Employee Motivation

Employee Motivation, Recognition,
Rewards, Retention
Employee motivation, positive employee morale, rewards and recognition are explored in these
resources. What creates motivated, contributing people? How do you maintain high employee morale
when people work long hours? How does your reward and recognition system contribute to or deflate
employee motivation, positive morale and retention? Answers are here.
1. Employee Engagement (19)
1. Employee Recognition (26)
1. Employee Retention (21)
1. Managers and Motivation (22)
1. Employee Surveys (13)
1. Success (27)
1. Quotations for Business and Work
1. Humor and Inspiration (44)
About What Employees Want From Work: Employee Motivation

Every person has different reasons for working. The reasons for working are as individual as the
person. But, we all work because we obtain something that we need from work. The something
obtained from work impacts morale, employee motivation, and the quality of life. To create positive
employee motivation, treat employees as if they matter - because employees matter. These ideas will
help you fulfill what people want from work and create employee motivation.
Scroll down past the three ads for a large number of additional articles about employee
motivation.
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7 Ways to Foster Employee Motivation - Today

Employee motivation is a continuing challenge at work. Particularly in work environments that don’t
emphasize employee satisfaction as part of an embraced and supported overall business strategy,
supervisors and managers walk a tough road. On the one hand, they recognize their power in drawing
forth the best employees have to offer... Here are seven ways to foster employee motivation - today.
The Bottom Line for Motivating Employees

Employee motivation describes an employee’s intrinsic enthusiasm about and drive to accomplish
work. Every employee is motivated about something in his or her life. Motivating employees about
work is the combination of fulfilling the employee's needs and expectations from work and workplace
factors that enable employee motivation - or not. These variables make motivating employees
challenging.…
Employee Motivation in a Time of Change

In today's turbulent, often chaotic, environment, commercial success depends on employees using
their full talents. Yet in spite of the myriad of available theories and practices, managers often view
employee motivation as something of a mystery. Learn more about employee motivation and get a
motivation checklist.
What People Want From Work: Employee Motivation
Some people work for love; others work for personal fulfillment. Others like to accomplish goals or feel
as if they contribute to something larger than themselves. Whatever your personal motivation for
working, the bottom line, however, is that almost everyone works for money. Find out the latest
thinking and research about what people want from their work - employee motivation.
Tips for Employee Motivation

forth the best employees have to offer; on the other, they feel unsupported, rewarded or recognized
th…
The Most Important Management Secrets

Your expectations of people and their expectations of themselves are the key factors in how well
people perform at work. Known as the Pygmalion Effect and the Galatea Effect, respectively, the
power of expectations cannot be overestimated. These are the fundamental principles you can apply
to performance expectations and performance improvement at work. Learn more.
Make Retirement Memorable

Retirement is a big deal. Retirement marks the start of another chapter in an employee’s life.
Retirement marks the end of a career, or the start of a new one. Retirement is a life event that
changes every day that the retiring employee experiences. And, retirement changes relationships,
customary patterns, and coworkers interactions. You can...
Celebrate Annual Holidays for Motivation and Team Building

Traditions are important in companies just as they are in families. And, nothing is more important
than the annual traditions work places establish around the celebration of seasonal holidays. A holiday
celebration builds positive morale which results in increased employee motivation. Motivation
contributes to team building and productivity. Productive teams are responsible for your success.
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Cures for Negativity

Despite your best efforts, your workplace is a hotbed of negative feelings, comments, and actions.
What can you do to stop the negativity and keep it from spreading to all staff? Your About HR Guide,
Susan Heathfield, has ideas for you to implement!
Elan at Work
Are you capturing the ardor and the spirit of your work force? You want to maximize contributions
from people. You want to fuel excitement. You want people to fulfill dreams, plans and needs. You
want to be the chosen, valued employer. Find out how!
Help People Thrive at Work: Employee Motivation

How to recruit, retain, reward, and motivate staff currently tops your interest list. Doing these well is
the most important strategic role of a manager or business owner. Find out more.
How to Gift the Boss or a Special Co-worker

It's an age-old dilemma and it comes up every year. What do you do for that valued boss or co-worker
on a special occasion? Gift-giving opportunities are endless - and endlessly challenging. Help is here.
These gifts are appreciated and cherished.
Inspirational Quotes for Business: Motivation
Looking for an inspirational quote or a business quotation for your newsletter, business presentation,
bulletin board or inspirational posters? These motivation quotes are useful to help motivation and
inspiration. These quotes about employee motivation will help you create success in business, success
in management and success in life.
Laughing Your Way to Organizational Health

Workplace wellness is a serious issue. With stress-related-illness and burnout becoming household
words, you are increasingly looking for ways to keep your workforce happy, healthy and productive.
David Granirer's humor insights tell you how.
Managing Millennials
The millennials joining your workforce now were born between 1980 and 2000. Unlike the Gen-Xers
and the Boomers, the Millennials have developed work characteristics and tendencies from doting
parents, structured lives, and contact with diverse people. Learn more about millennials.
Motivation Job Interview Questions

The following sample job interview questions about motivation enable you to assess what motivates
the candidate you are interviewing. Feel free to use these job interview questions in your own
candidate interviews.
Promote Self-Discipline!
You can create a work environment in which people choose to practice self-discipline and thus,
minimize the need for supervisory disciplinary action. Intriguing? Find out more.
Tips for Minimizing Workplace Negativity

Minimize workplace negativity by not allowing it to get started in the first place. Use these tips from
Susan Heathfield, the HR SiteGuide, to keep negativity from gaining a foothold in your organization.
Top Ten Ways to Retain Your Great Employees

Key employee retention is critical to the long term health and success of your business. Managers
readily agree that their role is key in retaining your best employees to ensure business success. If
managers can cite this fact so well, why do many behave in ways that so frequently encourage great
employees to quit their job? Here are ten more tips for employee retention.
Use Affirmations as Passwords

What do you type over and over on a daily basis if you use your computer to access email or the web?
Your password, of course. If you're a road warrior, you use this access code even more frequently.
Why not make the password user-friendly? Why not make the password an affirmation?
Use Training and Development to Motivate Staff

Want to keep your staff motivated about learning new concepts? The quality and variety of the
training you provide is key for motivation. The structure of your training programs brings 'em back for
more. Learn more.
What Motivates You at Work?

Every person is motivated by something. Whether this motivation comes from people and activities
you love like family, hobbies, eating, volunteering, or work, you experience motivation. Work
motivation depends on your work environment, your personal needs from work, and whether the
interaction of these needs with your work environment supports the accomplishment of your goals.
How's your work mot…
How Do You Celebrate Holidays in Your Workplace?
Many workplaces celebrate annual holidays. Over time, as you celebrate annual holidays in your
workplace, you form traditions and give employees fodder for stories about their workplace. These
stories and the photos from the annual events help form the company culture, the environment you
provide for people at work. Employees like to celebrate holidays in the workplace. If you involve them
in cre…
What Contributes to or Destroys Employee Motivation

work. Every employee is motivated about something in his or her life. Enabling employee motivation
in pursuit of work accomplishments is the combination of fulfilling the employee's needs and
expectations and workplace factors that enable employee motivation - or not.
Top Picks: Posters That Reinforce and Sustain Your Culture

Your culture is a result of the values, experiences, and behaviors shared by your employees. You can
see your culture live in your language, symbols, stories, and work practices. Emphasize the values and
culture you desire with motivational prints.
Index to Articles About Motivation, Retention, Coaching, and Training

Looking for information about any aspect of human resources, motivation, coaching, training or
education for your business or organization? You've found the right resource. Here are all the
resources you'll need to effectively start, manage and develop your human resources department and
all aspects of your business. Find information motivation, coaching, training or education.
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Employee Engagement
Employee engagement describes an employee work environment in which employees are motivated,
excited, thoroughly involved and engrossed in their work and contribution, and willing to offer their
discretionary energy to accomplish work goals. Find out more about how to create a work
environment that fosters employee engagement.
Create a Work Environment That Encourages Employee Engagement

Does your workplace encourage employee engagement? Probably not. But, it should. Employee
engagement is a powerful factor for business success. Engaged employees are more productive,
customer-focused, and profit-generating. Employers are more likely to retain engaged employees.
According to the Gallup organization, employee engagement is a...
How Managers Motivate Employees

What can managers do to motivate and engage employees? The reality, when you talk about how to
motivate and engage employees, is that employees are motivated. They are engaged - in activities
that benefit them. The manager's challenge is to figure out how to tap into that motivation to
accomplish work goals. Fortunately, he or she controls...
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What People Want From Work: Employee Motivation

Some people work for love; others work for personal fulfillment. Others like to accomplish goals or feel
as if they contribute to something larger than themselves. Whatever your personal motivation for
working, the bottom line, however, is that almost everyone works for money. Find out the latest
thinking and research about what people want from their work - employee motivation.

