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What Does “Meaningful Work” Really Mean?

Recognize This! – Only the employee can define what is meaningful work to them. Leaders, however, are critical for helping them catch the vision.

Yesterday, I wrote about the importance of engaging in meaningful work for employees. But what, exactly, does “meaningful work” mean? As I was catching up on my (admittedly large) backlog of news and blogs in my reader, I found this nugget from the Switch & Shift blog (which is rapidly becoming one of my favorite daily reads):

“Managers cannot make work meaningful for employees. Managers, however, can shape the workplace environment to let meaningful work become possible for employees. With a context set to let meaning be experienced, employees can leverage the environment to derive meaning from their work.

“Meaningful work is vague. What exactly is it? Assuredly it begins quite selfishly. But this is out of necessity. For work to be meaningful, it is the employee who must label it so. This requires a belief that meaningful work is a desired outcome from managements’ actions. And employees believe managements’ intentions and see actions aimed to let meaning emerge.”

This reminds me of the possibly apocryphal story of the senior military leader touring NASA Space Center during the early days of the space race. The leader noticed a janitor cleaning an area of mission control and asked, “What are you doing?” The janitor didn’t reply with the obvious, “I’m sweeping the floor.” No, he said, “I’m helping to put a man on the moon.”

In this story, the employee knew and understood the greater purpose of his efforts. Keeping a neat and clean work environment would help to eliminate distractions for the scientists and engineers in mission control, thereby helping to contribute to the greater space mission. This employee knew the meaning of his work.

Personally, I don’t lead a group of strategy consultants. I help companies change their cultures to ones of appreciation and recognition.

What do you do for work? What’s the real meaning of your work?

Happy Holidays and Many Thanks for a Great Year

Just a quick post today to thank you all for everything you have taught me in this past year and for giving me the opportunity to engage with you in this forum.

A very happy holidays wish to you and yours.

Frustration, Program Success, Getting in Sync, and more from Compensation Cafe

I realized today I have not shared with you my posts on Compensation Cafe in quite a while. I greatly enjoy the Cafe community and commentary encourage you to follow the conversation directly.

But in case you missed these posts:

3 Reasons Why Employees Are Frustrated & 3 Things You Can Do about It (14th December)

Frustration is a common theme I see everywhere I look today. In the workplace it seems to stem from three main sources:

Employees sense more barriers to getting the work done, even as they are asked to do more with less.
Companies sitting on loads of cash and not reinvesting that back into the workforce.
Executive compensation and bonus structures that make no sense – not even to investors.

Click through to read more on the impact these points of frustration are having on employees (and consequently on their organizations) and my three common-sense solutions.

The 1 Thing You Must Do to Ensure Program Success (5th December)

Without executive support – a highly visible and actively involved CEO, preferably – any highly visible program (recognition and rewards, benefits, health and wellness, safety, etc.) will fail.

In this post I relate a story of just such a failure originally reported in HR Magazine and then give you the three steps to securing executive support and visible sponsorship:

Build a strong business case for your program, showing the benefits in terms that matter to the C-Suite.
Show executives the power of your program to change corporate culture and thereby your reputation in the market.
Make it easy for executives to show their support.

Keeping Employees in Sync with Recognition (15th November)

This is my take on the murmuration viral video making the rounds of thousands of starlings moving in unison across the Irish sky over the River Shannon.

I looked at the science of murmuration that makes it possible for this level of movement without a single bird striking another and how that kind of synchronization in the workplace requires us to lift our heads out of our own work to notice and appreciate the important contributions and efforts of those around us.

Click through to check out the video and read my thoughts on how to achieve this workplace synchronization.

The Role of Financial vs. Non-Financial “Incentives” in Employee Motivation (5th November)

Lynn Blodgett, president and CEO of ACS, a Xerox company, explained in a New York Times “Corner Office” column the incentives lessons he learned as a child working on early computers (a key punch machine) in his mother’s home-based business. He learned it’s careful balance between financial incentives and highly personal motivations like having a sense of meaning and purpose in your work.

I related this to Mercer’s October 2011 What’s Working survey report, which found these “soft” factors are much stronger influencers of motivation and engagement. Click through for a chart from the report illustrating respect, work-life balance, meaningful work, leadership and team members are the most critical.

Competition Is Good, Except When It’s Not: The Difference between Incentives and Recognition (25th October)

In this post I answer one of questions I’m asked most frequently: “What’s the difference between incentives and recognition? Aren’t they the same thing?”

Incentives and recognition are two distinctly different mechanisms that can be used to boost employee productivity, but each has its proper place and time for use. Incentives in particular can cause unintended consequences if not thought through fully. Click through for a chart illustrating these differences as well as a story from the LA Times of incentives gone awry so terribly, employees refer to mechanism as the “electronic whip.”

