One of the events I started where I worked was to celebrate my employee’s birthdays. It started with all interested employees going out to lunch to celebrate the employee’s birthday. I would pay for the birthday employee’s meal.  I had everyone sign a birthday card and we would also celebrate with cake and ice cream during the afternoon break at work.  I started doing this over 30 years ago when I first became a manager.

Soon the practice spread to other groups in the building and within years the employees themselves took the responsibility for the celebrations – taking up collections for ice cream and cake and buying the cards and having everyone sign them. When we had hired a lot more employees then there was the monthly birthday party for all employee having a birthday that month.

It was amazing to me that this simple act had such a positive impact on the employees and their relationships.  They became more of a “family” and it improved employee morale as many employees genuinely enjoyed to these celebrations and loved the attention when it was their turn.

If you would like more ideas like the one above go to http://www.HowtoMotivateEmployeesNow.com.  You may also want to check out The Foundation of Employee Motivation, Tapping into Human Nature to Engage and Motivate Your Employees, and Recognitions, Awards, and Perks.

Bloomberg Businessweek’s November 22-28, 2010 issue article on page 39  entitled Wal-Mart vs a Million Angry Women discusses the possible pending case before the Robert’s Court, and states that this “class action would be the most important business dispute of the U. S. Supreme Court‘s nine month term”. The Washington law firm of Cohen, Milstein, Sellers & Toll represent the women.  Wal-Mart is represented by the Los Angeles law firm of Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher.

The case centers on Chris Kwapnoski who is 46 years and says she has watched for 15 years as one male colleague after another leapfrogged over her into management jobs at the Sam’s Club in Concord, California.  According to the article,  Wal-Mart used on a “tap on the shoulder” system that let managers give jobs to men.  The article goes on to say that women were also paid less for the same jobs as men.

Nineteen other companies want the court to take up the appeal because of some far reaching consequences of a possible decision.  These companies include:  Altria Group, Bank of America, General Electric and Microsoft.  Another suit with Costco Wholesale is on hold pending the resolution of this case. (Source: Bloomberg Businessweek’s above mentioned issue article)

The case is interesting for many reasons.  I am not going to argue the merits of the case. I do not have enough information and facts to have an opinion.

I will say that I personally know of similar sounding cases  and of one in particular where a woman rose very quickly through the ranks in a few years, hit a glass ceiling, received very high performance evaluations and praise for her management work but was passed over for more than 25 years for promotions that went to white males instead.  These men came into the company much later, had less experience and were frequently not rated as highly for their management work.

That said what I want to address is much more basic and not gender related.

My Concerns are Career Development and Talent Management

One of the very best employee motivators is career development.  Motivation is a component of engagement.

According to the Towers-Perrin Global Workforce Study, the top 2 reasons for employee engagement were:

#1 – opportunities to learn and develop new skills

#2 – improved my skills and capabilities over the last year.

I think what this really means is employees are willing to work hard and learn new skills with the hope of a better career future. Employees need to believe that they have a fair chance for that next opportunity and that next promotion.  That is the most important “What’s in it for me?” for all employees.   Taking away that hope poisons employee engagement and employee motivation.

Companies that foster the “good old boys system” that gives promotions to “friends” rather than the most highly qualified may motivate the person who has received the promotion but have de-motivated many good employees – men and women. Employees can accept when a highly qualified employee receives a promotion. They see that as fair and gives them hope that their turn may be next.  What de-motivates employees is when they believe the person who received the promotion was not the best qualified.

Companies Can Not Afford to De-Motivate Good Employees

Here is why:

Towers-Perrin in their Employee Engagement Underpins Business Transformation March 1, 2009 report on 50 global organizations reports a direct correlation between  a higher percentage of engaged employees and an increase in business net income and earnings per share.

Research Works June 2009 Report lists Best Buy “found that stores with even small increases in average employee engagement scores from one year to the next experienced annual sales increases of over $100,000 per store”.

Research Works in the same report listed J.C. Penney “discovered that in their stores where employees rate in the top quartile of average engagement scores generated 10% higher sales volume than similar sized stores where employees were in the bottom quartile of engagement”.

Higher engaged and more motivated employees mean more profits for their company.  The best way to engage and motivate employees is through the company fostering career development and good talent management.  Companies that do that will have greater success compared to companies that do not (all other factors being equal).

Copyright (c) 2010   Lois Moncrief   All Rights Reserved

For more information on employee motivation go to my website HowtoMotivateEmployeesNow.com

For more information on career development and talent management click here

http://www.inc.com/guides/2010/08/10-things-employees-want.html?partner=newsletter_Success

The first thing that comes to mind is money.  If you give employees a bigger salary, great promotions, frequent raises, and cash awards that will keep all of them engaged and motivated.

Don’t you wish it were that easy?

Money Isn’t the Perpetual Employee Engagement and Motivation Machine

Have you noticed that after giving employees raises, promotions, cash awards, they are very motivated for a while and then they gradually slip back to the motivation level they were at before the raise, promotion, or cash award?

There are ways to motivate employees without using money.  If you would like to learn more, sign up for my FREE E-Course How to Engage and Motivate Employees Without Using Money  at http://www.HowtoMotivateEmployeesNow.com

For the rest of the article, go to my website http://www.smartmanagementnow.com articles section

The Direct Short Link to the article is  http://bit.ly/9FlGDH

5. Employees have “excuses” why the work is not done on time. Employees look “busy” but they are not “productive.  They do “activities” but not “accomplishments”.