Top Ten Ways to Be Happy at Work

Working at Google sounds very cool. I'd be the first to tout Google as a motivating employer: free
food, fun ... Google and other top 100 employers provide best workplaces. But, perks that enable
employees to spend all their time at work exploit people and destroy life balance. So, even the best
employer may not be best for everyone. These are...
Discretionary Energy
Discretionary energy is the energy that an employee chooses to exert in service to coworkers or
customers at work - or not. An employer pays for the fundamental tasks that he hires an employee to
perform. The employee's willingness to perform above and beyond the basic requirements of the job is
a reflection of the employee's willingness to engage his or her discretionary energy. Find out more
ab…
Employee Empowerment
Empowerment is the process of enabling or authorizing an individual to think, behave, take action,
and control work and decisionmaking in autonomous ways. It is the state of feeling self-empowered to
take control of one's own destiny. Empowerment rules as a development strategy. Learn more about
what empowerment is – and is not.
Employee Involvement
Employee involvement is creating an environment in which people have an impact on decisions and
actions that affect their jobs. Employee involvement is not the goal nor is it a tool, as practiced in
many organizations. Rather, employee involvement is a management and leadership philosophy about
how people are most enabled to contribute. Find out more about employee involvement.
Employee Morale
Employee morale describes the overall outlook, attitude, satisfaction, and confidence that employees
feel at work. When employees are positive about their work environment and believe that they can
meet their most important needs at work, employee morale is positive. Employee morale is defined by
the employee's outlook, optimism,...
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Employee Morale
Employee morale describes the overall outlook, attitude, satisfaction, and confidence that employees
feel at work. When employees are positive about their work environment and believe that they can
meet their most important needs at work, employee morale is positive. Employee morale is defined by
the employee's outlook, optimism,...
Employee Satisfaction
Employee satisfaction is the terminology used to describe whether employees are happy and
contented and fulfilling their desires and needs at work. Employee satisfaction is often measured by
anonymous surveys administered periodically that gauge employee satisfaction in areas such as
management and teamwork.
Help People Thrive at Work: Employee Motivation

How to recruit, retain, reward, and motivate staff currently tops your interest list. Doing these well is
the most important strategic role of a manager or business owner. Find out more.
The Bottom Line for Motivating Employees

work. Every employee is motivated about something in his or her life. Motivating employees about
work is the combination of fulfilling the employee's needs and expectations from work and workplace
factors that enable employee motivation - or not. These variables make motivating employees
challenging.…
The Most Important Management Secrets
Your expectations of people and their expectations of themselves are the key factors in how well
people perform at work. Known as the Pygmalion Effect and the Galatea Effect, respectively, the
power of expectations cannot be overestimated. These are the fundamental principles you can apply
to performance expectations and performance improvement at work. Learn more.
Tips for Employee Motivation

forth the best employees have to offer; on the other, they feel unsupported, rewarded or recognized
th…
What Brings You Joy?

What brings you great joy in the workplace? I know what brings me joy. Perhaps we share meaning
about joyful events and circumstances? I trust that in sharing mine, I remind you of yours. It's easy to
get so bogged down in the day-to-day busy that we forget to cherish the best moments. What
motivates the motivators? Here are some of mine.
What Contributes to or Destroys Employee Motivation

work. Every employee is motivated about something in his or her life. Enabling employee motivation
in pursuit of work accomplishments is the combination of fulfilling the employee's needs and
expectations and workplace factors that enable employee motivation - or not.
What Motivates You at Work?

Every person is motivated by something. Whether this motivation comes from people and activities
you love like family, hobbies, eating, volunteering, or work, you experience motivation. Work
motivation depends on your work environment, your personal needs from work, and whether the
interaction of these needs with your work environment supports the accomplishment of your goals.
How's your work mot…
Passion Pays!
"People who are passionate about their work do a better job." I believe it! Check out Management
Guide, John Reh's take on being happy at work.
Filed In:
Employee Recognition, Rewards, Awards, and Thank

You Ideas
Looking for ideas for employee motivation through employee recognition, employee rewards,
employee awards and just thanking employees? Look no further. Ideas for both formal and informal
employee recognition and employee rewards are here. Your only limit in employee recognition and in
rewarding and thanking employees is your imagination. Create an environment in which employees
choose motivation.
About What Employees Want From Work: Employee Motivation

Every person has different reasons for working. The reasons for working are as individual as the
person. But, we all work because we obtain something that we need from work. The something
obtained from work impacts morale, employee motivation, and the quality of life. To create positive
employee motivation, treat employees as if they matter - because employees matter. These ideas will
help you fulfill what people want from work and create employee motivation.
The Power of Positive Recognition

Prioritize recognition for people and you can ensure a positive, productive organization. Belief that
recognition is positive is common among employers even if not commonly carried out. Why is
recognition so closely guarded in many organizations? Here are tips to help you recognize people more
often.
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Top Ten Ways to Show Appreciation

You can tell your colleagues, coworkers and staff how much you value them and their contribution any
day of the year. Trust me. No occasion is necessary. In fact, small surprises and tokens of your
appreciation spread throughout the year help the people in your work life feel valued all year long.
Employee Recognition Rocks: Kick Employee Recognition Up a Notch

Employee recognition is limited in most organizations. Employees complain about the lack of
recognition regularly. Managers ask, “Why should I recognize or thank him? He’s just doing his job.”
And, life at work is busy, busy, busy. These factors combine to create work places that fail to provide
recognition for employees. Managers who prioritize employee recognition understand the power of
recognition.
Make Their Day! Employee Recognition That Works

This is an excerpt from the fully-revised and expanded second edition of Make Their Day! Employee
Recognition That Works (Berrett-Koehler May 2009) The book is written for managers. This chapter
focuses on how HR can help them to provide the best possible recognition for employees.
Five Tips for Effective Employee Recognition: How to Reward, Recognize,...

Employee recognition is not just a nice thing to do for people. Employee recognition is a
communication tool that reinforces and rewards the most important outcomes people create for your
business. When you recognize people effectively, you reinforce, with your chosen means of
recognition, the actions and behaviors you most want to see people...
Provide Motivational Employee Recognition

You can avoid the employee recognition traps that: single out one or a few employees who are
mysteriously selected for the recognition; sap the morale of the many who failed to win, place, or
even show; confuse people who meet the criteria yet were not selected; or sought votes or other
personalized, subjective criteria to determine winners. Learn more.
Promotion Is Often a Reward to an Employee for Work Contributions

The advancement of an employee from one position to another position that has a higher salary
range, a higher level job title, and more job responsibility is called a promotion. A promotion is a form
of employee recognition for above average work contributions.
Make Your Coworker's Retirement Memorable

Retirement is a big deal. Retirement marks the start of another chapter in an employee’s life.
Retirement marks the end of a career, or the start of a new one. Retirement is a life event that
changes every day that the retiring employee experiences. And, retirement changes relationships,
customary patterns, and coworkers interactions. You can...
Employee Retention: Tips and Tools for Employee

Retention
Employee retention, especially of your best, most desirable employees, is a key challenge in
organizations today. Use these tips, articles, tools and ideas to learn employee retention strategies
that will help you retain your best staff. Learn loyalty strategies for employee retention.
Employees Complain - What Causes Your Employees to Complain?

Employees complain. Face it. If you work with people, sometimes employees complain. Ignoring
employee complaints will only increase their complaining. What do employees in your company
complain about?
More Tips to Reduce Employee Turnover

Competitive salary, competitive vacation and holidays, and tuition reimbursement are three basics in
employee retention. Especially for millennial employees, these are the holy grail for recruitment and
retention. But, employers can reduce employee turnover in many other ways. (If you think these read
like the Golden Rule, you're right, they do.) Reducing employee turnover is dependant on the total
work environment you offer for employees.
Manager's Role in Successful Motivation

The manager plays the most important role in successful employee motivation. Learn more about the
manager's role in a workplace that fosters high employee morale and positive employee motivation.
Learn more about employee motivation and its relationship to management.
How Managers Motivate Employees

What can managers do to motivate employees? The reality, when you talk about how to motivate
employees, is that employees are motivated. The manager's challenge is to figure out how to tap into
that motivation to accomplish work goals. Fortunately, he or she controls environmental factors that
are key in motivating employees. Find out more...

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Employee Surveys
Employee satisfaction surveys help employers measure and understand their employees' attitude,
opinions, motivation, and satisfaction. Other employee surveys measure training needs, job
satisfaction, communication, empowerment, and more. Use employee surveys to discover what your
employees think.
1. Employee Satisfaction (6)
Conduct a Simple Training Needs Assessment
Want to quickly learn the training needs of a group of employees who have similar jobs? Yet, you
don't want to develop and implement a survey, put the questions in a computer program, or run
analyses on demographic information you collect. This training needs assessment works best in small
to mid-sized organizations. It will give you a quick assessment of the training needs of an employee
group. This training needs assessment helps find common training programs for a group of
employees.
Employee Satisfaction Surveys

Employee satisfaction surveys help employers measure and understand their employees' attitude,
opinions, motivation, and general satisfaction with their work environment. Use employee satisfaction
surveys to inform employee decision making, benefits, work needs and more.
Employee Satisfaction
Employee satisfaction is the terminology used to describe whether employees are happy and
contented and fulfilling their desires and needs at work. Employee satisfaction is often measured by
anonymous surveys administered periodically that gauge employee satisfaction in areas such as
management and teamwork.
Five Recommendations for Employee Satisfaction Surveys

Employee satisfaction surveys and focus groups help the employer to identify areas of employee
satisfaction and dissatisfaction. For accurate, reliable results, employee satisfaction surveys or focus
group questions need to be ...
What is total rewards?

