It’s Not About the Pay - Really
How you communicate with employees makes all the difference
Most of us can remember a time when miscommunication led to conflict. Often an unfulfilled promise to be somewhere at a certain time or to complete a specific task. When you break it down, the root of the conflict is lack of respect for the other person.
The frustration and anger with the person who failed us becomes greater the more times they repeat the sin. Enough times and it leads to a broken relationship, possibly irretrievably.
In personal relationships, this is the broken glass we walk across when our partner is a repeat offender, or is at least perceived to be. Get cut enough and we want out of the relationship. It’s just too painful.
In the work world, poor communication and the resultant disrespect tied to it are undeniably the greatest causes for worker dissatisfaction and the most common reasons for them to leave a job. Behavioral scientist Dan Ariely has a ton of research on worker motivation. His experiments have shown repeatedly that respect and recognition are more important to workers than higher pay.
Which means employers serious about addressing high employee turnover rates should forget about ever-increasing sign-on bonuses and focus on how to improve communication with and recognition of their employees.
Easier said than done? Sure. But I would suggest three things to focus on in engagement with employees:
Give them regular personal messages of affirmation. The need to be recognized is common to every human on the planet. Being affirmed by someone who knows you is a huge motivator. I still have the typed notes I received from my old boss more than 25 years ago which gave me kudos for projects I had worked on and affirmed my talents. I will reread them when I’m having a tough day. Doesn’t matter that I’m doing completely different work today. It’s the recognition that you have something meaningful to contribute that boosts us and makes us more productive and motivated members of a workforce.
Recognize specific achievements and events in their life. Try to send a congratulatory note to someone who has reached an important milestone in life or has a family member who has done something special. Also, publicly recognize employees for their work achievements. In a 2020 study by the University of Arkansas on truck driver turnover, cynicism and inefficacy were named as two of the key factors which lead to a driver leaving their job. Essentially, when drivers aren’t respected and recognized, they become cynical and that eventually leads to feelings of inefficacy which leads them to leave.
Be a true listener. Too many firms are making false promises about an open-door policy. You can be different by offering a forum where employees can truly speak their mind 24/7 and you provide evidence that their messages have been heard by the people that need to hear them. Even better, you respond to them promptly with answers to their questions and potential solutions to their problems. Just recognizing that the problem exists is a good start. But if you want true loyalty, figure out how to remove the friction points, even if it takes a while. Most employees are willing to deal with temporary frustration if they know there is a fix coming.
All three of these engagement ideas are difficult to pull off in scale. That’s why most large organizations fail at it. My company Ten5 has developed a communications platform which can help even the largest organization scale personalized communication. We have a very simple vision to change the workplace for the good.
We’re looking for pilot partners. If you’re interested in joining us, contact me at dryder@ten5.app.