Money? Title? Status? The most likely answer you will hear to the above question on what motivates employees is money.  If we just had a bigger salary or bonus then we would be happier. Money is a critical factor to where an employee chooses to call home but it might be a surprise to many company leaders that it may not be THE true motivation.  By solely focusing on employee compensation, companies may be missing the mark. There are some new studies that show that employees may not be as predictable as once thought. For example, in the study shown below it depends on the type of work that the employee is doing as to whether the more you pay them will result in better results. Companies today need to become more creative as to the benefits that they are giving their employees. A competitive compensation and benefits plan are important motivators but it can’t end there.

Take a moment to watch the following short animated lecture that discusses what really motivates employees. This lecture is based on a study done at MIT and in rural India and is presented in a very creative way. The results may surprise you!


 
This video highlighted the top three motivating traits outside of money that came as a result of their study:

Autonomy- the desire to be self-directed
Mastery- the urge to get better at something
Purpose- the thing that gets you up in the morning

By understanding how our employees are really motivated we can not only reduce turnover but more importantly, help strengthen creativity and job satisfaction.
1 Comment
 
 
As a former recruiter and HR representative I can tell you that finding, getting and keeping the right employees is the backbone to a successful company.  There is a direct connection between top-line growth and having the right employees that understand and are aligned with the company’s brand. Simply understanding this doesn’t make the process of finding and securing the right talent any easier. There are many schools of thought on the subject of attracting talent and hiring, but in the end the majority of companies are fishing for talent out of the same pond.

The internet has change the nature of the hiring process and all but eliminated the tradition of placing an advertisement in the newspaper.  Now out of work employees use companies such as Monster.com or Careerbuilding.com to post their resumes as well as applying directly on that company’s web site. This has automated and streamlined the search process for employers but has not necessarily made the decision of who is most qualified for that specific position any easier.  However, what hasn’t change for job seekers is the presence of Job Fairs.  This is still a very traditional avenue for employers to search for candidates who are looking to possible start a new career in a different field or to simply search for a company who is hiring.  Although companies who attend have the possibility of meeting a large number of job seeking candidates, is this the best pond to be fishing from?  The next logical question then is who attends these job fairs?  Simply put it is those who don’t have jobs.  However if companies are truly looking to hire the best candidates, those candidates are already employed. The bigger question then is how do you get those candidates away from their current job and into your company?

The constant struggle for HR departments is how to find the best talent for the company.  This could be made easier if companies hired the best talent available regarding of prior training.  The choice is whether you want to train them to fit your company needs or if you want to  re-train them from how they were previously trained, by someone else.  If the best talent is already employed chances are then the normal channels that companies use to advertise open positions will not be effective.   Here are a few ideas that may be more effective:

1.       Referral Program- why not provide an incentive to your current employees for candidates that get hired.

2.       Start a contest for within your company for the most creative advertising ideas.

3.       Utilizing Social Networking sites such as Facebook, Linkedin , etc. Take advantage of how quickly information can be shared within people’s networks.

Once the best candidates are found and selected the work doesn’t stop there.  Successful companies have great new hire orientation and training programs.  It is simply not good enough to throw your new hires into a conference room and have them fill out paperwork and watch videos about your company, culture and brand.  If you do not provide a great training program you are risking losing the very employees that you worked so hard to get. Thus, the first day activities are crucial to the longevity of the employee and the company. Instead of watching videos about what the company is about, why not show them what the customer experience is by involving them in what your customers actually experience. 

The process of hiring and training new employees is not a static process. It needs to continually be refined so that companies are always raising the bar in regards to talent and management. HR guru John Sullivan states it this way: “So as you raise the quality of your talent, you’ve also got to raise the quality of your management.”
Add Comment