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Money is Only One Reason Employees Stay at Their Jobs
By Bill Catlette and Richard Hadden
How many six-figure earners do you know who are miserable in their jobs? Plenty.
How many folks do you know who, though earning much less, seem to enjoy their work, and probably wouldn't trade it, even for something that paid more? Same answer. Plenty.
Within reason, income is rarely the primary factor motivating workers to move on to greener pastures. Think about it. Most of us realize deep down that there are alternatives (and probably always will be) where we could do essentially the same job, but make more money. Yet, we typically don't act on that realization until something else causes our "misery index" to reach an unacceptable level.
For you, that "something" may be because you believe that:
- you or your efforts are unappreciated;
- you're being treated unfairly or abused; or
- the work environment (nature of the work, security, workmates) has eroded or is being compromised.
With employee turnover costing American business billions each year, many companies are rightly concerned about employee retention. Many of their efforts are, at best, misguided, and at worst, even more costly in the long run than the problem they are aimed at solving.
Here are a few of the questionable strategies we've all seen:
- Some employers simply do nothing, that is, until a valued employee tenders a resignation. That's when they pull out the "corporate goodie bag" in a last-minute effort to entice the person to stay.
I've been guilty of it myself. Once, I got wind of a critical employee's wandering eyes and foolishly entered into a bidding match against his prospective employer. I won, in the short run, but eventually (and inevitably) lost when my company could no longer match another rival's pocket depth.
Even if the person stays, a potentially destructive, not to mention expensive, practice has now been established. The following e-mail to "Working Wounded" author Bob Rosner makes the point: "If only my boss knew that I'd already turned down that other job offer before he gave me the big raise."
- Others, in an effort to hang on to people, reduce reasonable work and hiring standards, or eliminate them altogether. A friend of mine employed four technicians in his auto repair shop. One was highly skilled and motivated, two were competent and reasonably motivated and the fourth was a real dud. We'll call him Dudley. He did C-minus work and showed up late at least one day a week.
I asked the owner why he persistently failed to address Dudley's tardiness and other performance problems. His answer was, "C-minus work is better than no work at all."
To him, it probably seemed that way, at least until the morning his best technician gathered up all his tools and left because he was sick and tired of picking up the slack for Dudley, who had hit the snooze button one too many times.
- Still others, in a retention effort that runs a mile wide and an inch deep, think it's effective to adopt all the frilly little fad-of-the-week programs. Somehow they can manage to have Friday afternoon beer busts, allow employees to bring their pets to work, "empower" their people by entrusting them with menu selections for the company picnic and call everyone an "associate." But when it comes to taking serious steps to deal with managers who run roughshod over people, or getting rid of ridiculous policies and procedures, their knees buckle.
So what's a leader to do?
1. Start dealing with those "dogs that just won't hunt." Either coach them to acceptable performance levels, or help them find another job -- preferably with a competitor. Abandoning performance standards often provides the first and most visible clue to your strong performers that they are no longer part of an elite, winning team. These folks, the ones you really want to retain, don't want to hang around with losers.
2. Upgrade your hiring. While managers and recruiters the world over are whining about the effects of a tight labor market, I'd suggest that they're looking through the wrong end of the telescope.
3. Create an environment that provides meaningful work. Take strident measures to broaden responsibility, authority and, yes, accountability. People want suitable challenges and the freedom to pursue them.
4. Give people a clear sense of purpose. Your people want to read mysteries, not live them. So make absolutely, positively sure they are getting timely, relevant and truthful information about where the ship is headed, how it intends to get there and what is required of everyone on board.
5. Invest in your people by providing development opportunities for them. Afraid you'll lose them if they broaden their capabilities? You might. A valid fear is "What if I train them and they leave?" What would scare me even more is "What if I don't and they stay?"
Money is not the big thing. The big thing is all the little things. When they're neglected, you can't possibly pay talented people to put up with conditions that make them miserable.
You're never going to retain 100 percent of your employees, and you probably wouldn't want to. But start by hiring the right ones to begin with, and then provide them with a reason to stay in this age of full employment -- reasons that go far beyond money -- and you'll keep your turnover costs down and push profits up.
Please print the following attribution for this article: Bill Catlette and Richard Hadden, co-authors of Contented Cows Give Better Milk, help clients clobber the competition by having a focused, fired up, and capably led workforce. They deliver powerful conference keynotes and leadership training. They can be reached at 800-940-7006 (+1-904-720-0870 from outside North America) or www.ContentedCows.com.