Total Rewards: All of the tools available to the employer that may be used to attract, motivate
and retain employees. Total rewards include everything the employee perceives to be of value
resulting from the employment relationship.
Throughout history, employers have been challenged with attracting, motivating and retaining
employees. From the simplest barter systems of centuries past to the current complex incentive
formulas of today, the organizational premise has been the same: Provide productivity and
results to our enterprise and we will provide you with something of value.
Learn More The 'It' Factor: A New Total
Rewards Model Leads the
Historical Snapshot Way
This April 2006 workspan article
WorldatWork Total Rewards Model explains the model in detail, as well
as provides terms and definitions for
Total Rewards Today the five key areas of total rewards:
compensation, benefits, work-life
Elements of Total Rewards effectiveness, performance and
recognition, and development and
Context of Total Rewards career opportunities.
How the Model is Used
Model Definitions
An Integrated Total Rewards Strategy
Free Downloads
Download Total Rewards in 2006 Brochure
Download WorldatWork Total Rewards Model

PDF
Download WorldatWork Total Rewards Model

PowerPoint Slide
(You are welcome to download the total rewards
model for your own educational purposes with
appropriate attribution to WorldatWork. Individuals
who wish to use the model as part of public
presentations should contact WorldatWork in
advance for permission.)
Historical Snapshot
In the earliest years that the fields of compensation and benefits were recognized as professions,
practice was based largely on formulas that served the entire employee population in an
organization. Salary structures were just that -- rigid and highly controlled -- and benefits
programs were designed as a one-size-fits-all answer to a homogenous work force.
In the 1970s and 1980s, organizations recognized that strategically designed compensation and
benefits programs could give them the edge in a rapidly changing environment. Organizations
were responding to:
• Global economic development and the emergence of multinational firms
• A much more competitive business environment
• Diversification of the work force to include workers who didn't fit the sole breadwinner, head-of-household
model of the '50s and '60s
• New government mandates related to employee benefits
• Rapidly rising benefits costs that prompted flexibility in programs to reduce costs.
Suddenly, the relatively simple compensation and benefits programs of the past were requiring
consideration of their strategic impact and relationship to one another. Integration became a key,
and compensation and benefits professionals emerged as critical strategic partners in their
organizations' leadership -- a position still occupied by leaders in the field today.
During the 1990s, companies experienced unprecedented challenges including:
• Dramatic changes in the workplace, including increased awareness of conflicts caused by family, home and
work demands.
• Workforce demographic changes that challenged the traditional working-father, stay-at-home-mother model
of previous decades.
• Fewer resources available for pay increases.
• Astronomical increases in health-care costs in some countries.
• Rapid decline of defined-benefit pension plans as a financially viable retirement model.
• Tremendous advances in technology and the emergence of new business opportunities.
• Geographic movement of many manufacturing and service roles.
• Advancement of pay-for-performance practices.
• Unprecedented mergers, acquisitions and global competition.
Collectively, these forces and others caused business leaders to scramble for ways to improve
efficiency, effectiveness and marketplace viability. HR professionals -- particularly those
specializing in compensation and benefits -- were challenged to contain costs and contribute to
improved business results. These professionals were at the forefront of designing and
implementing programmatic changes that have shaped the next generation of compensation and
benefits. The results have included improved alignment of pay and performance, tighter controls
on benefits costs, and more relevant and valued employee rewards programs.
Forward-thinking professionals realized that programmatic advances would not be enough.
While program efficiencies and cost controls have been pivotal for survival, many organizations
have recognized that an integrated and enriched "value exchange" between an employer and its
employees can accelerate velocity and success.
The concept of total rewards emerged in the 1990s as a new way of thinking about the
deployment of compensation and benefits, combined with the other tangible and intangible ways
that companies seek to attract, motivate and retain employees. Flexible companies and start-ups
were able to deploy these concepts rapidly, while other organizations have struggled with
entrenched organizational structures, practices and culture that have slowed or prevented
progress.
During the past decade, various total rewards models have been published. While each approach
presents a unique point of view, all of the models recognize the importance of leveraging
multiple programs, practices and cultural dynamics to satisfy and engage the best employees,
contributing to improved business performance and results.
Increasingly, it has become clear that the battle for talent involves much more than highly
effective, strategically designed compensation and benefits programs. While these programs
remain critical, the most successful companies have realized that they must take a much broader
look at the factors involved in attraction, motivation and retention. And they must deploy all of
the factors -- including compensation, benefits, work-life, performance and recognition and
development and career opportunities -- to their strategic advantage.
WorldatWork Total Rewards Model
As the association representing the professions comprising total rewards, WorldatWork has
served as a focal point for intellectual-capital development and dialogue about this topic. In
2000, after facilitating discussion with leading thinkers in the field, WorldatWork introduced a
total rewards framework intended to advance the concept and help practitioners think and
execute in new ways. The model focused on three elements:
• Compensation
• Benefits
• The Work Experience
○ Acknowledgement
○ Balance (of work and
life)
○ Culture
○ Development
(career/professional)
○ Environment
(workplace)
Up to this point, the association had focused solely on compensation and benefits. Yet,
specialists and generalists alike agreed that compensation and benefits -- while foundational and
representing the lion's share of human-capital costs -- cannot be fully effective unless they are
part of an integrated strategy of other programs and practices to attract, motivate and retain top
talent. Thus "the work experience" aspect of the first WorldatWork total rewards model included
aspects of employment that may be programmatic or just part of the overall experience of
working. For instance, recognition (acknowledgement) may be part of a formal rewards program
or may be as simple as a thank-you from the boss or a co-worker. Workplace flexibility (part of
work-life) may manifest itself as a formal telework program or as having a culture and practices
that embrace work-life flexibility.
As companies were exposed to total rewards, understanding of the concept advanced rapidly. In
fact, the concept has become the practice in many companies. While the term didn't even exist a
decade ago, today departments and jobs include the term. A September 2005 survey of
WorldatWork members revealed that more than 90% of respondents use the terms "total
rewards," "total compensation" or "compensation and benefits" to describe the collective
strategies deployed by their companies to attract, motivate and retain the talent needed to be
successful.
During the past several years, the concept of total rewards has advanced considerably.
Practitioners have experienced the power of leveraging multiple factors to attract, motivate and
retain talent; high-performing companies realize that their proprietary total rewards programs
allow them to excel in new ways. At the same time, human resource professionals, consulting
firms, service providers and academic institutions have made significant contributions to our
understanding of total rewards.
Total Rewards Today
From 2000 to 2005, the bodies of knowledge associated with total rewards became more robust
as practitioners experienced the power of integrated strategies. Organizational and departmental
structure changes allowed for better integration, and professional understanding improved as
well. Advanced literature, research and case studies accelerated visibility for total rewards
beyond the HR profession, garnering notice from line managers and, indeed, the C-suite.
Given this advanced thinking and the increased importance of total rewards as a core business
strategy, WorldatWork convened teams of volunteers -- leading professionals in the field -- to
create an enhanced view of total rewards. The result: a comprehensive model that demonstrates
the context, components and contributions of total rewards as part of an integrated business
strategy.
Elements of Total Rewards

There are five elements of total rewards, each of which includes programs, practices, elements
and dimensions that collectively define an organization's strategy to attract, motivate and retain
employees. These elements are:
• Compensation
• Benefits
• Work-Life
• Performance and Recognition
• Development and Career Opportunities
The elements represent the "tool kit" from which an organization chooses to offer and align a
value proposition that creates value for both the organization and the employee. An effective
total rewards strategy results in satisfied, engaged and productive employees, who in turn create
desired business performance and results.
The elements, as WorldatWork has defined them, are not mutually exclusive and are not
intended to represent the ways that companies organize or deploy programs and elements within
them. For instance, performance management may be a compensation-function- driven activity
or may be decentralized in line organizations; it can be managed formally or informally.
Likewise, recognition could be considered an element of compensation, benefits and work-life.
Context for Total Rewards
The WorldatWork model recognizes that total rewards operates in the context of overall business
strategy, organizational culture and HR strategy. Indeed, a company's exceptional culture or
external brand value may be considered a critical component of the total employment value
proposition. The backdrop of the WorldatWork model is a globe, representing the external
influences on a business, such as:
• Legal/regulatory issues
• Cultural influences and practices
• Competition
The Exchange Relationship
An important dimension of the model is the "exchange relationship" between the employer and
employee. Successful companies realize that productive employees create value for their
organizations in return for tangible and intangible value that enriches their lives.
Total Rewards Leveraging Five Elements to Attract, Motivate,

=
Strategy Retain
• Compensation • Performance and Recognition

• Benefits • Development and Career Opportunities
• Work-Life
The Exchange Relationship
EMPLOYER PROVIDES: EMPLOYEE PROVIDES:

|
Total rewards valued by employees Time, talent, effort and results
Context of Total Rewards
• Business Strategy • External influences (competition, industry, regulation, etc.

• Organizational culture • Geography (location of workforce)
• HR strategy
How the Model is Used

The current model is intended as intellectual capital to help professionals and to guide the
programming and content provided by our association. WorldatWork presents this new model to:
• Represent the profession's conceptual framework for total rewards
• Serve as a tool for practitioners to use with management in their own organizations
• Depict the official WorldatWork model of total rewards
• Serve as a foundation and guidepost for intellectual capital development in the profession
• Become a tool for academics, consultants and others to support their intellectual capital endeavors.
Model Definitions
Total Rewards
Total rewards is the monetary and non-monetary return provided to
employees in exchange for their time, talents, efforts and results. It involves
the deliberate integration of five key elements that effectively attract,
motivate and retain the talent required to achieve desired business results.
The five key rewards elements are:
• Compensation
• Benefits
• Work-life
• Performance and Recognition
• Development and Career Opportunities
Total rewards strategy is the art of combining these five elements into
tailored packages designed to achieve optimal motivation. For a total
rewards strategy to be successful, employees must perceive monetary and
non-monetary rewards as valuable.
Compensation
Pay provided by an employer to an employee for services rendered (i.e.,
time, effort and skill). Compensation comprises four core elements:
• Fixed pay -- Also known as "base pay," fixed pay is nondiscretionary
compensation that does not vary according to performance or results achieved. It
usually is determined by the organization's pay philosophy and structure.
• Variable pay -- Also known as "pay at risk," variable pay changes directly with the
level of performance or results achieved. It is a one-time payment that must be re-
established and re-earned each performance period.
• Short-term incentive pay - A form of variable pay, short-term incentive pay is
designed to focus and reward performance over a period of one-year or less.
• Long-term incentive pay -- A form of variable pay, long-term incentive pay is
designed to focus and reward performance over a period longer than one year.
Typical forms include stock options, restricted stock, performance shares,
performance units and cash.
Benefits
Programs an employer uses to supplement the cash compensation that
employees receive.
• These programs are designed to protect the employee and his or her
family from financial risks and can be categorized into the following three
elements:
• Social Insurance
○ Unemployment
○ Workers' compensation
○ Social Security
○ Disability (occupational)
• Group Insurance
○ Medical
○ Dental
○ Vision
○ Prescription drug
○ Mental health
○ Life insurance
○ AD&D insurance
○ Disability
○ Retirement
○ Savings
• Pay for Time Not Worked -- These programs are designed to protect the
employee's income flow when not actively engaged at work.
○ At work (breaks, clean-up time, uniform changing time)
○ Away from work (vacation, company holidays, personal days).
Work-Life
A specific set of organizational practices, policies, programs, plus a
philosophy, which actively supports efforts to help employees achieve
success at both work and home. There are seven major categories of
organizational support for work-life effectiveness in the workplace. These
categories encompass compensation, benefits and other HR programs. In
combination, they address the key intersections of the worker, his or her
family, the community and the workplace. The seven major categories are:
• Workplace flexibility
• Paid and unpaid time off
• Health and well-being
• Caring for dependents
• Financial support
• Community involvement
• Management involvement/culture change interventions.
Performance and Recognition

