Maria
had worked in the Quality Assurance department for months. In addition
to doing her job well, she voluntarily came in early each day and had
coffee ready for the rest of the team. Making coffee wasn’t in her job
description, but it was something she wanted to do and it made her feel
good to help others. She enjoyed her job and planned to stay as long as
possible.
Her supervisor, Joan, was the type of person who noticed
things and always had a positive word to say. Joan even would brag about
her employees in front of her district manager, Mr. Cramer.
At dinner, Maria would tell her family that Joan was the
reason she liked working there. Joan made her feel good about what she
did. She noticed and recognized the little things people did and always
had something nice to say to them. Maria knew she could find a better
paying job closer to her home, but she planned to stay as long as Joan
was her boss.
Salonda had quite the opposite experience. An
administrative assistant, who had worked for a large organization for 22
years, she had shouldered more and more responsibility as her company
downsized time and again. She felt as if she had five times as much
work.
When the company cut a temporary worker who worked with
her, it was the last straw. She told her boss she didn’t see how she
could keep getting all the work done. Instead of acknowledging her work
load or seeking a solution, he casually remarked, "You will figure out a
way."
The next day Salonda quit. Now she’s a floor clerk at a
local homebuilding store. She makes half the money—but has twice the
fun, and feels her efforts are recognized rather than ignored.
The moral of these stories? Money may attract people to
the front door, but something else keeps them from going out the back.
Although many people claim they are quitting for a better paying job
elsewhere, survey after survey shows that a lack of appreciation and
recognition is a primary reason why people quit their jobs.
An employee retention
survey I conducted for my book
Here Today Here Tomorrow
showed when asked, What causes you the greatest dissatisfaction at
work, the answer with the most responses was Lack of appreciation.
Many managers are uncomfortable complimenting others and
making employees feel appreciated. In situations like these, a nudge
from the top can be very effective. I know a hospital CEO who gives his
managers five tokens at the beginning of each weekly staff meeting.
Their instructions are to go out in the hospital and give the tokens to
people they catch doing something good. They may not come back to the
following week’s staff meeting until they give away all of their coins.
Often, managers get so involved with day-to-day business
that they forgo the "soft" skills that are so important to people. The
tokens served as a reinforcement to start this behavior.
Setting up a program to make people feel appreciated is
not difficult. A well-administered program builds camaraderie, values,
and makes people feel good about themselves and their jobs. But the
biggest reason for the success of these programs is simple--they allow
people to celebrate success and feel good about who they are and whom
they work for.
Know what motivates-Before you plan your program, find
out what motivates your people. Don’t assume you already know. In one
organization I worked with, management was absolutely certain that
employees would select money as its preferred form of recognition.
Turned out, money didn’t matter, but parking did. While executives and
certain top employees could park in the lot next to the building, most
employees had to park several blocks away. With this information in
hand, we built a very effective program around parking.
Add variety-Another key aspect of an effective program
is variety. All programs become a little boring after about six months.
Add variety to your program to make it new and interesting. Consider
friendly competitions between departments, or unusual award items. At
Miami-based Creative Staffing, the owner offers employees a menu of
rewards, which includes parties, expensive dinners, chauffeured shopping
sprees, spa sessions, and cooking lessons with Paul Prudhomme. Employees
decide what they want, figure out how much their package costs, and
determine how much additional business they have to generate to cover
those costs. And they really enjoy choosing their own reward!
Gregory P. Smith shows businesses how to build productive
and profitable work environments that attract, keep and motivate their
workforce. He is the author of the forthcoming book called,
Here Today Here Tomorrow: How to Transform Your Organization from
High-Turnover to High-Retention.
He speaks at conferences, conducts management training and is the
President of a management consulting firm called Chart Your Course
International located in Conyers, Georgia. Phone him at 770-860-9464.
