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Employee engagement is a hot topic right now. It’s yet another time of intense change and change always brings insecurity and/or opportunity for employees – both of which can be real challenge for employers.

So how should they respond to retain their best talent? Most corporate cultures and performance management systems seem to boil down to good old fashioned carrot and stick.

Good employers tend to focus on the carrots – good pay, working environment, health plans, opportunities to benefit from individual or collective performance and other benefits. However, carrots seem to lose their effectiveness the more they are used. If employees are constantly receiving carrots, they can lose their hunger and the reward just becomes an expectation even when performance is poor.

Yet all leaders know that constant use of the stick doesn’t work either. “The beatings will continue until morale improves” has become a famous facetious cliche, and is showcased on bumper stickers all around the world.

The only time the stick is effective is when it comes as a bit of a shock – a wake-up call. In the right environment, whenever a performance issue occurs a quiet reprimand or more subtle communication that poor performance or attitude has been noted is all that is needed. People know when they are not giving their best and a good employee will buck up, driven from their own conscience.

But the carrot and stick approach walks a constant knife edge and its very difficult to tread the fine line. So maybe we ought to think about the problem more deeply?

Employees want to make money and/or make a difference. Everyone wants to maximise their earning potential. And some would say they have a higher purpose – to improve the quality of their own lives, their families lives, someone they care about or society generally. How can we use these needs to better engage employees?

Now I’m an open minded kinda guy. So I attended a couple of Tony Robbins’ gigs a few years ago. It doesn’t make me a weirdo! Mr Robbins has his critics – primarily because he has created a massive, possibly manipulative, money making machine out of his work but there is no doubt that he helps people. 

The stuff that really stayed with me were his observations and definitions of six basic human needs. Robbins explains them as follows:

1. Certainty/Comfort. We all want comfort. And much of this comfort comes from certainty. Of course there is no ABSOLUTE certainty, but we want certainty the car will start, the water will flow from the tap when we turn it on and the currency we use will hold its value.

2. Variety. At the same time we want certainty, we also crave variety. Paradoxically, there needs to be enough UNcertainty to provide spice and adventure in our lives.

3. Significance. Deep down, we all want to be important. We want our life to have meaning and significance. I can imagine no worse a death than to think my life didn't matter.

4. Connection/Love. It would be hard to argue against the need for love. We want to feel part of a community. We want to be cared for and cared about.

5. Growth. There could be some people who say they don't want to grow, but I think they're simply fearful of doing so – or perhaps NOT doing so. To become better, to improve our skills, to stretch and excel may be more evident in some than others, but it's there.

6. Contribution. The desire to contribute something of value – to help others, to make the world a better place than we found it is in all of us.

Maybe employers should recognise these needs as a truism and strive to provide work activities and environments that score highly in each area:

Certainty/uncertainty: Of course, employees want to be certain they are going to get paid on time and their job is secure but how much surprise or variety is present in their work activities?

Significance/connection: Understand that employees want to be recognised for their individual contribution but also need to perform and be valued as part of a team.

Growth: Agree clear objectives and affirm that they are constantly improving and developing market relevant skills and experience.

Contribution: Find ways for employees to recognise that their efforts are worthwhile. We all want to make the most of our time. Knowing that our work time is being well spent provides a strong sense of fulfillment.

In my view, the more employers can find ways to help employees meet these needs, the more employees will believe that they are making a positive choice in their employment and the more likely employers are to retain an engaged, highly committed and loyal workforce.

Posted by Tim on 26 May 08, at 9:42 pm

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