With tough economic times causing companies to tighten their budgets, employers are finding themselves unable to motivate employees with traditional incentives. But the truth is, many of those benefits aren’t effective for the long term.
Salary, vacation time, health insurance, bonuses and 401(k) plans are great benefits for employees. These provide people with security and resources that can be used to ensure a good life for them and for their families. However, financial motivators are ultimately ineffective and temporary.
Consider this true story: A local cabinet shop operates with 10-hour shifts Monday through Thursday. One week, the shop workers need to work on Friday to catch up on a big order. That morning, the owners bring doughnuts for the employees and pitch in to get the order completed. By lunchtime, the work is completed.
Then something extraordinary happens.
The employees assemble together and inform the owner that they were unhappy with their performance for the previous four days, and they ask the owners not to pay them for Friday’s work.
Can you imagine employees asking an owner not to pay them in the middle of these hard economic times?
The truth is that people are not well motivated by money. People need money to purchase essentials like food and shelter, and this need is very powerful – but it’s also elementary. Effective employers strive to fill workers’ more complex needs. These include the need to feel like they are good at something, the need for autonomy and the need to feel related to others. These drive internal motivation that is much more powerful and longer-lasting than any external motivation.
Many employers find this difficult to believe. They hear about the importance of salary and benefits plans from every potential, current and past employee. The reason we are so interested in these things is very simple: We are all fooled into believing they are more important than they really are. They are an easily understood metric of success.
A college graduate is offered multiple jobs and will often take the one with the best overall benefits package. It is a simple math problem. The new graduate doesn’t understand the nuances of a fulfilling job and probably would have difficulty discovering those nuances anyway.
Think about the best job you have ever had. Was it the pay, the pension plan or something else? Maybe it was a job that you excelled at or one where you had the ability to truly make a difference with the choices you made in your duties. Maybe you truly felt like part of a greater cause.
I recently had a conversation with someone who had planned to have a long career with a major employer. She saw herself as safe and sound inside the warm corporate cocoon. Then, without warning, she was laid off, and without many options, she found herself starting her own small company. She told me that she had learned that the benefits of working for a larger company were really just an illusion. She found great pleasure in the challenges of being an entrepreneur.
While entrepreneurship is not for everyone, this highlights yet another secret to job satisfaction: Security is a basic need, but true fulfillment comes from a greater purpose.
As an employer, this is good news. It means that you have the ability to help rally your troops even when your finances are tight. In fact, you may be able to rally the troops to help find new ways to grow your business. Find out what your people are good at and let them do those things well. Give them some autonomy by allowing them to be creative and find ways to improve your organization. Finally, clearly define the core purpose of your organization and allow your people to work toward that common goal together.
By giving your people the opportunity to work hard and succeed, you may find that your darkest days actually yield some of your finest hours.
Don Harkey owns Galt Consulting LLC in Springfield, working with clients to reduce costs, improve quality and establish clear visions. He may be reached at donharkey@galtconsulting.biz.[[In-content Ad]]
