – your individual contributors? Are you taking even the basic steps to alleviate that disengagement – teaching and encouraging managers to recognize employee contributions and behaviors, showing the employees how much they are valued?

A Culture of Recognition and Loyalty

In my last post I wrote about the different kind of cultures that can arise in an organization.

So, what kind of culture works best? That depends on your goal. If all you care about is cranking out widgets and aren’t particularly concerned about the high-turnover of employees who perhaps are not passionate about widgets, need some challenge in their work, or can’t abide another day of “meaningless” work, then worrying about your corporate culture is probably not high on your priority list.

But if you’re concerned about employee loyalty – keeping those employees who are committed to the success of your organization and that of your customers – then your best cultural option is recognition. In fact, recent research by Monster (as reported in WorldatWork) found that “being recognized for good work” consistently ranked high as a reason why employees would remain loyal to an employer.

"Globally, having a great boss and co-workers, challenging/interesting work and gaining recognition all recorded results at 20% or above, demonstrating that, for many workers, there is more to their loyalty than financial rewards.

"Respondents in India (31%), Italy (27%) and Ireland (24%) rated gaining recognition as the foremost reason for them being loyal to their employers."

Clearly, employees need and want recognition for their efforts. It’s easy and cheap to give and can save you millions in turnover expense.

I would also like to take this opportunity, in honor of tomorrow’s American Thanksgiving holiday, to give thanks and express gratitude to my colleagues and team members who make my work more fun, more interesting, and certainly more exciting every day of the year. And to you, the readers of this blog, thank you for your insights that have continued to educate me and contributed to my growth as an employee, a manager, and most importantly, a person.