Loyalty, Motivation And Work-Life Balance
Managers who aren't loyal to their people can't expect loyalty in return. Companies that complain about employee loyalty have usually done nothing to earn loyalty, often routinely lying to employees, demanding sacrifices that are never rewarded, shunting them aside and casting them off in the name of good business. I know of one organization that routinely takes top performing managers and sticks them in problem markets. Fair enough. What isn't fair is that these managers are paid on an inflexible bonus and override system. Which means that their reward for doing a superior job and for helping the company out is a massive cut in pay. And frequently a poor evaluation if they fail to turn the market around quickly enough. And upper management can not understand the lack of loyalty throughout the company. Or why they have the highest turnover rate of in their industry. Teams and Teamwork During the Civil War, a reporter asked General Grant how long it would take him to reach Richmond. "I will agree to be there in about four days," Grant answered. "That is, if General Lee becomes a party to the agreement. But if he objects, the trip will undoubtedly be prolonged." When supposed teammates aren't really teammates, the journey toward the goal will undoubtedly be prolonged. Sidney Harman was chairman of Harman International, maker of high-end sound systems like JBL and Infinity. "We attract people who over time become persuaded that this company is their company and they are going to give it their all," he said. "When people determine to give it their all, the levels of productivity you see will blow your mind." To motivate employees to see the company as their company, Harman International does everything possible to avoid layoffs. When demand is down, the company keeps production workers busy in security or maintenance or landscaping rather than downsizing them. They're paid their normal wages. Employees benefit and Harman International retains its highly trained, loyal, motivated workforce. To keep the channels of communication open between management and labor, every single executive spends time every month on the production line. Top management also discourages the use of temps. And there's no such thing as a permanent temp. If they stay past a certain point, they become regular workers with full benefits. Nowadays this may seem like radical, outside the box thinking. Or maybe it's inside a box so out of fashion that few other companies ever both to look inside. Either way it's turned Harman International into an industry leader, a company with $1.4 billion in annual sales. Ed Boyd, Senior VP of Manufacturing, says, "I've worked for four corporations on three continents and this is by far the most motivated group of individuals I've ever been associated with." That's a team. Speaking of Motivation: Work-Life Balance One recent study found that "management recognition of the importance of personal and family life" was the most important factor in creating employee loyalty. It also found that employees who were allowed to spend a moderate amount of time on personal matters during work time-even if it was merely making a few personal phone calls-were more committed to their employers than those who weren't. Yet in a recent survey of CEOs by the Conference Board, only one percent cited "helping employees achieve work-life balance" as their top concern. Well, it might not be number one, but it better be up there. In still another study-this one done by the Families and Work Institute and funded by corporations like AT&T, Xerox, Allstate, American Express and IBM-thirty-eight percent of workers said employees who put personal or family needs ahead of their jobs were not looked upon favorably by their employer. Tip: Any manager who expects his people to put the company's needs ahead of their own needs and the needs of their loved ones is not bright enough to be a manager. How many managers put company needs ahead of their own? Tip: Too many. According to the Associated Press, the Families and Work Institute study "paints a portrait of a hard worker who feels burned out from balancing work and family life yet cares intensely about performing well on the job." In the words of AT&T spokesman, Burke Stinson, "the study validates what we'd believed for a long while." When employees get more freedom to take care of their family priorities, productivity does not suffer, just the opposite. "Employees who feel as if they're being treated fairly will treat their employers at least as fairly in return." And factors like employment security, flexible scheduling and supportive work relationships reduce burnout, increase loyalty and generate greater effort. Of course whenever studies like these are done, the question some always ask is, Why do employers have to fund studies to discover what their employers are thinking? Barry Maher speaks, writes and consults on management, motivation, communication and sales. Contact him and/or sign up for his free email newsletter at http://www.barrymaher.com. Check out his highly-acclaimed books, including Filling the Glass, "[One of] The Seven Essential Popular Businss Books" according to Today's Librarian magazine at http://www.barrymaher.com/books.htm.
Related News
|
 |
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
How To Conduct Effective Meetings
Before you call your next meeting, the FIRST step is to decide if it is really essential. To determine that, ask yourself the following:
Internal Communication: 12 Essential Elements
There are 12 essential elements of a successful internal communications strategy:
Online Business Peace of Mind
Is your online business disaster-proof? Online businesses face a unique set of challenges. Unlike our offline counterparts, we must worry about hackers, credit-card fraud, loss of data, virus attacks, websites going down and more.
