Inward Strategic Consulting's Rick DeMarco talks about what employees really want!

Money: It’s Not All Employees Want 

8/6/2012  By Rebecca R. Hastings, SPHR  When employers act as though the 1959 song “Money (That’s What I Want)” represents employees’ top priorities in the workplace, they miss some of the most important drivers of satisfaction and engagement. “It is well known that money is a short-term motivator,” Jayne Mattson, senior vice president, Keystone Associates, told SHRM Online. Ultimately, employees look for an organization and position where their values are met, core skills are utilized and work tasks align with interests, she said. Pay does help attract and even retain employees, according to Towers Watson, a global professional services company, but “sustainable engagement” requires much more than money. According to Towers Watson, sustainable engagement is a combination of: Traditional engagement—employees’ willingness to expend discretionary effort. Enablement—the tools, resources and support employees need to do their jobs effectively. Energy—a work environment that supports employee well-being. The Towers Watson 2012 Global Workforce Study, released July 11, 2012, and reflecting the views of more than 32,000 employees around the world, found that although pay was the No. 1 way to attract and retain employees, the top five factors affecting sustainable engagement are: Leadership. Stress, balance and workload. Goals and objectives. Supervision. Image. “In every study that has ever been conducted, money is always fourth or fifth on the list of factors that drive employee loyalty and satisfaction,” Rick DeMarco, managing director of the West Coast Office of Inward Strategic Consulting told SHRM Online. “That’s not to say that a fair wage for the job is not important ... Employees expect to be fairly compensated … but that’s an expectation and not a driver of their long-term loyalty and commitment.” Making Engagement Sustainable “Sustainable engagement is an important evolution in the science of workforce behavior,” said Laura Sejen, global practice leader, rewards for Towers Watson, in a statement. “It recognizes that employees need support from their employer to continue to give discretionary effort on the job.” Unfortunately, employees are not getting the level of support they need, she noted. “Enablement and energy are critical factors in this equation,” added Julie Gebauer, managing director, talent and rewards, Towers Watson, in the same statement. “Engagement will only hold over time with these elements in place.” Towers Watson found that just 37 percent of U.S. workers are sustainably engaged—meaning they scored high on engagement, enablement and energy. About a quarter (27 percent) are classified as “unsupported,” meaning they display characteristics of traditional engagement, but lack the enablement and/or energy required to sustain it. Thirteen percent are described as “detached,” meaning they feel enabled and/or energized but are not willing to expend discretionary effort for their employer. And almost one-quarter (23 percent) are completely disengaged, with less favorable scores in all three areas. Understanding Engagement Gaps Towers Watson found that the most significant factors for the 27 percent of the workforce defined as “unsupported” are supervisor support, stress levels and their workloads. More specifically: 43 percent agreed their supervisors had adequately removed obstacles that could impact performance. 26 percent agreed that management involved employees in decisions affecting them. 48 percent felt the amount of work they had to do was reasonable. 40 percent felt they had enough employees in their work group to get the job done correctly. By comparison, those deemed “highly engaged” by Towers Watson responded favorably to those questions by a margin of a least 30 percentage points higher than unsupported workers. As for the 13 percent deemed “detached,” company leadership is the focal point: Just 25 percent said they had trust and confidence in the performance of their company’s senior team—a 52 percentage point disparity from the 77 percent of highly engaged workers who agreed with the statement. Similarly, just 26 percent felt that senior leadership had a sincere interest in employees’ well-being—45 percentage points lower than highly engaged respondents. “Everyone in an organization has a role to play in helping close gaps in employees’ feelings of enablement and energy—from executives, to supervisors, to human resources, to employees themselves,” Gebauer added in the statement. The survey targeted employees working in large and midsize organizations across a range of industries in 29 markets around the world. It was fielded online during February and March 2012. The U.S. sample included 3,600 employees. Money Matters Less Than Other Factors Other studies and experts agree that money matters, but not as much as other aspects of the job and work environment. In March 2012, PsychTests.com, an online personality, career and IQ assessment company, released research on the top motivators for employees. The data collected between August 2011 and February 2012 revealed that out of a list of 23 work motivators, “financial reward” was ranked 12th. For men, financial reward was eighth on the list; for women, 15th. Seventy percent of the 1,194 employees surveyed were from North America. Sixty-four percent of respondents were under the age of 30. The top five motivators reported were: Customer orientation—the desire to make customers happy. Achievement—the desire to work in a goal-oriented and challenging work environment. Inspiration—the desire to inspire others through one's work. Identity and Purpose—the desire to work in a company/field that is in line with one's values and ethics. Fun & Enjoyment—the desire to work in a position/corporate culture that is inherently entertaining. “When managers think of motivation and incentives, many of them automatically assume it has to be a bonus or some other financial reward,” said Ilona Jerabek, Ph.D., president of PsychTests, in a statement. “This is clearly not what employees need … at least, not money alone,” she added. That’s true even among those working in professions focused on financial rewards according to the nearly 2,800 financial advisors surveyed by J.D. Power and Associates for the 2012 U.S. Financial Advisor Satisfaction Study released in March 2012. Organizations that provide the right mix of technology and support to financial advisors, thus optimizing the time they spend with clients, generate more employee satisfaction than those focused on financial gain for employees. Companies that struggle to deliver the support employees need to be effective pay the highest retention and signing bonuses to compensate for a poorer work experience, according to David Lo, director of investment services at J.D. Power and Associates. What Employees Want DeMarco said employees want to: Be part of something bigger than themselves. Know what’s going on in the company and feel included in the company’s plans. Be recognized and rewarded for outstanding effort. “All of these drivers require a concerted effort by a company to educate, inform and inspire employees around a common vision and culture, to provide them the tools and resources to deliver effectively on the brand promise and business strategy and to reward and recognize them,” he added. “When employees’ values are met, using the skills they excel in the most and doing work they find interesting, they are career-satisfied and fully engaged,” Mattson said. “Money is an added bonus … However, it is not the driving factor for engagement.” Rebecca R. Hastings, SPHR, is an online editor/manager for SHRM.

