When it comes to morale, employees are not out of touch; but some “experts” are
Several times per week I take a look at my Google Alerts and see what has come through. One of the alerts I have set is on the topic of employee morale. Another is set for the topic of employee retention. Today the first two alerts I clicked on frightened me……………….
Two so-called experts gave lists on how to improve morale and retain employees. One had a list of 5 items; the other 7 items. Both of these experts included pay raises and bonuses right up at the top of their lists.
Now I double checked just to make sure these articles were written in 2011. They were.
Seriously? Pay raises? Bonuses? 2011? These are “experts” on employee matters?
Don’t get me wrong; there are companies that are still offering cash to improve morale. They are not in the majority; and the pay raises that I have seen given by client companies are hardly anything employees are taking to the nearest BMW dealer. Heck they’re barely covering the gas to get people to the grocery store these days. And they’re certainly not increasing morale or keeping good employees from visiting Monster.com and Careerbuilder.com
But here’s a couple of sure-fire ways to keep morale high in these turbulent times.
- Give people interesting work. Employees are made of great stuff. Too often we don’t allow them to show that stuff as we bog them down with meaningless and mindless tasks. Sit down with them and find out what really gets them excited. Find ways to incorporate their interests into your needs. How can you make their work fun? Interesting? Can you give them work that matters? That makes a difference? This is what employees want.
- Get rid of bad bosses. You know who that bad boss is. Get rid of him or her. (Need a hint: Which department seems to always have open positions and high turnover) Now getting rid of a bad boss doesn’t mean you necessarily have to remove them from the payroll; maybe they need a “special project” or perhaps that title of Manager or Director doesn’t mean they need to have a staff. I’m suggesting getting rid of bad bosses; not good talent. Some people are just not meant to supervise. You actually might be doing them a favor.
80% of employees who leave a job, leave their employer because of bad supervisors. Yep, 80%. They don’t leave because they don’t enjoy the work. Take a hard look at both of these thoughts and maybe your morale and retention issues might not be issues.
