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No More Revolving Door
July 28, 2008
Understanding and satisfying employees' underlying needs can help organizations retain their top talent.
By Joanna Posner
At a time when Baby Boomers are leaving the workforce in droves, hiring and retaining young employees has become more important than ever. And yet, Generations X and Y—the cohorts employers increasingly will be competing for—are the hardest to please. "If they don't feel satisfied by more than just a good paycheck, they know there is an opportunity to go elsewhere"” says Susan Curtin, a consultant in the areas of leadership development, succession planning, and coaching.
But even with such a capricious workforce, avoiding the turnover trap is possible, says Douglas Walker, coauthor of "A-ha! Performance: Building and Managing a Self-Motivated Workforce"—so long as managers understand what makes employees tick. Only then can organizations manage in such a way that ensures morale is high and employees, satisfied in their work environment, stick around. For Walker and coauthor Stephen Sorkin, that means developing a hypersensitivity to what they call the "needs."
In their book, published by Wiley & Sons, Walker and Sorkin reveal that people are driven to satisfy or protect their own basic psychological needs, including survival, belonging, power, fun, and freedom. And satisfaction of these needs in the workplace is so important that if they are not met, many employees are quick to choose resignation over a need injustice. Yet if managers learn how to meet these needs, then employees are much more likely to stay put. Walker points out that needs cannot be ignored, as what people are doing 24/7 is trying to protect or satisfy these underlying drivers of behavior. So how do basic needs carry over to workplace antics?
Survival Mode
Perhaps the most obvious of the bunch, survival is tied to our physical comfort, such as food and shelter—do we get enough food breaks, is the temperature in the office agreeable, and is the environment a clean and safe one?
A Friend Indeed
The need for employees to belong is so strong that, according to a Gallup study, the No. 1 reason people leave a company is a bad relationship—or no relationship—with their boss. "This doesn't mean a boss has to be everybody's buddy, but employees have to believe the boss cares about them and is credible," says Walker.
Melissa Coffelt, human resources analyst for the San Diego Association of Governments, who uses the "A-ha!" model with her colleagues, has witnessed first-hand how important a good manager-subordinate relationship can be. Of one of her managers who is known for taking a sincere interest in her employees, Coffelt says, "When I talk to her team members, they emphasize how much they love working for her; and, in turn, it's a highly collaborative working relationship."
On the other hand, a manager who doesn't communicate with underlings, excludes them, or berates them in front of others will threaten belonging needs and send employees packing.
Power Struggle
Martin Luther King, Jr., once said, "Power is the ability to achieve purpose," and Walker couldn't agree more. We feel good when we are winning and achieving. But to give employees this sense of purpose, they need recognition. "The No. 2 reason people leave an organization is that they're not being recognized for what they do," says Walker. After all, lack of acknowledgment leaves many feeling useless—a sentiment that only perpetuates low morale. (Though the needs can be dissected separately, many workplace factors impact two or more at a time. Praise, for example, boosts egos—power—and makes people feel appreciated—belonging.)
What's Fun Got to Do With It?
Not necessarily tied to outside entertainment, fun can take place during office hours. It's when employees are learning, developing, winning, and even laughing with their colleagues. "If you allow people to have a little fun, then morale is going to be higher and productivity is going to be greater," says Walker.
Free to Do What I Want
Think of freedom as creative autonomy. There may be specific goals that are non-negotiable, but giving employees flexibility around how the job gets done is freedom at its finest. Sorkin says, "For someone who has strong freedom needs, it's wise to hold her accountable through performance and results versus how she completes the task. You can determine the number of units that need to be produced, but give employees more freedom when it comes to their viable options."
With a need-satisfied staff, the benefits are many: Not only will morale be at an all-time high, but employees are empowered to come up with what the best solution is for them—producing a better outcome for the employee and company alike. For example, Carla Webb, a business coach who uses the "A-ha!" model, worked with a manager whose underling felt threatened by a new hire. Recognizing that his employee's needs were on the line—impacting both belonging and power—Webb's client asked his employee, "What skill sets could you learn to consider yourself more valuable in this role?" The employee thought about it and came back to his boss suggesting that he take three courses in the following year to ensure that he is the company's No. 1 employee. The result was that the threat of losing his job was removed because he had empowered himself to be a better employee—and furthermore, the company benefited from the added skill sets its employee went on to acquire.
Although the needs are a small part of the bigger paradigm introduced in "A-ha! Performance," awareness of them is nonetheless a powerful tool. "Without this understanding," says Sorkin, "managing is a roulette game."
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