Retention & Compensation: Keeping Them Is Cheaper than Finding Them (13th October)

True compensation and HR pros know there’s much more to retaining key employees (even in this tough job market), and compensation is one critical piece of that puzzle. I highlight research from Towers Watson and WorldatWork that showed retention is a growing challenge among employees who just can’t take it anymore, but a little recognition would go a long way in changing mindsets.

I also explain what all of this has to do with compensation, namely how much more budget you would have to increase the salary of key employees, invest in additional training opportunities for high potential employees, or simply hire more staff to relieve the burden on over-worked employees if you didn’t have to spend it replacing the ones you should have retained in the first place.

Company Culture = Core Values in Action

Recognize This! – Defining desired values is useless without making those values real for employees in behavior.

How do you define company culture? Since this is a topic I’m passionate about, I’ve read many descriptions of company culture over the years. One I particularly like appeared recently in Harvard Business Review:

“In practical terms, culture is not an intangible cloud that hangs over a company, but an outcome of the way people behave on multiple dimensions. Better understanding of these behavioral patterns — and how each person experiences them — makes it possible to decide whether to continue them or not.”

Your culture is an outcome of the way your employees behave. This begs the question, “Precisely how are you encouraging your employees to behave?”

What are you using as the guideposts for employees to follow on desired behaviors? We always strongly recommend your core values – after all, your management team invested a good deal of time at some point determining these values to be critical to company success.

The challenge lies in helping employees understand how those abstract values translate into real actions and behaviors in their daily work. It’s your values in action that define your culture – not your values hanging on a plaque on the wall.

Today I’m leading my first interactive workshop in Atlanta to help HR Pros figure out the answer. It’s not too late to join me to learn how to “Build Your Winning Culture of Recognition” in these cities:

New York – Friday, October, 28
Chicago – Monday, November 14
San Francisco – Thursday, November 17

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Military Veterans * Thank You!

Recognize This! – Be sure to express your thanks and gratitude while those you appreciate can enjoy it!

Today is Memorial Day in the United States – a day of remembrance for those who died in service to the country.

In honor of this day and those who gave their lives for their country, I’d like to take just a moment to thank those who are serving today and veterans who are still with us. While remembering and honoring those who gave their lives for what they believe in is of great importance, we must not forget to express our thanks, appreciation and praise while they are with us.

Too often, we do not remember to express our appreciation to others – whether that be those who protect our country, family members, friends or colleagues – until it is too late for them to know how much we value them and their contributions.

Don’t wait for a Memorial Day to express your gratitude! Tell someone “thank you” today!

Why the Performance Appraisal Is Broken

Recognize This! – The traditional performance review process tries to accomplish too much.

Have you ever wanted to rip your performance appraisal (or the entire appraisal process) in half? The only thing people can seem to agree on about the performance appraisal process is that it is broken. What, precisely, is broken and how to fix it – now that sparks up endless arguments.

Can we all agree one major problem with the way performance appraisals are conducted today is the tight link between feedback and compensation? Knowledge@Wharton put it this way:

“Reviews tend to have competing goals: Employees, for their part, are looking for frank, honest and helpful feedback, but know that if they don’t use the review time to pump up their performance, they might not get the top bonus or best raise. Meanwhile, organizations want to allocate rewards according to performance and merit, and they want to provide developmental feedback so that employees can improve. But organizations also have to make tough decisions about who ranks higher and what kinds of bonuses people get. If the organization — in trying to make everybody feel good — doesn’t allocate rewards according to performance, then it will be seen as an unfair process.”

Okay, maybe that’s three problems in one:

Feedback – All sources I’ve read lately (and conversations I’ve had) agree employees want and need more feedback, more frequently – both constructive and appreciative. I’ll discuss this angle in more depth in my next two posts.

Pay for Performance – But are employees even in the right state of mind to accept the value of constructive feedback – no matter how well communicated – if their focus is on showing themselves in as positive a light as possible to get the greatest raise? Of course not. This is why merit-based pay for performance structures have outlived their usefulness.

Fairness – Even the best of managers struggle with the question of what is fair within traditional pay for performance structures. My Compensation Café colleague, Laura Schroeder, summarized the challenge well in a post last week: “He isn’t sure whether to pay for performance, potential or expertise with his meager 3% budget.”

The rest of this week, I’ll be tackling these issues in more depth. This is a controversial subject. I believe the only way we’ll arrive at a good solution is through conversation. Please chime in with your thoughts or approaches.

Stop Focusing on Top Performers for Recognition & Rewards!