Performance
A key component of organizational success, alignment of organizational,
team and individual performance is assessed in order to understand what
was accomplished, and how it was accomplished. Performance involves the
alignment of organizational, team and individual effort toward the
achievement of business goals and organizational success.
• Performance planning - is a process whereby expectations are established
linking individual with team and organizational goals. Care is taken to ensure goals
at all levels are aligned and there is clear line of sight from performance
expectations of individual employees all the way up to organizational objectives
and strategies set at the highest levels of the organization.
• Performance - is the manner of demonstrating a skill or capacity.
• Performance feedback - communicates how well people do a job or task
compared to expectations, performance standards and goals. Performance
feedback can motivate employees to improve performance.
Recognition
Acknowledges or gives special attention to employee actions, efforts,
behavior or performance. It meets an intrinsic psychological need for
appreciation for one's efforts and can support business strategy by
reinforcing certain behaviors (e.g., extraordinary accomplishments) that
contribute to organizational success. Whether formal or informal,
recognition programs acknowledge employee contributions immediately
after the fact, usually without predetermined goals or performance levels
that the employee is expected to achieve. Awards can be cash or non-cash
(e.g., verbal recognition, trophies, certificates, plaques, dinners, tickets,
etc.).
The value of recognition plans is that they:
• Reinforce the value of performance improvement
• Foster continued improvement, although it is not guaranteed
• Formalize the process of showing appreciation
• Provide positive and immediate feedback
• Foster communication of valued behavior and activities.
Development and Career Opportunities

Development
A set of learning experiences designed to enhance employees' applied skills
and competencies; development engages employees to perform better and
leaders to advance their organizations' people strategies.
Career Opportunities
A plan for an employee to advance their own career goals and may include
advancement into a more responsible position in an organization. The
organization supports career opportunities internally so that talented
employees are deployed in positions that enable them to deliver their
greatest value to their organization.
Development and career opportunities include the following:
• Learning Opportunities
○ Tuition assistance
○ Corporate universities
○ New technology training
○ Attendance at outside seminars, conferences, virtual education, etc.
○ Self-development tools and techniques
○ On the job learning; rotational assignments at a progressively higher level
○ Sabbaticals with the express purpose of acquiring specific skills,
knowledge or experience.
• Coaching/Mentoring
○ Leadership training
○ Access to experts/information networks -- association memberships,
attendance and/or presentation at conferences outside of one's area of
expertise
○ Exposure to resident experts
○ Formal or informal mentoring programs; in or outside one's own
organization.
• Advancement Opportunities
○ Internships
○ Apprenticeships with experts
○ Overseas assignments
○ Internal job postings
○ Job advancement/promotion
○ Career ladders and pathways
○ Succession planning
○ Providing defined and respectable "on and off ramps" throughout the
career life cycle
An Integrated Total Rewards Strategy

Culture
Culture consists of the collective attitudes and behaviors that influence how individuals behave.
Culture determines how and why a company operates in the way it does. Typically, it is
comprised of a set of often unspoken expectations, behavioral norms and performance standards
to which the organization has become accustomed. Culture change is difficult to achieve because
it involves changing attitudes and behaviors by altering their fundamental beliefs and values.
Organizational culture is subject to internal and external influences; thus, culture is depicted as a
contextual element of the total rewards model, overlapping within and outside the organization.
Source: Schein, E. (1990) Organizational Culture, American Psychologist, February, Vol. 43, no.
2, 109-119
Environment
Environment is the total cluster of observable physical, psychological and behavioral elements in
the workplace. It is the tangible manifestation of organizational culture. Environment sets the
tone, as everyone who enters the workplace reacts to it, either consciously or unconsciously.
Because they are directly observable and often measurable, specific elements of the environment
can be deliberately manipulated or changed. The external environment in which an organization
operates can influence the internal environment; thus, environment is depicted as a contextual
element of the total rewards model, overlapping within and outside the organization.
Attraction
The ability an organization has to draw the right kind of talent necessary to achieve
organizational success. Attraction of an adequate (and perpetual) supply of qualified talent is
essential for the organization's survival, and it is one of the key planks of business strategy. One
way an organization can address this issue is to determine which "attractors" within the total
rewards programs brings the kind of talent that will drive organizational success. A deliberate
strategy to attract the quantity and quality of employees needed to drive organizational success is
one of the key planks of business strategy.
Retention
An organization's ability to keep employees who are valued contributors to organizational
success for as long as is mutually beneficial. Desired talent can be kept on-staff by using a
dynamic blend of elements from the total rewards package as employees move through their
career lifecycles. However, not all retention is desirable, which is why a formal retention strategy
with appropriate steps is essential.
Motivation
The ability to cause employees to behave in a way that achieves the highest performance levels.
Motivation is comprised of two types:
• Intrinsic Motivation -- Linked to factors that include an employee's sense of achievement, respect for the
whole person, trust, appropriate advancement opportunities and others, intrinsic motivation consistently
results in higher performance levels.
• Extrinsic Motivation -- Extrinsic motivation is most frequently associated with rewards that are tangible
such as pay.
There also are defined levels of intensity with regard to motivation:
• Satisfaction -- how much I like things here
• Commitment -- how much I want to be here
• Engagement -- how much I will actually do to improve business results.
Another key plank of the business strategy, motivation can drive organizational success.
Building a Unique Total Rewards and HR System

For A Unique Company At
Since Starbucks isn’t your typical company, this isn’t a typical case study. Rather than focusing on a
single reward program or even the entire reward system, this case focuses on how the entire total
reward and human resources (HR) systems at Starbucks are linked to the business objectives and
reinforce the company’s strong culture and values. Working in mutual support of the business, the
culture, and values, this integrated HR system has helped shape a powerful success story that didn’t
rely on conventional thinking and trends with respect to the treatment of its workforce.
A Brief History of Starbucks
Starbucks Coffee Company, as we know it today, began in 1987, when Howard Schultz, the current
chairman and CEO, acquired the assets from the original founders, whom he had worked with from
1982 to 1985. In 1987, Starbucks had 11 stores. The original business plan, and promise to the
investors, was to have 125 stores within five years.
From 1987 to 1992, the company remained private, growing at the astonishing rate of 80% per year
to more than 150 stores. In June 1992, the company went public, and it was one of the most
successful initial public offerings of the year. Today, Starbucks is the leading retailer, roaster, and
brand of specialty coffee in North America. It operates more than 1,800 retail locations in North
America, the United Kingdom, and the Pacific Rim and has established joint-venture partnerships
with Breyer’s (to produce coffee ice cream) and PepsiCo (to produce Frappuccino, a bottled coffee
drink). Sales for fiscal year 1997 were $967 million, an increase of nearly 39% over the previous
year, and the company employed more than 25,000 partners (the company’s term for employees).
The company goal is to have more than 2,000 locations in North America by the year 2000. The
company mission is to “establish Starbucks as the premier purveyor of the finest coffee in the world
while maintaining our uncompromising principles as we grow.”
Starbucks’ Culture and Values: The Driver of HR and Reward Systems
Starbucks is a values-driven company, with a firmly established set of principles that are widely
shared within the organization. It is also a company that puts its employees first and invests a
tremendous amount in them. None of this is by accident. Source: Wilson, Thomas, B., Rewards That Drive
High Performance, Amazon, New York, 1999. www.wilsongroup.com 1
It all stems from the values and beliefs of its CEO. Says Schultz, “I wanted to establish the kind of
company that gave people a form of equity (ownership) and comprehensive health insurance, and
most importantly, give them self-esteem in the workplace. People feel that Starbucks is a place that
gives them self-respect and values the contributions they make, regardless of their education or
where they are in the company.” The company believes that if it puts partners first, the result will be
exceptional customer service, and by extension, if it has highly satisfied customers, the financial
returns will follow.
Reinforcing Culture & Values through HR and Total Rewards
In order to reinforce and help drive the Starbucks culture, leading-edge compensation and benefits
programs have been put in place. Full- and part-time partners (who meet eligibility criteria) are
offered health, dental, and vision insurance, as well as access to an employee assistance program
(EAP), reimbursement accounts, short- and long-term disability, and Working Solutions, Inc. (a
resource and referral service) to help manage work and family issues. This is very atypical of the
retail industry, which for the most part does not pay the costs associated with providing benefits to
part-time employees. Even though the costs of providing these benefits to part-time employees raises
the overall cost of benefits at Starbucks, the average cost of providing benefits to an employee, vis-
a`-vis the competition, is still lower. While this investment is significant, it pays tremendous
dividends. The people who receive these benefits greatly appreciate and value them and, as a result,
provide customers with better service.
Second, all partners have an opportunity to become owners of the company. The company instituted
the Bean Stock (i.e., broadbased) stock option program in 1991 and the Stock Investment Plan (SIP)
to purchase stock at a discount in 1995. Part-time employees who maintain a minimum number of
hours are again eligible for both programs. The Bean Stock program provides stock options on an
annual basis, in an amount up to 14% of base salary, for any partner employed from April 1 to the
end of the fiscal year, working at least 500 hours during this period, and employed with the company
when the options are distributed in January. As Starbucks stock price has continued to climb, the
value of the options provided to employees has been significant; more important, when combined
with the education the company offers relative to creating value and profits, it has linked employees
to shareholder value.
Reinforcing culture and values is more than just a total rewards issue, however. The total rewards
system, while a powerful lever to help drive the business, is but one element that cannot be viewed in
isolation from other key human resources levers that have been put in place. These other levers
include extensive employee education, an open and highly communicative environment, and a
unique program called Mission Review, which is part of a broader program called Partner Snapshot.
Partner Snapshot is a comprehensive effort aimed at getting feedback from the company’s partners.
Source: Wilson, Thomas, B., Rewards That Drive High Performance, Amazon, New York, 1999.
www.wilsongroup.com 2
It parallels the Customer Snapshot program aimed at getting customer feedback. Partner Snapshot
includes company-wide surveys, Mission Review, and a relatively new telephone-based survey
system on key company and partner-related issues.
Mission Review is a formal program that was set up in 1990 to ensure that the company is living up
to its mission statement. Every location has comment cards addressed to the Mission Review team
that employees use when they see decisions and outcomes that do not support the mission statement.
Relevant managers have two weeks to respond to the employee and the issue. Additionally, a cross-
organizational team meets to review employee concerns, seek solutions, and provide a report at the
open forums. Not only does this keep the mission statement alive and well; it reinforces the openness
of the culture.
All partners hired to work in a retail position receive a minimum of 24 hours of training during their
first month with the company. This training includes an orientation to the company, customer service
skills, and the technical skills necessary to work in the stores. An extensive management-training
program also exists, focusing on leadership skills, customer service, diversity, and career
development.
Open communication is also part of the norm at Starbucks. Open forums, held several times a year,
update partners on happenings within the company, explain the financials, and allow partners to ask
questions of senior management and provide input to them as well. Additionally, a regular employee
newsletter is published that also discusses developments within the company, along with a column on
benefits and ownership programs.
The Evolution of HR and Total Rewards at Starbucks

