If an employee is disengaged, dissatisfied, disinterested, distrustful, disaffected and disconnected, they will withhold the most important “dis” word of all…their discretionary effort. The difficulty with discretionary effort is that it’s not for sale. Each employee has his/her own amount and is the sole decisionmaker on whether or not it is donated to your organization or to something or someone else’s. Managers can motivate employees in the short-term to increase productivity, but generally there’s a cost to the motivation effort — some kind of reward must be attached. Results of this form of motivation are generally shortlived. We’ve all worked for managers who have inspired us — those for whom we gave 150%. They didn’t have to ask us for it. We worked late, raised the bar, got creative around solutions and didn’t flip the off-switch at the end of the day.
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If the organization isn’t taking these actions, employees notice. Employees today want more than survival. They expect meaningful work, growth and development, and respect for their differences. They expect to feel needed and appreciated. They expect competitive rewards, recognition and a say in what happens to them. They expect to feel valued and engaged.
We’ve been listening to HR leaders and managers all over the country talking about their workforce challenges. Here’s another one:
We’ve been listening to HR leaders and managers all over the country talking about their workforce challenges. Here’s another one:
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“If my company doesn’t grow me…If my manager doesn’t respect my values…If my company doesn’t share information…If there’s no opportunity for development here.”
The economic effects of these past months have caused many organizations to downsize, restructure, and freeze hiring efforts and budgets. All these actions are directed at stabilizing organizational performance, but they are simultaneously causing companies to unwittingly lose the energy of many loyal, talented, and hard-working employees who still remain…the very people that the organization is now relying on for success! After the economic dust settles, employees who have managed to keep their jobs often find themselves feeling worse than those who were forced out. While laidoff workers are struggling to reclaim their professional lives, the “kept-on” workers (those who survive a transition) are coping with another kind of stress. They find themselves simply surviving, not thriving. And they are ready to bail to improve their plight when the economy shifts or opportunities arise.
Are you laying off talent, trying to hire for specific positions or hoping to just hang on to your best people during all the uncertainty? Or are you doing all three at once?
Are you laying off talent, trying to hire for specific positions or hoping to just hang on to your best people during all the uncertainty? Or are you doing all three at once?