Recognize This! – It’s the “average” employees who make it possible for the “stars” to shine. Be sure to recognize and appreciate them, too.

Yesterday, I wrote about the retention fears of HR Pros and CEOs alike. Sadly, most surveys I see on this topic focus on top performers only. What about the “average” employees? Shouldn’t we be concerned about them as well?

Yes! As John Zappe put very well in his article “3 Management Suggestions for HR (From Someone Who Is Not in HR)”:

“Respect the average worker. Nobody wants to be average, yet statistically, the world is dominated by the average. Not by a little, but by a huge majority. That bulge in the bell curve is where most of us dwell. Look at any team, any company, any class and you find a few outstanding performers, a few dunces, and a great middle. That middle is the people who keep the engines of industry going.

“They aren’t going to get the big bonus or the big raise; the supply of average is large enough to keep their price and perks in check. But they deserve to be recognized and respected for the day-to-day work they do. How? By seeking them out on those management perambulations. By sending them a note of appreciation. By asking them to serve on one or another of the “special” committees. By just saying ‘thank you’ occasionally.”

What happens when you don’t respect the average? You get horror stories of “elites” rubbing the noses of the “average” in the rewards only available to the “elites.”

What happens when you do respect the average? As one commenter recently said: “Sometimes it can be cool just to know someone noticed.”

My recommendation – structure a strategic employee recognition program that intentionally targets the top 80-90% of employees for recognition. Yes, the “stars” will still likely receive a higher proportion of praise and recognition. But the “average” will also be formally noticed and appreciated for their contributions that make it possible for your stars to shine.

Do you think “average” employees deserve recognition? What kind of recognition and appreciation have you received at work?

Employee Loyalty – It’s Still Possible, if Different

Recognize This! – Many employees are poised like elite runners, ready to sprint out the door at the first opportunity. And those opportunities are coming fast.

You’ve successfully recruited perfect employees. You’ve onboarded them well. Now how do you retain them?

Always a concern for HR Pros, it’s now the top concern for CEOs around the world, according to PwC’s 14^th Annual CEO Survey, especially as recruiting picks up for top talent in sectors where it’s hard to find employees with the right skill set.

For some, you must overcome situations where you’ve made it easy for employees to leave you, such as these 7 signs your employees are poachable. Others are better positioned to create loyal employees.

How do you create employees who are loyal to more than “I’m glad I have a job” – ones who will not only stick around, but give their best discretionary effort every day? Is “employee loyalty” a myth in today’s workplace – especially after decades of corporate actions have proven to employees that companies are not loyal to them as their parents from the Traditionalist generation had experienced?

I think employers must become comfortable with a new definition of workplace loyalty:

1) As long as I’m here, you’ll get the best of me. – Savvy employees know and understand the volatility of the job market. It’s the responsibility of the employer to make sure they are creating an environment in which employees want to fully engage and give the best of themselves every day.

2) When I leave, I won’t go to a competitor. – Employers must also realize employees have options, too. So employers must create such a bond with employees that, should the employee leave for whatever reason, they will not take their knowledge and skills to your competitors.

Where do you find yourself today? Are you a loyal employee? Or are you poachable? Why?

Generation Generalizations Globally

Recognize This! – Generalizations and stereotypes lead only to misunderstanding and missed opportunities – especially in the workplace.

Gen Y wants constant recognition and approval of its work. Boomers are heavy-handed managers and technological inept. As the smallest generation sandwiched between the giants of Gen Y and Boomers, Gen X just wants somebody to remember they are there and contributing.

All a bunch of hooey. Especially on a global scale.

I’ve written repeatedly about the error of trying to lump employee needs, desires and wants into categories based on their age and supposed generation. Tammy Erickson has now taken this to a new level with her post on Generations around the Globe in Harvard Business Review.

Tammy’s point is that generalizations about a generation are completely senseless on a global scale. Her research found that what was happening around us in our countries during our pre-teen and teen years is a far more powerful influencer of our motivators in the workplace.

For example, Gen Xers in the US, Europe and Brazil grew up during an economic downturn and so now “tend not to rely on institutions for long-term financial security.” Yet Gen Xers in China and India were experiencing a burst of economic opportunity during those formative years and now “are willing to compete” in order to gain a place in the growing middle class.

My point – you can’t assume all employees want the same things. Generation, life stage, culture, global location, past experiences, and future dreams are all powerful factors in employee expectations of the employment contract. Stereotypes of managerial style and recognition expectations are equally egregious.

Each employee is an individual who comes to work every day for a different reason, with a different expectation of the day, and different desires for the outcome. Respect that. Better yet, try to understand that on an individual level. Then you have a chance of truly motivating individuals.

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