One other thing that has been learned and focused on at Starbucks is that as the company has moved
through various stages of its life cycle, the HR and total reward systems have had to evolve as well.
For example, in the late 1980s, Starbucks was a regional company with a single product focus. Its
HR organization was primarily made up of administrators—smart, people-oriented partners with
bright ideas, but who at the same time were characterized as being highly reactive and caught up in
manual processing, with a significant amount of the work directed by consultants. Compensation and
benefits during this period (it had yet to evolve into a total rewards function) were characterized by
part-time coverage of the basics and the implementation of the 401(k) plan.
In the early 1990s, Starbucks became a truly national company with multiple product lines. Human
resources became a project manager, moving from administration to HR management, delivering
products and tools that supported the business. Certain services began to be outsourced that were not
core competencies of the organization.
Further automation Source: Wilson, Thomas, B., Rewards That Drive High Performance, Amazon, New York,
1999. www.wilsongroup.com 3
Further automation of HR functions continued. Compensation and benefits was characterized by a

move to total rewards that included additional health benefits,
maturation of healthcare delivery to managed care, coverage for same-sex partners, and an employee
assistance program.
As Starbucks moves into the late 1990s, it will become increasingly international in scope and
business focus. Simultaneously, HR has positioned itself to be a business leader: a technology based
organization that is integrated with the business units, providing business consulting and strategic
management. Numerous vendor partnerships have been established that have increased the strength
and quality of total pay offerings and will allow an integrated national and international HR focus
that remains connected to the strategy of the business.
The Results to Date
Have the results of this integrated HR and total reward system that strongly reinforces the culture and
values of the organization been worth the investment? It certainly appears that it has. The company
was named one of the Fortune 100 “Best Companies to Work For.” The financial growth of the
company has been exceptional, with revenues of nearly $1 billion in fiscal year 1997. The stock price
has increased more than 30 times its original price, including two stock splits. Employee turnover,
especially within the stores, is dramatically below the retail industry norms, running at an annual rate
of one-half to one-third that of the industry norm. Results of the employee satisfaction survey
indicate that partners tremendously enjoy working for Starbucks and feel terrific about the leadership
of the company. The external firm that conducts the employee survey said that the results at
Starbucks were literally “off the charts” when compared with most other firms.
Can they quantitatively correlate these results of the HR and total reward system efforts? Not likely.
However, there is a strong feeling by senior executives, managers, HR, and employees that these
programs have certainly contributed a great deal to the growth and development of the company and
its employees.
What the Future Holds
As the company continues to expand its stores both nationally and internationally and the employee
population continues to rapidly grow, several challenges are posed on the HR and reward systems
front. How can the company continue to reinforce and live its strong culture and value system as it
gets more diverse, spread out, and bigger? As Starbucks grows larger, how can it maintain a small
company feel? How do programs such as Bean Stock, which have been extremely successful,
maintain their vibrancy and stay aligned with the changes in the business and the needs of
employees?
Providing solutions to these questions in ways that continue to reinforce the company’s culture and
values and demonstrate commitment to putting employees first, is where HR and total rewards at
Starbucks will be focusing today and into the near future. If the future is anything like the past, stay
tuned for some exciting and unique developments. Source: Wilson, Thomas, B., Rewards That Drive High
Performance, Amazon, New York, 1999. www.wilsongroup.com 4
Problems in Implementing Rewards and Recognition Strategies:

Well we all know the importance of rewards and Recognitions in the current
scenario.
Our IT Sector has a lot of professionals who work their heads out, but still might
not regard their Organisation as the best place to work for, as the efforts go
unrecognised.
But, a reward strategy never becomes successful as long as the employee

recognise it as a reward.
So my dear friends in the IT sector, can you help me out in this project of mine by
stating the problems that you have faced in implementing Rewards and
recognitions strategy?
Thanks a lot for your time!!

Pratik
Subject - Re: Problems in Implementing a Rewards and Recognitions Stra
Sorry to reply so late to your post...hav my xms round the corner.
Going by what little i know abt the IT industry and R&R scheme as such, plz don
take my suggetions too seriously but atleast u can give a thought.....rite? k...here
goes.....
See first thing that u need to c in ur oeganisation is if the iorganisation has a sound
working organisation system..usually in IT we follow team or group system of
organising work, so if that's how it is then more than just implementation of
quantitive R&R scheme, u need a qualitative one w.r.t. team skills, behaviour,
motivation, leadership qualities etc etc...(the list is long).
Not that u shd do qualitative only but do include this aspect and when u're deciding
to find out a system of quantitative basis, u could judge ppl from the point of the
quality of work, no of fruitful hrs at work, amt of work, dedication to work,
innovative skills and new ideas are very important in IT and need high weightage
and all the other usual things that are there in any R&R scheme.
As for the part of quantivie to qualitative u can wieght them according to your
needs, though i would prescribe 70-30 given the general nature of organisational
structure.
I think this should be useefull to you..and remember in IT and in HR all u need is
innovation and better perfection.....so put on ur thinking caps and think as to what
the people in ur organisations require and make out a plan of implementation w.r.t.
how ur HR department looks or gives importance to this....best of luck.
Pratik
09830418701
do reply as to whether it does help....i'll be waiting eagerly for ur feedback and if u

need anyone to help u in as a trainee on this, count me in...by the way m in 1st yr
B.com
Employee Motivation is a widely practiced exercise today across all corporate sectors regardless
of their size of being either big or small. Just like the psychological need for any individual to be
appreciated over his efforts, the same idea of thought stems the need for rewards and recognition
in order to increase the work drive of an employee and increase his efficiency and seriousness
towards work.
Rewards and Recognition could not be a priced possession tangibly, but it rather plays a
significant role in shaping the mental frame of an employee and attuning him to the goals of the
organization in order to meet their set plans and targets to achieve success.
Every human being likes to be appreciated, and when an employer or a boss shows recognition
or acknowledges the efforts of an employee, it encourages them to become more self-motivated
backed by a will to contribute to the goals of the business without a reminder to do so. They tend
to develop an emotion of a personal goal with the success of the organization, thereby displaying
a better performance graph and increased participation, along with self initiative
towards a project.
Apart from self motivation and increased efficiency to perform well; the business models
understand the scope of Employee Motivation from another angle too. Rewards and Recognition
foster a feeling of competition, thereby taking the title as a certificate of their good work. This
positive certificate would want to be achieved by any serious worker and he or she would strive
for the same. A feeling of competition among the employees fosters an urge to be better than the
rest, and many times break the paradigms and evolve as better than the best.
All this contributes to higher efficiency and performance drive imbibed in the spirit of the
employee. Recognition and reward programs today are widely practiced by many corporate
firms, which leads to a lot of happy faces and some more satisfied employees.
Work Satisfaction is of utmost importance to the phenomenon of Employee Retention. Most of
the employees though may be well engaged in a firm, but that would not necessarily mean that
they are hundred percent satisfied in their positions. Therefore, apart from increased work
efficiency and fostering a feeling of competition among employees, the motivational aspect of
reward and recognition plays an instrument in bringing about employee retention. Today, with
the multiplicity of options in the job market, job switches are very common. Hence, the only key
to ensure maximum longevity of an individual within the company is by ensuring that the worker
is duly satisfied in the firm.
Over here, the human resource executive plays a vital role in understanding the potential of an
employee as against his work track record, which decides who is to be motivated and in what
form.
Employee Motivation can arise from psychological to financial increment. It is a human resource
executive who has to identify individually the need of the worker.
There can be appraisals, to recognition to elevating a person from his designation to a better one
by means of promotion, merit pay etc. All this depends from case to case, depending on how the
employee has been performing and his potential showed along the line to determine how the
person has to be recognized or rewarded on the type of work quality displayed over a period of
time.
Therefore, it is the machinery of human resource which identifies the motivational factor of an
individual and facilitates efficiency in the work by taking care of the mental as well as other
professional needs of the employee.
Similar Posts
• Employee Motivation Programs Have Multifarious Benefits
• Employee Engagement: Fostering Longevity and Efficiency
• Overview of Employee Appraisal Systems
• Machinery of any Organization: Human Resource
• How to Strike a Friendly Chord?
Employee Rewards Can Motivate and Demotivate Too How?

