“Top Workplaces” in a Tough Economy – Part 3

I'm back again with one more post on the Detroit Free Press "Top Workplaces" report. (Scott was nice enough to let me "hog the blog," but he'll be offering up some new insight next time.)

As previously shared, this particular study used an employee survey to identify the region's top workplaces. Participants not only rated their organizations on a variety of factors, but they also rated these factors in terms of importance. This prompted me to wonder…which questions were important to the employees, and which they also indicated that their organizations performed positively? As I scanned the lists, I found one clear winner.

Third on the list of importance was: "This organization operates by strong values and ethics." And this same question was number two on the list that demonstrated how well their organizations performed. Values and ethics therefore appear to be a sweet spot; employees consider this a critical expectation in the companies they're a part of, and the best businesses act in ways that convey true integrity.

An organization's values are less about talk and more about visible action, and this past year was "Exhibit A" in demonstrable values. Every business had to make very difficult decisions, decisions that had a profound impact on their people. Some used blunt force, using a ragged bottom line to defend layoffs, salary reductions and increased workloads. Others took a different approach, and were both business-like but empathetic, still making some of the same decisions but finding ways to do so with care and concern.

One interesting example was a law firm that offered one-year sabbaticals to many of their attorneys. They gave them a modest salary, continued to pay benefits, and in return asked that they use the time to develop their capabilities in some way. As a consequence, the firm was able to reduce their payroll, retain talented employees and offer them a chance to recharge and grow. Everyone was happy with the solution, and when the economy warms back up, they'll be in a position to take full advantage.

If you're interested in checking out this study, go to http://www.freep.com/ and click on "Best Workplaces in Detroit" on the front page.

"Top Workplaces" in a Tough Economy – Part 2

In my last post, I introduced a study conducted by the Detroit Free Press which identified the "Top Workplaces" in Detroit. They used a proprietary survey which asked employees about a variety of workplace factors, as well as their relative importance. It was the importance questions that really caught my eye, since they provide some insight concerning what employees are looking for from the companies they work for. So what did they have to say? Today I'll share the top two.

The number one, most important workplace factor was "I believe this organization is going in the right direction." This statement seems to speak to the trust employees place in their organization's ability to weather the economic storm, as well as the hope they place in their collective future. A truly great company is therefore one that can take the hard blows we've all endured, yet leave everyone believing that the future is still bright.

The number two spot had a question that was just as powerful and just as interesting. With only a one percentage point of difference, the second most important factor was "I feel genuinely appreciated at this organization." This is another way of saying, "my presence and my contribution matter." When you're just a face in the crowd, it's easy to feel disengaged. But when the people you work with—whether it's your manager, your peers or your customers—let you know that you provide them with real value, then it becomes easy to come to work every day. And the top workplaces are designed and managed in ways that allow everyone to make a difference.

Next time I'll do one more post on this study by sharing the third most important question, and as with the other two I've shared, it's a real building block for any enterprise that wants to thrive in today's complex world.

Jennifer

“Top Workplaces” in a Tough Economy – Part 1

I was commenting to Scott that all my blog posts start with research, but as a confessed "junkie," I find that research is a great source for shaping new ideas, as well as a way to catch a glimpse of what's emerging on the horizon. So imagine my delight when I opened the Sunday paper and found an entire section devoted to the "Top Workplaces" in Detroit! And there was so much in the coverage that I'll share it over several short posts.

My first observation is to say that Yes, there are still great places to work in Detroit, despite the difficult economic environment. In fact, 32,000 employees participated in the Detroit Free Press sponsored survey, which was used to select the best companies from each of three size categories (Large/500 or more employees; Medium/150 – 499; Small/up to 149).

The survey itself consisted of 20+ questions that looked at how employees feel about various workplace factors, such as their trust with leadership and opportunities for personal development. In addition, they were also asked to rate each question in terms of their importance.