When Gaming Is Good For You

            72% of today’s US households play video or computer games, and this number is rising. Gaming is a topic that often takes a lot of heat, being defended and debated by gamers and adversaries respectively. The Wall Street Journal shed some light in this morning’s newspaper on the side of gamer proponents, highlighting multiple benefits of gaming.  Gaming can change the adult brain, resulting in better multitasking, decision-making, motor skills and even creativity. “The specific benefits are wide ranging, from improved hand-eye coordination in surgeons to vision changes that boost night driving ability.” Often studies surrounding gaming focus on its’ effect on violent behavior and other negative associations, but it is in fact these violent games that recently showed the strongest beneficial effect on the brain. They found that “the most adept gamers can make choices and act on them up to six times a second – four times faster than most people.” In a world with so much excess information, the ability to ignore irrelevant information and juggle simultaneous tasks is critical, and a skill that several studies show that gamers are better at than non-gamers.   

Of course with these benefits there are also proven downfalls. After just a week of electronic gameplay, depressing brain function activity can result among regions associated with emotional control. But good or bad, the gaming industry deserves attention, with computer gaming alone being a $25 billion a year entertainment business. Studies will continue to expose the benefits and downsides of gaming, especially as scientists turn the commercial games themselves into laboratories of learning.

For more interesting insights on the topic, you can read the whole article online at the Wall Street Journal.  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203458604577263273943183932.html?KEYWORDS=When+gaming+is+good+for+you

CEO of Walmart - Leadership Wisdom

CEO of Walmart - Leadership Wisdom

I had the privilege to listen to a talk given by Bill Simon, CEO of Walmart North America, last Thursday in Northwest Arkansas, at The Summit Luncheon. He spoke to a group of 650 executives and local business leaders at the Cross Church pavilion in Rogers, Arkansas. Mr. Simon was very gracious and humbled by the opportunity to be heard outside his world at Walmart. He said that it was a rare occasion that he cherished. All of his words were simple and authentic and it was very obvious that he meant everything he said. I found his speech to be very profound and it compelled me to write this piece.