During one of my conversation with a CEO of a start-up company the discussion turned towards
Compensation Planning to motivate employees, especially the talented ones. It was agreed that
the most talented ones need a continuous motivation to maintain their momentum. During the
discussion, the CEO narrated one of his bad experiences about one of his talented employees,
whom he admired, wanted to reward, motivate and compensate appropriately.
Tom worked with John, the CEO of the company, and was a very talented employee who
worked diligently. John being happy with the Tom’s work, rewarded him
with a cash prize of $ 1000 (which was a significant amount ), in anticipation that Tom will be
motivated to perform better. He also had lots of plans for Tom in the back of his mind. Both Tom
and John seemed happy and thought that they did a good job.
Contrary to John’s belief Tom submitted his resignation within a much shorter span. During his
exit interview, Tom did not state any specific reason for his resignation too (although, it was
found later that he left for a better compensation package). His resignation came as a shock to
John, who was genuinely interested in retaining good employees and did all what he could do to
ensure it.
‘Where was the mistake?’, questioned the CEO to himself and to me too.
As I did not know much about the employee, it was inappropriate for me to come to any
conclusion. But the question always remained behind the back of my mind. I always believed
that it had something to do with appropriate compensation planning and rewards.
Here is a relevant a research paper by Rick Garlick, Ph.D., Director of Consulting and
Strategic Implementation, Maritz Research titled ‘Individual Differences in Reward
Practices‘.
The objective of this research was to find out what motivates different employees and to define
some general categories of employees with specific reward or compensation aspirations. Here is
an abstract of the research.
While everyone understands intuitively that we are not all motivated equally by the same
rewards, you might not know it by the way many companies manage their incentive programs.
Many times, human resource managers assume that what is rewarding to them will be rewarding
to others as well, which may be a false presumption.
As Maritz Inc. was interested in understanding how the workforce is segmented on its reward
preferences, it conducted an online Maritz® Poll of 1,003 North Americans. An analysis of
participants’ recognition preferences identified six distinct reward profiles, along with some of
the more common characteristics of people that were most likely to fall within each ‘reward’
segment.
Reward Profiles
Awards Seekers (22% of the general population, rounded to the nearest whole number):
Awards Seekers want incentives that have both monetary and trophy value. These individuals are
highly motivated by gift cards and travel awards. Awards Seekers also place higher value than
most others on status awards. They are far less motivated by things that might take time away
from their normal routines such as the opportunity to mentor other employees, the opportunity to
work with people outside their own area, or the opportunity to take on particularly challenging
new projects.
Nesters (20%): This group was defined by what they found de-motivating as
much as anything else. Nesters were turned off by incentives that took them away from home.
Travel awards and the opportunity to attend conferences were least appealing to this group.
Nesters were far more likely to enjoy days off, flexible scheduling, and a reward of a meal with
their family than those in the other segments.
Bottom Liners (19%): In many ways, Bottom Liners resemble Awards Seekers in that they are
extrinsically motivated. The difference between the two is that Bottom Liners have less concern
about trophy or award value and are really only concerned about the monetary value of rewards.
This group places the highest importance on receiving a cash bonus. They also value awards,
such as ‘point programs’ that they can accumulate. They place very little emphasis on receiving
direct praise or recognition in any form. This group had the highest proportion of females (59%).
Freedom Yearners (17%): Freedom Yearners are less materially motivated, with
limited interest in things like gift cards and cumulative award programs. Freedom Yearners are
best rewarded by giving them flexibility. This includes offering flexible hours, the freedom to
choose how to best achieve their goals and the ability to choose interesting and challenging
projects. Freedom Yearners are intrinsically motivated and work best when simply left alone.
Define the outcomes you want them to achieve, but allow them to find their own best path to
accomplishing their goals.
Praise Cravers (16%): These individuals value any type of praise more than any other segment.
This praise may be given verbally, written, formal or informally given by peers. These people
have a higher desire to have their work acknowledged, with or without an accompanying award
of monetary value. These people also have the least interest in taking days off or flexible
scheduling, suggesting that they achieve a great deal of personal significance from a job well
done at work that is recognized accordingly.
Upward Movers (8%): Upward Movers are undoubtedly the most satisfied and committed
among all of the employee segments. They are the least interested in cash bonuses, days off and
flexible scheduling. These people love their jobs and want to move up within their companies.
Among all of the segments, this group places the highest importance on status awards, the
opportunity to mentor other employees, and the opportunity to work with people outside their
own areas.
The research demonstrated that meaningless rewards and recognition is about the same as
nothing at all. Since companies make a significant investment in recognition programs, it
behooves them to gain as complete understanding of their employee populations as possible to
facilitate the best results for their investments. Segmenting employees based on
reward/recognition profiling and targeting to specific preferences is a way to make sure that their
time, money and effort is wisely spent.
Defining appropriate compensation to employees is one of the most important tasks of an HR
Manager and the management team because it plays a critical role in retaining talented
employees. On basis of the above research and other observations the following points are
important while planning employee compensation:
• Compensation offered should fit the reward profile of the employee. To
ensure this, manager of the employee should be

consulted (because he is the most appropriate person who knows about the
preference of the employee) and made a partner in the Compensation
Planning.
• Compensation should be offered quickly and as soon as possible, much
before your competition offers a better compensation to your Talented
Employee.
• Non-monetary compensations plays as important role as a monetary
compensation. Rewards like paid offs, paid vacations, free meals energizes
employees more than a packet of dollars.
Most organizations that want to excel in their domains and aspire to become market leaders, use
Compensation Planning tools. A compensation planning tool involves line managers in helping
decide increments for their juniors, allows setup of rules by the HR (compensation planners) to
define the increment bands, bonus criteria etc., encourages real time feedback to managers and a
collaborative framework to allow full participation of both managers and HR to take decisions
about the increments,integrate with appraisal scores, employee attendance, training, and other
employee related issues which may impact performance pay and provides management reports &
a tool for on-line analysis of financial impact.
Do you think you need a compensation planning tool?
13 Responses to “Do your rewards motivate or else!”
1. Michelle Says:
December 4th, 2008 at 4:03 pm
I believe that employees are not totally motivated by money and that verbal rewards and
recognition go a long way. People like to feel utilized and appreciated to an extent. They
want to use their degree, acquired skills and talent to the fullest. If they are unhappy with
their positions a bonus or raise is only a short term solution to a permanent issue.
In compensation planning we diligently watch the markets for our area, what our
competition is doing, what level the person is coming in at compared to others and the
value they bring to the organization overall.
There are a lot of different factors to be considered in compensation planning and I think
your blog points a lot of those out accurately.
Some good examples are Paid Time Off, Holiday Pay,Flex Time, Casual Work
Environment, Tuition Reimbursement and Health and Fitness Reimbursement.
2. HRM Today – Blog Archive » Do your rewards motivate or else! Says:
[...] Read More… [...]
3. Ed Sykes Says:
Great article on why managers need to personalize motivation so that it powerful for each
individual employee.
Another great resource for motivation is http://www.thesykesgrp.com/Articles.htm.
4. Betty Says:
December 5th, 2008 at 12:26 am
I recently came accross your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave
my first
comment. I dont know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will
keep visiting this
blog very often.
Betty
http://www.my-foreclosures.info
5. Chris – Manager’s Sandbox Says:
Gireesh – Awesome article! I’m a strong proponent of Professor Rick Scholl’s “Five
Sources of Motivation Theory”, so I really enjoyed analyzing your article in the context
of that theory.
The 5 Sources Theory looks at what motivates individual behaviors at work (ie money,
freedom, praise, etc). You touched on the 5 Sources model in the beginning of your
article: The employee received a decent sum of money, but it’s apparent that’s not all that
motivated him. The Five sources in the model are Intrinsic, Instrumental (money, prizes,
etc.), Internal and External Validation (praise and accomplishment), and Goal
Identification.
Your article does an awesome job of breaking down the various types of rewards that
appeal to instrumentally motivated individuals – bonuses, free time, money, promotions
and so on – and touches briefly on external validation through praise and status.
Unfortunately, you ignore people who do things just because they like them (even if they
suck at them), people who work hard just to succeed at a challenge (even if no one else
finds out about it), and people who do things just to see a company succeed (very
common at non-profits).
Most companies put too much stock in instrumental motivational tools as it is, and most
people are driven by a combination of sources – including money, but other stuff too.
I think you provide a great list of instrumental motivation tools, but I’d love to see you
write another article examining some other motivational drivers. I’ve written about this
topic myself over at my blog. (Shameless plug – sorry) You can find them here:
http://managerssandbox.com/archives/motivating-your-employees/
I love your article, and look forward to reading more!
Cheers,
Chris
6. Clarita Says:
Great article … John’s scenerio is one that many leaders can learn from. I think
management spends quite a bit of time guessing and/or making assumptions on what
motivates individuals instead of getting to know them.
I also agree with Michelle. I think it different forms of compensation such paid time off,
or flex time would be just as rewarding, if not more rewarding, than receiving a bonus
check. In today’s society quality of life is definately important and what a great way to
recognize individuals by giving them a day off with pay.
Again, great article!
7. Bob Gately Says:
Hello Gireesh:
When managers use money as a motivator we should not be surprised that their
employees will see money as their prime motivator.
Managers have a secret weapon in the war against attrition and it is a word That All
Leaders Know — TALK.
“Tom worked with John, the CEO of the company, and was a very talented employee
who worked diligently.”
John was fortunate to have such an employee.
“John being happy with the Tom’s work, rewarded him with a cash prize of $1000
(which was a significant amount ), in anticipation that Tom will be motivated to perform
better.”
What led John to believe that Tom would be motivated to perform better?
Perhaps Tom believed he was underpaid and bonus proved it?
Did John discuss with Tom how to perform better?
“He also had lots of plans for Tom in the back of his mind.”
That is a huge management mistake.
John’s “plans in the back his mind” had no way to motivate or influence Tom’s decisions.
In fact, a lack of plans may well have demotivated Tom.
“Both Tom and John seemed happy and thought that they did a good job.”
John was not acting as an effective manager of Tom. John assumed too much.
“Contrary to John’s belief Tom submitted his resignation within a much shorter span.”
John’s beliefs were irrelevant to Tom, perhaps?
“During his exit interview, Tom did not state any specific reason for his resignation too
(although, it was found later that he left for a better compensation package).”
We should not presume that a former employee’s better compensation package was the
primary reason for leaving. I am suspect that the reason Tom left was his relationship
with John since Tom did not give a specific reason for leaving. Perhaps Tom did not want
to burn any bridges?
“His resignation came as a shock to John, who was genuinely interested in retaining good
employees and did all what he could do to ensure it.”
A manager who is stunned when a prized direct report leaves may have done all he could
do but he did not do the right things. For instance, the plans in the back of John’s mind
had to be shared with Tom long before Tom left.
There is no substitute for talking with direct reports.
8. Bob Gately Says:
When employees have an adequate or better talent for their jobs they will be engaged in
their work provided they are managed well and paid fairly.
Even if we reward an employee with a big bonus we will not increase the employee’s
talent and talent is what separates the best from the rest.
If we hire for talent, the job itself is the biggest and best reward. Sharing in profits is
always appreciated even by engaged employees.
9. Motivating Your Employees: Part 2 | Manager’s Sandbox Says:
[...] extra time off, promotions and so on. For a great article on instrumental motivation,
check out this article at Talent [...]
10.The Human Capital Vendor Space: Rants, Rulings and Ramblings by J. William
Tincup, Starr Tincup | » 4 Questions With… Gireesh Sharma Says:
April 14th, 2009 at 1:53 pm
[...] favorite comment is on my blog post “Do your rewards motivate or else!” It has been
written by the fellow blogger Chris – Manager’s Sandbox. I liked it because [...]
11.Tweets that mention Employee Rewards can Motivate; and Demotivate Too.
How? | Talent Junction – An HR Blog — Topsy.com Says:
July 22nd, 2010 at 3:01 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by robin fay, robin fay. robin fay said:
interesting article re: employee rewards 'meaningless rewards/recognition is about the
same as nothing at all' http://is.gd/dCzmR #fb [...]
12.Tito Says:
October 5th, 2010 at 3:35 am
Great article. It’s definitely been proven that a paycheck may not guarantee retention of
talent. It will be of great benefit if all the reward strategies above can be explored by
Managers to retain talents.
13.Natalie Loopbaanadvies Says:
Of course, I am motivated by rewards. But more than that, my motivation is seeing my
team perform. It is actually more of self-fulfillment for me.
Natalie Loopbaanadvies
Importance of Retention in HR:
The objective of this workshop is to equip HR professionals to reduce attrition rate