Between the two lists, there were plenty of interesting insights, beginning with how the questions related to compensation and benefits stacked up. There was one question which asked whether the pay was fair, and another which asked whether the benefits were competitive for the industry. Typically, these types of questions get "negative" responses—most of us think we're worth more than our salary suggests. So I wasn't surprised to see these two questions in the bottom third.

I was surprised, though, where these two rated in terms of importance. In similar surveys, a key insight is that compensation is never the most critical, and that was true in this case. But in this economy, I thought they might at least be in the top quartile. However, I was wrong. They were dead last. So even when times are tough, the best places to work keep their employees by offering much more than a decent salary and benefits. And in coming posts, I'll pass along some info on what this talented group of employees value the most.

Jennifer

Turtle Thinking

I think some feel the signs of recovery are a little like Mark Twain’s quote, “Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated,” in that “rumors of the recovery have been greatly exaggerated.” It has been weird – lots of positive earnings reports, the market breaking 10,000, but consumer confidence falling. This may be because for the average person, it is still rough and scary out there.

But in the past couple weeks, I have been struck by a couple items which point to a deeper issue. The first was a letter to the editor of T&D, a magazine published by the American Society of Training & Development. The writer was basically disputing the trend data predicting a labor shortage due to retiring Boomers, mainly because all he could see day-to-day was people hanging on to their jobs for dear life. The second was a friend, the President of one of our partner companies, who said that most of his clients said they were planning on spending at the same level in 2010 as in 2009. Really? Your plan in a growth market is to spend as little as you did during the deepest recession in 60 years?! Hmmm…..

I am reminded of the 2005 Cornell University Study by Garrick Blalock, Vrinda Kadiya and Daniel H Simon that found that in the first 12 months after 9/11, anxiety about flying led to an increase in highway travel, and as a result, an estimated 1,250 adults died in traffic fatalities who otherwise wouldn’t have. The point is that when we are afraid, we lose our judgment – in this case, people opting for a less-safe mode of transportation.

I fear that we have been so affected (and programmed) by the 24 hour news cycle and the relentless reports of financial disaster, that many executives don’t see the recovery as it is beginning to happen. Those in the grip of fear will continue to make poor decisions, like opting to drive versus fly…..or failing to invest in your best people at a time you will need them the most.

Scott

What Older and Younger Workers Have in Common

Much has been written about the "generation gap," and its presence is as powerful in the workplace as it is in popular culture. Younger workers have no expectations of a "cradle to grave" work experience, and as such are actively seeking out organizations that will provide offer more than a paycheck.

But as different as the various generations may be, a new study from the Pew Research Center demonstrates that when it comes to the reason they work, there is actually one expectation that older and younger workers have in common, and it's an important one. This particular research explored why people work, and older and younger workers were asked to respond to eight different reasons. Only one from the list elicited a significant response from both groups: it was the desire 'to feel like a useful and productive person'. Across the board, workers of all ages want a job in which they can make a real difference.

It's also worth noting that this study was just completed, and reflects current attitudes. So while businesses are looking at the world through a very pragmatic, bottom line lens, their employees are still seeking something larger and more significant from their work. What an opportunity for businesses that can get past their own anxieties and lead in ways that allows the talent in their organizations to flourish and contribute in meaningful ways.

Jennifer

The Economics of Engagement

In our discussions with leaders and partners, everyone asks about the economics. Since we started this adventure, we have wanted to create a “Calculator” which can measure the impact of greater engagement and retention. In searching online, I didn’t find any other calculators which were very interesting, but I did find a wealth of great research which supports the premise that investing in engagement is not only good for the lives of the individuals, but it is really good for the wallet!

I found four separate arguments, all supported by strong research, which are very compelling:

Engagement: The Center for Talent Solutions has determined that, on average, highly engaged workers are 22% more productive than normally engaged workers, 63% more productive that workers with low engagement, and almost 2.5 times as productive as actively disengaged worked. Further, Towers Perrin and Gallup have both determined that, on average, about 22-29% of workers are considered engaged, while at the other end of the spectrum, between 11-17% are actively disengaged. As productivity can translate directly into EBITDA, lower costs, or sales leverage, the simple goal is to create more highly engaged employees, thereby shifting the mix.

