In today’s talent-scarcity labor market, smart CEOs set talent management as a top priority. Are you?
I was reading a Business Insider article on ways employees can be happier at work and I thought I’d share with you the top ways:
- Enable staff to advance professional development. Knowing you can grow and learn in your company (through classes or projects done in the company) leads to happiness.
- Facilitate staff’s ability to identify what truly motivates them. As we grow, our purpose/life priorities may shift. Indeed the reason the person took the job in the first place may not be for central, intrinsic values which are central for her/him. Working with mentors is one way a person can discuss these issues – and find new ways to stay motivated by taking on new assignments, moving to different departments, etc.
- Remind staff how they are benefiting by working in the company. Many times people get lost in their day-to-day work, and forget about all the extras the company is offering (e.g., profit sharing, extra 401K match, benefit packages, community involvement opportunities). I know of a case where the company bought for each employee a life insurance policy, and after several years discovered that almost none of the employees knew.
The list also reminded me about the Gallup Q-12 which I previously discussed. Don Clifton, Ph.D. studied 24 companies in 12 industries with 2500 business units, and interviewed 105,000 employees and found that 12 items differentiated highly productive, engaged employees from all the others.
The top six statements which highly engaged employees strongly agreed with were:
- I know what is expected of me at work.
- I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right
- At work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day
- In the last seven days, I have received recognition or praise for doing good work
- My supervisor, or someone at work, seems to care about me as a person
- There is someone at work who encourages my development
If you’re a CEO in NY who wants more success in the volatile new year, you can learn more about how Vistage members learn about these strategies, help each other tailor implementation and then hold each other accountable for execution. The Vistage community of 22,000 CEOs, 1400 experts, and 800 Chairs, gives members a Competitive Advantage over others; Dun & Bradstreet reports that they grow 2-3 X faster than competitors.
In January, we’re sponsoring a no-obligation breakfast for qualified candidates to attend a mini-CEO Advisory meeting. See details at: http://vi-ny.com/Jan-2019CEOBreakfast.pdf