The Strategic Employer

“Employee Engagement” gets a lot of lip service, but very little action. This is the key to motivating and retaining a productive workforce.   More simply stated employees have a WIIFM attitude.  People are not going to work for the company’s reasons; they are going to work for their own reasons.  Unless company leaders can tap into those reasons they risk spreading the disease of “warm-chair attrition”.  This is the state of having an employed body in a chair, but the mind has long since quit the job.   It is the responsibility of corporate leaders to eradicate this disease from their organization.

This is easier said than done.  It is virtually impossible if managers and leaders don’t know who works for them.  Today four generations are working together, each valuing work very differently from the other.  Few companies have trained their managers on how to relate to a multi-generational workforce.  In the absence of any guidance, managers will motivate employees from their own perspective and needs, not from the employee’s.   We all laugh at the “Beatings will continue until morale improves” signs, but many employees perceive corporate retention strategies and performance management programs as just that!

The best solution is for companies to teach their managers about who works for them.  Teach them how each generation and individual employee values their work life.  When armed with this knowledge, companies can create an effective and profitable talent management strategy.  This would include everything from recruitment, HR management, to the on boarding process and employee retention.  If done correctly then employee morale won’t be a problem.  Once word gets around people will be clamoring to work for the company.