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Some days ago I attended a session on compensation and benefits and sat through a seventy-minute presentation on 'fair pay', 'Market Value' and 'Staff retention'. Most of it appeared to justify companies paying just the right amount to keep people from complaining. I was thinking: Why are we mostly talking about money, while we would probably be better of exploring creating structures and work environment more suitable to create better qualitative and quantitative output? Cutting costs is initially the simplest thing consultants or internal advisors can suggest, there is not a lot of brainpower or creativity needed to figure out how and where we can save a few bucks. Cut down on consultants' fees, reduce the level of training we provide to staff and minimize the bonuses: Easy…..! If, as some suggest employees start looking around for other positions it is often not the present remuneration that triggers them to explore greener fields. In many cases there is an underlying sense of dissatisfaction with the present work situation as a whole. Try putting the finger on the right spot detecting the real cause of dissatisfaction is not always that easy. Get it right from the start! If the recruiting process was initially performed correctly, the 'marriage' between employee and organization was surely, partly, done based on trust, mutual respect and 'love'. However, we all know that during the courting period everybody tries to show his or her best side to the other. Once this stage ends and we are all 'back to reality' suddenly eyes fully open again and shortcomings become more and more apparent to both parties. The employee does make mistakes and the boss is not always as patient and understanding as presented during the job interview. A desperate 'need' to fill a job vacancy can create a pink filter showing the observed person or situation 'differently' masking the 'true' situation. The need to get a job might cause applicants to present themselves more positive and create expectations, which, in real life, are hardly possible for them to live up to. Mutual honesty and objectivity is the key to minimize damage here. Do not evaluate job applicants just by yourself, involve others in the process and, where applicable, make use of objective tools such as Psychometric Evaluations to ensure that the decision is based on factual, reliable information. Ask job applicants what they know about your company. If they didn't really research what you are doing….why do they want to work with you? (lack of motive). Desire to be part of a specific company can be a strong motivation factor. This combined with a well-structured, systematic employee development programme can create solid ground for long-term employee retention. During the career of the employee performance measurement will keep development on track and if conducted and structured professionally, will also highlight deviation at an early stage. The major role of managers is to grow their employees to a higher level of independence. In my view the ultimate goal for managers should be to make him/herself redundant. Do not get me wrong here: that doesn't mean that the organization should get rid of them. It just means that they have developed a mature team performing most activities without any operational managerial intervention. That leaves a lot of spare time for the managers to do what they should really be hired for...thinking of new, better ways of doing things, exploring lucrative opportunities for the company to start...etc. Unfortunately a lot of managers handle superb abilities in their employees as an indirect threat to their position. On many occasions I observed a managerial attitude expressing that 'thinking is not part of the employees job description and should be suppressed at any cost' This leads to conflict and worst case scenario resignation or dismissal. 'Good' people with ambitions and the right qualities will find their way. Sadly, when asked, they often state that they loved their work and the organization as a whole. They just left because of the manager! Gathering high quality around you as a manager can , if nurtured correctly, strengthen your position and help you develop yourself to become a respected leader. |
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