|
It appears incredibly simple, eh? "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." The Golden Rule seems so undisputed that it should be a panacea for all human relations. Just act toward everyone the way you would like to be handled and everything will flow wonderfully, correct?
But wait... Something's off...
Would your company's twenty-five year old big shot account rep want the exact same benefits from their job that your forty-something billing clerk wants? Is your technical staff hoping for similar opportunities and reimbursement as your receptionist?
Obviously, their needs and wants are quite unique, though too many managers institute a one-size fits all approach when appreciating their highly valued employees. When a big job is completed, all staff gets an identical thing, whether you buy them a meal or a gas card. Giving the same thing to the whole team is what's fair, right? But do you think it's truly fair for your company's top people?
Keep Your Top Players
Surprisingly few entrepreneurs realize that the 80/20 rule lesson about their workers teaches that 2 out of 10 of their workers are producing 80% of your entire team's bottom-line. Further, nearly every management book recounts studies which compare the productivity of the top team members to the not so competent (yet still effective) team members. The spread between the extremes have been found to be as much as 100 to 1. The nearest these numbers ever seem to approach is at best 4:1. So now how much more does this extreme variance in value end up costing?
Assuming that your yearly salary for the company's least competent employee is $30k, what are you paying your top staff? Since a decent amount of the costs for staff stay the same, they don't go up in relation to base pay. For the intent of this examination, let's use some worst-case figures, $60k. Assuming that your $30k employee delivers $30k of value (otherwise they'd be gone, right?). If your top employee is a measly four times as productive as the worst, they deliver far more value for how much more they cost.
If your company invests in more training for your bottom-rung players, costs instantly go up, but without any assurance that productivity will likewise go up. Also consider what part of your pay is factored into the "cost" of this moderately competent employee? Probably none. Management costs are usually invisible, factored away as overhead. It certainly feels like you're being productive - trying your hardest to bring along the strugglers, hoping that they eventually rise above their shortcomings. Consider how much of your time is spent with either of these employees:
- The self-managing dynamo who, with speed of a bullet train, handles customer complaints, delivers defect-free results, and even cleans up after himself in the break room
- The newbie who has a few interpersonal problems, occasional product defects, problems following instructions, and shows up late to work because of an occasional hangover
Obviously your top performers are worth weight in good. As such, it's crucial for every entrepreneur to retain their winners, as this handful of hotshots represents most of your team's value. Their familiarity with your unique ways of doing things combined with their talents and ability to get the job done in a pinch makes them just about priceless.
Now, what's the best way to invest in your top people? How do you indicate to those top performers that they're wanted, and boost the chance that they'll stay with you?
What's the best method for motivating your superstars?
Show them the money. If your $30k staffer cranks out 70-hour weeks during the final push of a key effort, most exclusively cash rewards would come in at a rate less than minimum wage. Just rethink this alternative. This can be quite insulting, seen, instead, as a half-hearted attempt to buy them off and ease a boss' guilty conscience. If you do decide to follow this path, after the taxman gets his chunk, the net impact of this cash might be far less than it costs to pay it out.
Send them to extra training. Some folks might be happy to be rewarded with an opportunity to attend a course in a new city with the company picking up the check. They may even ask to spend the week before or after, on their own, just to take advantage of this opportunity to see a new place. Be careful though, this could come off to your top performer that you found their results lacking. They might assume that they have to have additional training to be deserving of the real reward that they'll eventually get. If your achiever is thin-skinned, they might be upset that all of that effort they exerted was an indicator to you that they were not so doing well at their job. Suggesting an instructive award in this situation could be interpreted that this struggle was apparent, and now you are taking remedial steps.
Promote them. Though the allure of a striking title or material gains associated with a promotion may encourage some, more and more workers have come to understand the hazards of the Peter Principle. They fear that their work lives will shift a great deal should they are promoted to team lead. Your powerful personnel probably delight in what they're doing right now. That's why they're so incredibly skilled at it. Before thinking about a promotional reward, ensure that the new position honest takes advantage of the talents and abilities of these talented folks, or you may end up losing them. If you think it's best to take this chance, make sure your key staffer realizes that they can switch back if things don't work out in the newly promoted role.
Give more holiday time. Everybody wants time off, right? However, if you offer this reward to a very committed person who is so wholly dedicated to their career that they don't have many friends of the workplace, they may not know how to handle this leisure time.
Do unto others as they would have done unto them.
You can see that there are many mechanisms to reward your most valuable. It's dangerously simplistic to offer each of your team members the same reward. It's especially dangerous to offer them what you would want.
These examinations reinforce an all-important concept: communication. In a nutshell, ask your hotshots what they really want. What could you give them that will let them to truly understand that they are loved? The path that causes someone to turn into a talented salesperson is quite different than the path of a great administrative assistant. You may be stunned by the answers you get back. In fact, your employees may be amazed, as well, to find out that you are truly giving them a voice to decide upon the reward for their efforts.
- Do they want cash?
- Do they want more demanding assignments?
- Do they want a little time away from work to appreciate their children?
- Would they rather have more mentoring?
- Do they simply want to be acknowledged at a company gathering?
- What have they received previously that really made them feel appreciated?
The answers can vary considerably for each person, depending upon their long-term objectives, how their desires at this time are being met in Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, and the current difficulties in their life. Don't make the mistake of presupposing that the answer you get today will remain the same throughout your key performer's career.
At the end of the day, instead of attempting to reward your people the way you would prefer to be rewarded, break The Golden Rule, and spend your time actually learning their needs and wants. By involving them in choices that affect their lives so immediately, you might coincidentally benefit from the Hawthorn Effect, and encourage your staff by demonstrating you care. You will probably notice that you've produced a workplace that makes your high achievers than they've ever been. As a result, they will discover ways to push themselves to new levels of productivity, understanding that their efforts will bring about rewards that are truly meaningful to them. You may even earn their admiration and loyalty for a lifetime.
Daiv Russell is a small business management consultant with Envision Engineering. You can get more insights from his Small Business Management Blog. He is also the chief editor of Consulting Mentor
|
|
SIGN
UP FOR FREE
