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Click here for the free report "61 Questions To Transform Your Workforce" |
David
Lee
Consultant
Speaker
Author
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AR
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If
You Want to Become a Talent Magnet, Focus On
The Fundamentals |
| By
David Lee |
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| Reprinted
from Interface Technology News |
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In the frenzy to find high tech talent,
it’s tempting to search for the Talent
Magnet Silver Bullet – the ultimate
perk or program that will make you the
employer of choice.
This attempt to find the Holy Grail of
recruiting and retaining talent includes
the misguided notion that being a Talent
Magnet also involves recreating the kind
of workplace that gets media coverage -
the workplace where dot-com stock option
millionaires engage in SuperSoaker water
fights or dance on their desks to relieve
stress.
The answer to becoming a Talent Magnet
isn’t in gimmicks, the perfect enticement,
or a contrived "we’re a fun
workplace" image. The answer to becoming
a Talent Magnet is in the fundamentals.
The answer is in creating an organization
that satisfies fundamental human needs
and the emerging needs of today’s
workers. When organizations do this, they
create a workplace that is intrinsically
motivating and fun, a workplace that makes
them a magnet for the most talented employees.
To become such an organization – a
Talent Magnet - here are some ways you
can satisfy these fundamental needs of
today’s worker:
Engage Your Employees’ Hearts and
Souls - People don’t just want to
bring their brains to work, they want to
bring their hearts. They want to feel passionate
about what they are doing and be part of
something great. Leaders of Talent Magnets
speak to this human need by regularly communicating
to all employees where the company is going,
the importance of what they are doing,
and the significance of each employee’s
contribution. They share stories of victories
and warn about imminent battles with competitors.
The more you let your employees know they
are part of something great, and how they
make it possible to be great, the more
passionate they will be about your company.
The more passionate they are, the more
they will tell others about how great your
company is - making every employee a recruiter.
Keep People in
the Know – It’s
hard to be excited about something you
know nothing about. When employees understand
the big picture, and are kept in the loop
about new developments, they feel part
of the organization, and therefore, more
involved, more excited, and more loyal.
At ManagedOps.com, CEO Dan Taylor keeps
their 180 employees in the loop by holding
a President’s Breakfast each week.
At these breakfasts, he meets with 10 different
employees to discuss new developments and
listens to their ideas and concerns.
Respect Employee’s Right to Have
a Life – Research shows flexibility
and work/life balance are top priorities
of today’s workers, especially GenXers.
At HCI Systems of Kennebunk, Maine, employees
trying to juggle parenting and work responsibilities
are strongly supported in their efforts
to balance the two.
With several employees at HCI Systems being
single mothers of young children, this
kind of flexibility and respect has a huge
impact on morale and dedication. "Because
of the flexibility and respect employees
are shown, we’ll have people willingly
come in on a weekend if need be. It pays
to be flexible," notes Kathie Davies,
HCI Systems’ HR Manager.
Provide Opportunities
to Grow – A
study by the American Electronics Association,
the nation’s largest high-tech trade
group, revealed that the number one factor
influencing employee retention was having
challenging work assignments. If going
to work means grinding out the same task
over and over, employees will soon go elsewhere.
Thus, keeping employees energized and excited
about coming to work requires making sure
they are constantly being challenged. As
the head of HR for Sun Microsystems, Ken
Alvares says "our goal is to keep
people so busy having fun every day that
they don’t even listen when the headhunters
call." Apparently this strategy is
working, as Sun’s turnover rate is
less than half of the industry’s
average.
Show Appreciation – Many companies
drop the ball on this one. Decades of employee
research shows that appreciation is one
of the greatest motivators. Yet, when companies
remember to show appreciation, it is usually
with a gimmicky Employee of the Month or
Employee Recognition Day programs.
Far more effective are simple, informal
expressions of appreciation such as saying "Thank
you" to employees as they are leaving
for the day, as does HCI Systems’ president
Jim Kavanagh.
Because managers and front line people
tend to treat each other the way they are
treated, employees at HCI Systems show
the same kind of gratitude and appreciation
to each other. "For instance, I’ll
have people in product development come
up and thank me for something I’ve
done," notes HR Manager Kathie Davies. "That
almost never happens to the HR person in
most companies."
The kind of goodwill created by such gestures
translates into tremendous synergy and
the kind of workplace people are excited
about going to.
Showing sincere appreciation is a no-cost,
high return practice. Not showing appreciation
is a high-risk behavior for companies hoping
to keep talented people. When the staff
of a Maine high tech company recently received
bonus checks, several said "I would
rather have gotten a handshake and a ‘thank
you’ from the president than the
cash." Not surprisingly, morale at
this company is low and turnover high.
Don’t Hamstring Your Employees – Putting
obstacles in the way of employees doing
their work well is a great way to send
them to the competition. Whether its inadequate
technology, bureaucratic hurdles to leap,
or a "Sorry, there’s nothing
we can do about it" attitude, making
life difficult for employees is a costly
endeavor. Not only does it make them less
efficient, it conveys disrespect.
Give People the
Chance to Do Something Great – The best, most talented employees
want the opportunity to do something great.
Says BroadcastAMERICA.com’s CEO Alex
Lauchlin, "You don’t want to
give them a job, you want to give them
a challenge."
"
We don’t say ‘Go out and get
20 new stations next week.’ We say ‘We
want you to build BroadcastSports.com or
BroadcastTalk.com’ (two of BroadcastAMERICA.com
brands)," explains Lauchlin. Such
a philosophy has helped BroadcastAMERICA.com
become the largest online broadcasting
network.
Show Employees
That You Care – Although
talented people want their talent and expertise
to be recognized and valued, they also
want to know you care about them as a person
- not just a producer of high quality work.
Leaders like ManagedOps.com Dan Taylor
or BroadcastAMERICA.com’s co-founders
John Brier and Alex Lauchlin address this
need by taking the time to get to know
employees not just as programmer or designer,
but as people who have families, hopes,
and dreams.
Says Laurie Murphy, HR Manager at ManagedOps.com "One
of the most frequent comments on our employee
satisfaction surveys is how much it means
to employees that Dan knows who they are,
who their spouses are, and the names of
their children."
To Become a Talent
Magnet, Remember The Fundamentals – Being a Talent Magnet
doesn’t require being clever or cute.
It requires a sincere appreciation of,
and interest in, the people who work for
you. It requires a willingness to meet
their fundamental human needs, and their
needs as workers in a complex world of
competing responsibilities. By doing this,
you will create the kind of workplace that
talented people love – and love to
tell their talented friends about. |
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About the Author: David Lee is an internationally recognized authority on organizational and managerial practices that optimize employee performance. He is the author of Managing Employee Stress and Safety, as well as dozens of articles on employee and organizational performance that have been published in trade journals and books in North America, Asia, Europe, and Australia. For information on his programs and service, click here.
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