Six essentials for loyal and happy staff

• Laurence Harrould
• 2 April 2009
• Page 1 of 2 : single page

A friend of mine who is executive assistant to the CEO of a large multinational company arranged an interstate trip for her boss to speak at a conference. When the conference organisers asked if they should arrange his accommodation and transport she explained it was already done. After the conference, they sent her a letter saying how wonderful it was to work with her, how she had been highly efficient and professional, and always helpful and cheerful. She took the letter and showed it to her boss with her note ‘Gee, I’m good’ written across it. His response was, “I know.” Her comment was, “Why doesn’t he ever tell me?”

This scenario is repeated every day in many organisations. Most employers and managers believe the only way to acknowledge staff is through their salaries. As this story shows, it costs nothing to make an employee feel worthwhile and appreciated.

The cost of replacing staff is a huge burden on any organisation both financially and in loss of company knowledge. So why do people change employer?

Exit interviews and surveys indicate that pay is rarely the prime reason for leaving. Often, the employer’s standard tactic of increasing an employee’s pay after they threaten to leave only staves off the inevitable for a few months.

In the latest Leadership, Employment and Direction survey by training and development firm Leadership Management Australasia, 59% of employees said salary was the most important factor in staying with their current employer. Firstly, this indicates 41% didn’t see salary as the primary influence. In addition, even if salary was ‘the most important’, it wasn’t necessarily the only influence. Clearly, salary is important, but there are a number of other elements an employer should consider. The best part is, they don’t have to cost you a cent.

A good starting place is Anthony Robbins’s six human needs: certainty, variety, connection, contribution, significance and growth.

1.Certainty

Do you find it reassuring to know the sun will rise each morning? You may not see it, but knowing it’s there makes a difference.

How much stress would it create for you if you had to decide each day where your office would be? While this may be an absurd example, it illustrates our need for certainty.

The same applies to your staff. Are they sure there will be a job for them when they turn up to work? Do they know what it is? This latter point is critical. Many small businesses use a hub-and-spoke model with the owner at the centre. This leads to a situation where the owner must make or approve all decisions. He or she suffers from a case of ‘only-I-can-do-it-itis’.

But this means when staff come to work, they don’t know what their jobs are until they walk in the door. Imagine if you spent your life not knowing what was behind every door and whether it would be scary or pleasant. How stressful would you find it? How can business owners expect loyalty from their staff when this is the environment they work in?

In a business, this is best avoided by having clear roles and responsibilities. Also, staff must have the authority to make the decisions that enable them to meet their responsibilities. This is one reason McDonalds is so successful; they have very strict systems and everyone knows what they have to do, when and how. They may not get paid much or have a fun job, but they have certainty.

2. Variety

On the other hand, if everything was the same every day, boredom would kick in very quickly. Working with different clients and having a range of tasks are ways to provide variety in the workplace. Variety can even be introduced on an assembly line.

Toyota has a quality-control person working at the end of each production line. When this person gives the OK to a car coming off the line, everyone on the factory floor does a Toyota star jump. This happens every eight minutes and contributes to a high level of enthusiasm among employees. I worked in a telesales organisation where a bell was sounded whenever an operator made an appointment. Some recruitment agencies do something similar when a placement is made.

3. Connection

Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Xing... the list of websites aiming to connect people is continually growing. In today’s society we have become more and more isolated but at the same time we are creating new ways of connecting.

How does this work at work? Primarily, by establishing a team mindset.

A good example is a workshop we ran for an IT company. The staff had little understanding of how their roles related to other parts of the business. The technicians, in particular, had the view, ‘I turn up onsite, do my job and go on to the next one’.

The workshop highlighted how the various elements of the business needed to work in harmony. Once the technicians understood they were the main interface between the business and its clients, their attitude shifted significantly. They started to take responsibility and interacted more with the admin and store people, so felt more empowered about the outcome of jobs. They also understood that the company’s profit-sharing program depended on them.

So, establishing a strong team culture changed the way everyone worked together.

Finally on connection, a participant in a recent workshop asked me, “How do you stop staff members spending time on Facebook instead of doing their work?” Try utilising their networks. If you have a special offer, get staff to promote it to their Facebook friends. Consider offering a finder’s fee. Acquiring new customers is one of the biggest costs in a business. By tapping into your staff’s need for connection you’ll be able to make noticeable savings in this area.

4. Contribution

Contribution is a sense of working with others to fulfil an objective. It’s about being a valuable member of a team.

I’ve had employers say to me, “If only my staff would do what I tell them, everything would be fine.” This robs the staff of any sense of control or purpose. People need to know how their efforts fit into the overall effectiveness of the business. They also need to know they can make suggestions or give feedback in order to contribute to the business’s growth and success either in a formal or informal way. Acknowledge these ideas, even if you don’t end up implementing them.

5. Significance

This is about meaning and importance. A question that often comes up when people are dissatisfied is, “Why am I doing this?”