As countries go head to head in competition for customers for their products and services, one of the key elements will be the differences in % of highly engaged employees and the % of disengaged employees in competing countries.

There has already been shown a correlation between % engaged employees and bigger profits for companies which I have covered in a recent ezine to you.

Companies will be looking for companies in countries with a high % of “highly engaged” employees to give them the higher profits.

Highly Engaged Employees
A recent study entitled Towers-Perrin Global Workforce Study -Executive Report looks at 17 representative countries and finds an average of 14% of employees are “highly engaged”.

Differences are striking.

The # 1 Country leads the list with 40% of its employees as “highly engaged”.  One country brings up the rear with only 2% of its employees highly engaged. You would be very surprised to know the name of this last country.

This range of highly engaged employees from 2% of the workforce in one country to 40% of the workforce in another country is shocking.

What does this mean for global companies seeking countries with highly engaged workers who can give them big profits?

Well, clearly, if other factors are equal those countries would seek to set up shop in the # 1 country with 40% highly engaged employees and not the country with 2% highly engaged employees.

Any country that competes globally will have to take the “highly engaged” employee factor in competing countries into consideration.

Disengaged Employees
On the flip side, the country with the highest % of disengaged employees according to the Towers-Perrin report cited above has 56% of its workforce in the disengaged column as studied in the Towers-Perrin Global Workforce Study –Executive report.

You would be surprised to know the name of this country.  It is one of the BRICs  (Brazil, Russia, India, and China).  The BRICs are considered rising countries  – economically speaking.

Globally, the average country studied in the Towers-Perrin report has a whopping 23% of its workforce in the disengaged column.
Copyright ©2009 – 2010  Lois Moncrief   Globebic LLC  All Rights Reserved

For more on engaged and motivated employees and how to motivate employees, visit my website

http://www.HowtoMotivateEmployeesNow.com

Two weeks ago in my ezine, I told you that Reputation of the Organization as a Good Employer was high on the top ten list for each of the following:
attracting good people, keeping good people, and getting people engaged.  I also told you that Reputation of the Organization as a Good Employer was #3 on the top ten list for Engagement. I followed that by saying I would tell you about the other top 2 reasons for Engagement listed in the Towers Perrin Global Workforce Study.

These top 2 reasons came as no surprise to me. In fact I covered them as top motivators in my ebook 60 Quick, Easy, Free (or low cost) Ways to Motivate Employees Now.

It is nice to see a lot of other managers and employees agree with me based on the Towers-Perrin Report.

The Top 2 Reasons for Engagement
#1 Opportunities to learn and develop new skills.

# 2 Improved my skills and capabilities over the last year.

Employees want to improve their skills with the hope that they will have a bright future with the company and with their career in general.

Many employees welcome the chance to do different and exciting tasks/projects.  Many want to learn.

This can be done at a level that is appropriate for the employee’s capabilities and the company’s needs.

Clearly, there can be opportunities that will take the engaged employee a quantum leap higher but there can also be new skills that may re-engage the non-engaged and disengaged and are appropriate for their abilities and work.

Many employees will tell you what they would like to learn and do.
Just ask them. If it is to the company’s benefit also, you have a win-win.

Copyright ©2009 – 2010  Lois Moncrief   Globebic LLC  All Rights Reserved

For more information, check out my website http://www.HowtoMotivateEmployeesNow.com

“I try to take one day at a time but sometimes several days attack me at once.”  Ashleigh Brilliant

I am still recovering from surgery several weeks ago but with a slower recovery because I have had complications.  Hope all of you are doing well.

In the January-February Issue of Harvard Business Review (HBR), there is an article called 10 Breakthrough Ideas for 2010. One of those breakthrough ideas is labelled, “What Really Motivates Workers – understanding the power of progress”.

The article talks about a survey of knowledge workers.  Knowledge Workers are defined by Wikipedia as “someone who is valued for their ability to interpret information within a specific subject area.”  The examples Wikipedia gives are teachers, lawyers, architects, physicians, nurses, engineers, and scientists. 12,000 Knowledge Workers participated in the survey by emailing in daily their “diaries” of their work that day and their thoughts about the workday.

One of the Strongest Motivators
Progress was the winner in these diaries as the strongest motivator.  According to HBR,     ” On days when workers have a sense they’re making headway in their jobs, or when they receive support that helps them overcome obstacles, their emotions are most positive and their drive to succeed is at its peak.  On days when they feel they are spinning their wheels or encountering roadblocks to meaningful accomplishment, their moods and motivation are lowest.”

It would be a leap of faith to say this motivator of progress for knowledge workers would also be the strongest motivator for all workers.

Putting that concern aside, I would like to point out that HBR talks about some factors that can work against this motivator.  These factors that can work against this strong motivator are part of that list of 2 dozen de-motivators I have been telling you about. Two of these are:  resources are not available to get the job done and management changing directions and goals too frequently.

This brings us back to while you are trying to motivate your employees be sure you are no inadvertently also demotivating them.  That tug of war does exist in many workplaces and impedes “progress”.

Copyright ©2009 – 2010  Lois Moncrief   Globebic LLC  All Rights Reserved