Retention: As you might expect, there are a number of explicit and implicit costs to losing people you don’t want to lose. First of all, productivity drops when someone decides to leave. You may pay some form of severance depending on how the exit is handled. You may have to pay more during the vacancy in over-time or contractor fees to get the work done. You will incur recruiting, hiring, and possible search expense to get a new resource. You may pay signing bonuses or incentives. You will face lower productivity while the new person comes up the learning curve, and you may incur additional training expense for the new employee. Then you might need to pay more for the new person and that person may end up being less productive than the old employee.

Employee Life Time Value (ELTV): This is a measure, much like Customer Life Time Value which is useful to assess whether investments in the employee are worth it: e.g. do the expenses designed to improve engagement and retention pay off over time. While engagement and retention are typically measured during a year, this allows you to see what impact investments have over a longer period.

Business Performance: Finally, there is study after study linking levels of engagement to basic business performance metrics like EPS and sales growth, operating measures and customer satisfaction. While these vary by industry, the companies on the '100 Best Places To Work' routinely out-perform their counterparts on most of the crucial financial dimensions.

Of course, each of these is related, but the fun part is that they can all be measured and tracked. This is not touchy-feely stuff – we are talking about raw productivity,as in people producing more output for the same amount of money. It's bottom-line stuff!

Well, you know me. Raging geek. You can take the boy out of the spreadsheet, but…… I got very excited. I immediately built an economic model that can show you the impact of these issues within your own organization. We are in the process of making it pretty, but we should be able to let our clients play with all the critical assumptions so they can determine what the potential impact of improving engagement is in their organization. We want them to be conservative and be able to play with different scenarios so they can find the right course of action. We’ll keep you posted.

Finally, last week was a big week for Dragonfly ORG. Our book, Enlightenment, Incorporated, Creating Companies Our Kids Would Be Proud To Work For was released on Amazon.com and a few other online stores. Very cool! We are happy with how it turned out and hope you enjoy it. If you want to order a number of copies, please contact us as we can get discounts for higher volume.

Scott

Making Empowerment More Powerful

Although the concept of “employee empowerment” has been around since the 1970’s, there is still much to be learned about how leaders can create an empowering culture, as well as identify ways the organization can benefit. And some new thinking on the subject just emerged from a group of researchers at the University of Georgia. They recently completed a comprehensive study of empowerment that not only demonstrates the extensive value to be gained, but teases out some interesting insight on how to deeply engrain empowerment into your culture.

The first thing the team did was build a rich definition of what we mean by the word “empowerment.” We often think about it in context of giving employees increased authority to make decisions as part of their work, and this is certainly true. But they also noted that empowered employees are independently proactive and believe that their work makes a difference. Essentially, these employees recognize that they are accountable for the viability of the business, and feel an obligation to act in ways that honor this responsibility. These talented individuals believe that the vision of the organization can’t be achieved without them.

Next, the researchers looked at whether an organization benefits when they build a culture that encourages empowerment, and as past research has demonstrated, the answer was a clear “Yes.” Empowered employees have greater job satisfaction, feel a stronger commitment to the company, and perform at higher levels. They are also experienced less job-related stress, which is a good thing in the tenuous world we live in today.

Finally, the research team tackled the question of how best to promote empowerment, and this is where it gets really interesting. Is it by providing tangible resources like training and budget? Did it happen by how the individual jobs or the organization itself is designed? While these factors may contribute to empowerment, a critical factor was something quite different. What they learned was that empowerment becomes stronger when employees believe that the organization “cares for and values them.” It’s a feeling, not a tool. And more specifically, it’s about being recognized as a unique human being with the ability to step up and make a difference, everyday.

Imagine the virtuous circle of success that’s created when employees can face the ever escalating challenges of life in today’s world with real confidence--and that the organization believes it too.

Jennifer