in their organizations. This workshop will help in understanding the root causes of
employee turnover, how to calculate costs of employee turnover and what the tools
to tackle this problem are. Our aim is that at the end of the workshop managers
should have enough understanding about the nuances of employee turnover and
means to retain the talents. At the end of the workshop candidates will be able to
·To learn why retention is important?
·How attrition analysis and diagnosis is done?

·What are the frameworks that are used to reduce attrition rate.
·What are the different strategies used for reducing attrition rate?
·How career planning and work enrichment cold reduce attrition rate?
·What are the emerging trends in retention management?
The program contains four modules designed in such a way that the candidate
being trained is equipped with all the knowledge and practical competencies
required to
Need and Importance of Employee Retention:
Employee Retention refers to the techniques employed by the management

to help the employees stay with the organization for a longer period of time.
Employee retention strategies go a long way in motivating the employees so
that they stick to the organization for the maximum time and contribute
effectively. Sincere efforts must be taken to ensure growth and learning for
the employees in their current assignments and for them to enjoy their work.
Employee retention has become a major concern for corporates in the
current scenario. Individuals once being trained have a tendency to move to
other organizations for better prospects. Lucrative salary, comfortable
timings, better ambience, growth prospects are some of the factors which
prompt an employee to look for a change. Whenever a talented employee
expresses his willingness to move on, it is the responsibility of the
management and the human resource team to intervene immediately and
find out the exact reasons leading to the decision.
Need & Importance of Employee Retention

Let us understand why retaining a valuable employee is essential
for an organization.
 Hiring is not an easy process: The HR Professional shortlists few
individuals from a large pool of talent, conducts preliminary interviews
and eventually forwards it to the respective line managers who further
grill them to judge whether they are fit for the organization or not.
Recruiting the right candidate is a time consuming process.
 An organization invests time and money in grooming an
individual and make him ready to work and understand the
corporate culture: A new joinee is completely raw and the
management really has to work hard to train him for his overall
development. It is a complete wastage of time and money when an
individual leaves an organization all of a sudden. The HR has to start
the recruitment process all over again for the same vacancy; a mere
duplication of work. Finding a right employee for an organization is a
tedious job and all efforts simply go waste when the employee leaves.
 When an individual resigns from his present organization, it is
more likely that he would join the competitors: In such cases,
employees tend to take all the strategies, policies from the current
organization to the new one. Individuals take all the important data,
information and statistics to their new organization and in some cases
even leak the secrets of the previous organization. To avoid such
cases, it is essential that the new joinee is made to sign a document
which stops him from passing on any information even if he leaves the
organization. Strict policy should be made which prevents the
employees to join the competitors. This is an effective way to retain
the employees.
 The employees working for a longer period of time are more
familiar with the company’s policies, guidelines and thus they
adjust better: They perform better than individuals who change jobs
frequently. Employees who spend a considerable time in an
organization know the organization in and out and thus are in a
position to contribute effectively.
 Every individual needs time to adjust with others: One needs
time to know his team members well, be friendly with them and
eventually trust them. Organizations are always benefited when the
employees are compatible with each other and discuss things among
themselves to come out with something beneficial for all. When a new
individual replaces an existing employee, adjustment problems crop
up. Individuals find it really difficult to establish a comfort level with
the other person. After striking a rapport with an existing employee, it
is a challenge for the employees to adjust with someone new and most
importantly trust him. It is a human tendency to compare a new joinee
with the previous employees and always find faults in him.
 It has been observed that individuals sticking to an
organization for a longer span are more loyal towards the
management and the organization: They enjoy all kinds of benefits
from the organization and as a result are more attached to it. They
hardly badmouth their organization and always think in favour of the
management. For them the organization comes first and all other
things later.
 It is essential for the organization to retain the valuable
employees showing potential: Every organization needs
hardworking and talented employees who can really come out with
something creative and different. No organization can survive if all the
top performers quit. It is essential for the organization to retain those
employees who really work hard and are indispensable for the system.
The management must understand the difference between a valuable
employee and an employee who doesn’t contribute much to the
organization. Sincere efforts must be made to encourage the employees so
that they stay happy in the current organization and do not look for a
change.
Need & Importance of Employee RetentionNeed & Importance of Employee
RetentionNeed & Importance of Employee RetentionNeed & Importance of
Employee RetentionNeed & Importance of Employee RetentionNeed &
Importance of Employee Retention
Employee Retention Tools:
In the present scenario, world is turning into a global village and the whole globe is
reachable from any destination. In this small world even companies are reachable to the
people and vice versa. And so their jobs are also easily accessible for everyone. In this
situation, the biggest challenge for a company is to retain its workforce intact especially the
Knowledge Banks.
All the companies are planning to increase their turnover every moment of time.
While in all this workout of increasing the turnover they forget about their loss incurred by
the resignation of employees and the expenses of hiring new employees (Hiring Cost,
Training Cost, Productivity Loss etc.). This hiring of a new employee normally costs around
35% or more of the average employee salary. For example- let us consider average salary of
an employee per year as Rs.20, 000, and then the cost of hiring a new employee and other
expenses come around Rs.7, 000. If you have 2 employees resigning per month the cost
comes to Rs.14, 000 and taking the same for 12 months comes to around Rs.168, 000,
which is a direct loss from the turnover of the company. And after all this there is always a
risk of getting a right employee for the right position with a right attitude.
If an employee resigns, then good amount of time is lost in

hiring a new employee and then training him/her and this goes to the
loss of the company directly which many a times goes unnoticed. And
even after this you cannot assure us of the same efficiency from the
new employee (He might be better and might not be). You require
time to judge his capabilities and work nature. The loss is even graver
if he/she is Your Knowledge Bank, this can bring your process to a
stand still even. And above all these things, one resignation many a
times triggers a chain reaction among other employees, leading to a
negative effect.
For all these and many other reasons you need to retain your employees. For
retaining your employees, you need to understand the requirements of the employees and
at the same time should make them clear about the expectations of the company from
them. It’s a general human tendency that each human being thinks himself as important
and expects the same from the other side, so the company management should make their
employees accountable for their respective jobs and make them feel that they are very
important for the smooth processing of that process(At the same time create a backup for
him). Care and importance are two things of which every human being is mad of.
Below are few of the tools for Employee Retention:-