I Am Not A Number - Why Too Many Change Projects Fail
Many of you will recognise this quote from the 1960s TV show, "The Prisoner". Patrick McGoohan used the phrase to describe his frustration at not being treated as an individual, and being kept in the dark about what his superiors were up to in a very confusing environment. This experience is not dissimilar to what employees face in most change projects.
The ?Better Product? fallacy
Another fallacy ingrained in the minds of most marketing managers is the belief that the better product will win the marketing battle.
The Power of Positive Communication
Communication is the key to your success at work, at play, and at home. Here are six tips that will make a difference in your life:
The Gift of Gratitude
Gratitude might seem like a soft or even an obvious subject to you. Perhaps you would rather read about a leadership lesson or a marketing approach or even a motivational technique. If that is what you are thinking, I urge you to read on. I don't think you will be disappointed.
Summertime Blues
It's hard to believe the year will be half over in just a few weeks. All the planning you did is either turning out great, coming along slowly but surely or hasn't really gotten off the ground because other issues keep getting in the way.
How To Jump Start Your Profits and Keep Your Profits Rolling
There are so many ways to jump start your prifits and keep your profit rolling. These top 20 ways are essential if you want to run a successful business.
Employee Surveys: a Strategic Tool for Positive Change
Do you want to measure your workers' level of satisfaction? Or change policies and procedures to make them more effective? Or find out if your supervisors are stuck in out-dated ways of managing? Good Idea! But how do you make sure you are getting reliable information to make sound management decisions?
The Inferno of the Finance Director
Sometimes, I harbour a suspicion that Dante was a Financial Director. His famous work, "The Inferno", is such an accurate description of the job that it cannot be otherwise. He is fervently hated by the workers. He is thoroughly despised by the other managers ("mean bastard" is his common nickname among them, mostly for scrutinizing their expense accounts). He is dreaded by the owners of the firm because the powers that he has often outweigh theirs. Shareholders hold him responsible in annual meetings. When the financial results are good ? they are attributed to the talented General Manager. When they are bad ? the Financial Director gets blamed for not enforcing budgetary discipline. It is a no-win, thankless job. Very few make it to the top and the rest retire, eroded and embittered.
Well-Defined Processes ? How to Create
Interested in learning how to reduce development time, save money and stay in control? Business professionals can learn how to create well-defined processes with the easy-to-manage Process Approach of Plan-Do-Check-Act.
Turnaround or Terminate? How to Deal with Problem Employees
Do you struggle with a "problem" employee? If so, join the
crowd! Many of my coaching clients - businesses owners or
managers - tear their hair out over one or more toxic
employees. In our business environment, we tend to recreate
the dynamics of the family we grew up, so no wonder problems
develop.
Know Your Business! - 7 Key Questions You Must Ask
You need to know all that is going on around you to be successful in business, whatever the size of your organization. Yet how do you keep all those plates spinning? Here are just 7 quick and easy questions for your checklist - use them and they will serve you well. Use them and your business will develop and grow.
Organize your Office- Seven Solutions
1. Create a filing system with broad categories such as "Insurance" and then break those categories down further into sub-categories (i.e., car, life, medical), alphabetizing them along the way. Devote one file drawer to each category (if possible) and use a different color for each category.
Demise of the Lone Ranger Manager: A Lesson in Management Communication Style
When executives see themselves as solely responsible for the overall success of their enterprise, subordinates can hardly be blamed for acting according to predictions.
The ?Better People? Fallacy
It's easy enough to convince your own staff that better people will prevail, even against the odds. It's what they want to hear. And surely in a marketing war quality is a factor as well as quantity.
The Comfort Zone
The Comfort Zone
I have a friend named Gene, a serial entrepreneur who currently runs a software business. Like many people, last year was a tough one for his company. They survived largely by providing add-on services to existing customers - a decent response to difficult circumstances. They even grew revenues a bit. But here's something else that happened: They got comfortable. They decided they could exist on their base of customers, and then they "realized" there would be no new ones.
You Cant Not Communicate
Most of us would like to be better communicators. As leaders, co-workers, team members and in all of the other roles we play both professionally and personally, we know that communication is a major key to success.
Is Busyness Affecting Your Business?
I'm too busy; I'd love to but I'm very busy; I'll get round to that when I'm not so busy.
|