Bill Simon has served in many leadership roles throughout his career. First of all, he is a 25 year veteran of the U.S. Navy and Naval Reserves; he worked in various executive roles before being appointed by Governor Jeb Bush to serve on his administration in 2003. Simon then moved on to be a senior executive at Brinker International where he was responsible for the growth of the restaurant division outside of the United States and in March of 2006, he made the decision to join Walmart.  He offered some poignant ideas of leadership that I found quite stimulating and motivating, and I would like to share with our Inward audience.

The first theme was that we all have the opportunity to make a difference. Sam Walton took chances; he swam upstream and impacted the lives of millions of Americans every day by embracing the concept of three core values. Instead of being one of a pack of many retailers, Sam re-invented retailing by offering an opportunity for his customers to save money and live better lives. 

With the right mindset, attitude and willingness to takes risks, anything is possible. Sam Walton built his business around this vision. By being different, exceptional and standing out, he was able to make retail history in a small corner of Northwest Arkansas. Making history can occur anywhere in our country, like in Silicon Valley with Steve Jobs or in Boston at MIT labs.  Innovation is a frame of

mind.  We have to be bold and eager to make a difference.

The next theme was the idea of not accepting mediocrity. He said that people accept “average” all too often. “Average” must be unacceptable. “Average has become below average”, he said.  Would you accept an average surgeon to do an appendicitis operation? “It is a simple surgery therefore an average surgeon will do”. Should that be acceptable?  If someone told you that all they wanted was to be average, would that be okay? What about an average student, firefighter, teacher or nurse?  Why should we accept this idea as a nation? Should we be an average nation or be the best?

He introduced the idea at this point about being exceptional, being the best that you can be. This is an idea he learned in the Navy and from his immigrant parents. He now hopes to instill this idea of being exceptional, changing the rules, being a catalyst of positive change to distinguish Walmart apart from all retailers and make retail history once again.

He shared how he arrived at Walmart in 2006 and was given the opportunity to change the world immediately. Within 6 months, his team introduced $4 generic prescriptions which saved millions of dollars for American consumers. This initiative, alone, changed the world because it was the first program in over 15 years that was able to lower the cost of healthcare for millions of Americans. Wow!

The third idea was the concept living in the moment because there is no guarantee for tomorrow. He cited the Old Testament and the story of Esther, which happens to correspondent to the Jewish festival of Purim which is coincidentally celebrated around the world this Thursday. In that story, Esther chose a specific time to step up, save her nation against an evil man named Haman, who was set to obliterate her nation in exile. She chose the moment to do something about it. She didn’t procrastinate. She acted. She stepped up to the plate. She saved her people by exposing Haman’s evil plot to her husband, the Assyrian King, Achashverosh.  As a result, he put a stop to Haman’s plan.

As human beings, as leaders, we need to act, do the right thing and not worry about perceptions and what others may think. Do what has to be done. My twist on this is to build consensus, momentum and create a movement to make change happen. Create a society based on abundant mentality that binds us together on common ground and harmony.

Mr. Simon reminded us that we were born for such a time as this and encouraged us to live in the moment stating this is one way that he stays grounded and strives for excellence. We are placed here on earth to make an impact. Then he challenged us to do something to make a difference by asking us where would we be had good people not contributed?

Citing a quote attributed to Sir Edmund Burke, Simon said, “All that is necessary for evil to triumph is that good men to do nothing.” He asked those in attendance to imagine throughout history of all the instances where good people did something and be inspired to defend themselves by doing the right thing.

All in all, I was impressed with Bill Simon’s simple ideas of leadership and making a difference in this world. It can come from anywhere if the presence of mind is to be innovative and buck the trend, be resolute in your ideas and committed to make a difference in the lives of our people and our society. That is what we should value.