1. Employee Reward Program- You can
make a provision of Monthly or Quarterly Award
(depending upon the budget) for the best employee,
Awarding 2 or 3 best workers each month. The award
can be in terms of gifts or money.
If it is money then it should be divided into two parts,
first part to be given with the next month salary and the
remaining after 6 months. In this way he/she can be
retained for 6 more months. These rewards shall be
considered at the time of appraisal.
2. Career Development Program- Every individual is worried about his/her

career. You can provide them conditional assistance for certain courses which are beneficial
from your business point of view. Conditional assistance means the company will bear the
expenses only if he/she gets an aggregate of certain percentage of marks. And entrance to
that course should be on the basis of a Test and the number of seats to be limited. For
getting admitted to such program, You can propose them to sign a bond with the company,
like they cannot leave the company for 2 years or something after the successful completion
of the course.
3. Performance based Bonus- The employee always comes to know about the
profit of the company which is of course based on the strategic planning of the top
management and the productivity of the employee. To get more work out of the employee,
You can make a provision of Bonus. By this employee will be able to relate himself with the
company’s profit and hence will work hard. This bonus should be productivity based. You
can make sure that this bonus is not adding extra-pressure on the budget of Your Company
and you can arrange this by cutting a part of the salary hikes and presenting it to the
employees in the form of bonus.
4. Employee Referral Plan- You can introduce Employee Referral Plan. This will
reduce your cost (charges of external consultants and searching agencies) of hiring a new
employee and up to an extent you can rely on this new resource. On every successful
referral, employee can be given a referral bonus after 6 or 9 months of continuous working
of the new employee as well as the existing employee. By this you can get a new employee
at a reduced cost as well as are retaining the existing one for a longer period of time.
5. Loyalty Bonus- You can introduce a Loyalty Bonus Program in which you can
reward your employee after a successful completion of a specified period of time. This can
be in the form of Money or Position. This will encourage the fellow employees as well
whether they are interested in money or position, they will feel fascinated.
6. Giving a voice to the Knowledge Banks- First of all you should try to
retain your workforce intact, as they are the intellectual asset of the company. And above
that you can’t afford losing your knowledge banks. These are the people who stabilize the
process. You can involve them in some of the decisions.
7. Employee Recreation- You should also let your employees enjoy in a light
mood. You can take your employees to a trip or for an outing every year or bi-yearly. You
can make use of this trip as well. You can start this trip with an opening note about the
management views and plans, strategies etc. At the same time you can involve your top
management into some of the fun activities as this will make feel the employees that they
are very close to the management and everybody is same.
8. Gifts at some Occasions- You can give some gifts at the time of one or two
festivals to the employees making them feel good and understand that the management is
concerned about them.
9. Accountability- You should make each employee accountable so that he can also
feel that he is as important as his manager. If he/she will be filled with this sense, he/she will
seldom think of leaving the company.
10. Making the managers effective and easily accessible- You

should make the management easily accessible so that the employee expectations can be
clearly communicated to the top management, as it is impossible for the top management
to reach each employee frequently.
11. Surveys- You should conduct regular surveys for feedbacks from employee about
their superiors as well as other issues like food, development plans and other suggestions.
This will make them feel of their importance and the caring nature of the company. Some of
the suggestions might be of real good use for the company.
For a company, the workforce is like an intellectual property, both in terms of skills
and money. A trained and content workforce can lead a company to new heights while a
opposite one can hamper it badly. So, every resignation saved is every dollar earned.
Contributing Writer: Rohit Minton is working as Assistant HR in the Group HR
department of the Amicorp group. He has done his bachelors in Spanish Language and is
now pursuing his MBA in HRD.
Now that so much is being done by organizations to retain its

employees, why is retention so important? Is it just to reduce the
turnover costs? Well, the answer is a definite no. It’s not only the cost
incurred by a company that emphasizes the need of retaining
employees but also the need to retain talented employees from getting
poached.
The process of employee retention will benefit an organization in the

following ways:
1. The Cost of Turnover: The cost of employee turnover adds

hundreds of thousands of
money to a company's expenses. While it is difficult to fully calculate
the cost of turnover (including hiring costs, training costs and
productivity loss), industry experts often quote 25% of the average
employee salary as a conservative estimate.
2. Loss of Company Knowledge: When an employee leaves, he

takes with him valuable knowledge about the company,
customers, current projects and past history (sometimes to
competitors). Often much time and money has been spent on the
employee in expectation of a future return. When the employee
leaves, the investment is not realized.
3. Interruption of Customer Service: Customers and clients do

business with a company in part because of the people.
Relationships are developed that encourage continued
sponsorship of the business. When an employee leaves, the
relationships that employee built for the company are severed,
which could lead to potential customer loss.
4. Turnover leads to more turnovers: When an employee

terminates, the effect is felt throughout the organization. Co-
workers are often required to pick up the slack. The unspoken
negativity often intensifies for the remaining staff.
5. Goodwill of the company: The goodwill of a company is

maintained when the attrition rates are low. Higher retention
rates motivate potential employees to join the organization.
6. Regaining efficiency: If an employee resigns, then good

amount of time is lost in hiring a new employee and then training
him/her and this goes to the loss of the company directly which
many a times goes unnoticed. And even after this you cannot
assure us of the same efficiency from the new employee
Employee Retention Articles and Papers
Employee Retention has never been more important than it is right now. The costs of employee
turnover are skyrocketing and seriously impact an organization's bottom line.
Given the importance of retaining employees in today's work environment we've made available the
following employee retention articles to give your organization a helping hand in curbing unwanted
employee turnover.
If you have questions about our highly effective employee retention programs or would like to discuss
some of the issues your organization is facing with employee turnover give us a call today, we can help!
8 Tips for Improving Employee Morale

Improving employee moral is critical to any
effective employee retention strategy. After
all, if morale is low and your employees dread
coming to work each day, they won't stick
around. This drives up employee turnover
costs and can dramatically reduce
organizational productivity and profits.
I am often asked, "How can I improve

employee morale in my organization?" From
my experience I have found that low employee
morale typically stems from eight main
sources. Below you will find these eight
sources of low employee morale and what can
be done about them to improve morale in your
company:
1. Employee Job Fit - This is by far the single largest cause of poor
employee morale. It makes perfect sense if
you think about it... If an employee is not cut
out for the job, either based on their core
behavioral style, what motivates them, or
their unique set of personal skills and
talents, their performance will suffer, they will
become frustrated, and morale will dwindle.
If you haven't utilized job match testing in

your hiring process your employees may be
experiencing a job mismatch problem which
can lead to "Job-Me Conflict." Job-Me
Conflict always results in employee morale
problems - always. The best way to avoid this
common cause of low employee morale is to
implement a job benchmarking process and use a validated pre-
employment assessment profile to identify candidates who are a good
fit for the job.
2. Job Clarity - A lack of clarity with respect to what is expected of an

employee in way of performance, job duties, and responsibilities is
another major cause of low employee morale. There is a very close
relationship between an employee's understanding of his or her role and
how it adds value to their organization and their personal level of morale.
Take some time and ensure that all your team members are clear about
what their job duties are and clarify any tasks or duties they may be
unsure about.
3. Personal Accountability - Emphasizing Employee Personal

Accountability is a great way to boost employee morale. More than ever,
blame has become pervasive in today's society - it seems that
everywhere you turn somebody is blaming someone else for something.
The modern workplace is a feeding ground for blame and responsibility
avoidance. This can lead to an alarming reduction in employee morale
and drive up employee turnover costs. A great way to improve morale and
productivity is to emphasize the importance of personal accountability in
your organization. John Miller wrote a great book - QBQ! - on how to
practice personal accountability at work and also licenses a powerful full
day training program that is sure to improve the level of personal
accountability and employee morale in your organization.
4. Passion for the Work - Passion for the work one performs leads to
engagement in the work. Employee engagement is a key factor in
boosting employee morale. One of the best ways to ensure that your
employees are passionate about their job is to align their position with
their unique behavioral style (introverted/extroverted, people/task
orientation), their motivating values (money, power, knowledge, helping
others, etc.), and their soft skills (empathy, responsibility, leadership
ability etc). Again, this goes back to job fit - an employee whose
personality is in alignment with the needs of the job is much more likely be
passionate about their work and experience higher levels of employee
morale.
5. Workplace Politics - Every workplace has politics of some form. It's

inevitable and not always a bad thing. The point when politics become
harmful to employee morale is when "the who matters more than the
what." Meaning... who a person is, their relationships with others, and
their ability to "brown-nose" takes precedent
over what that person is actually able to do
and is thereby unfairly offered promotional and
development opportunity. Objectivity is
paramount in the workplace and employees
are quickly able to see when workplace politics
are not taking place on a level playing field. Be
sure that the who is not allowed to matter more than the what.
6. Self Awareness - Self awareness is a greatly overlooked component of

improving employee morale. Employees who are self aware of what their
natural skills and abilities are and how they can use them to their full
advantage at work consistently have higher levels of employee morale.
The reason for this is that these individuals play to their strengths and
know when and how to get assistance on projects that call for skills and
abilities that they do not excel in. Consider a behavioral based training
workshop or a values based session that will help your team members
better understand what their strengths and weaknesses are and how they
can use this information to maximize their effectiveness at work each day.
Customized employee coaching is also a good way to help your team
members increase their self awareness and improve employee morale.
7. Interpersonal Awareness - Communication problems and

interpersonal conflict can be morale killers. Quite frankly, nobody wants to
work in an environment that is fraught full of unproductive conflict and
arguments. Improving employee self awareness and investing in
communication training sessions will help to mitigate the prevalence of
unproductive interpersonal conflict and improve the level of employee
morale in your company.
8. Someone Who Cares About Them at Work - It is a basic human

need to know that we matter and feel appreciated at work. Praising and
rewarding an employee in a way which matters to them is a great way to
show that you care about them and value their contributions. Establishing
a mentoring relationship with an employee is another great way to let
them know they are valued and will help to improve morale.
Boosting employee morale is critical to your organization's success.

Identifying these 8 workplace morale destroyers and correcting them can
do wonders to improve your organization's performance.
If you'd like to speak to one of our Rainmaker associates about how we

can help you boost morale in your organization, please give us a call at 1-
866-988-RAIN
Useful Tips to Improve Employee Retention in Your Organization
The importance of retaining top
organizational talent cannot be understated.
With the massive baby boomer cohort just
starting to approach retirement age, more and
more jobs are going to become available in
the near future. What this means for
employees is that it is now easier than ever
leave one's current position to find greener
pastures elsewhere. A more attractive market
for job seekers means that the switching costs
of seeking new employment are no longer a
significant factor in deciding whether or not to
leave an organization. The days where a job
seeker might spend six months to secure a
new job will soon be over.
The implications for employers should be clear. It is now more important

than ever to retain the team members an organization currently has and to
choose the right team members when hiring decisions are made. The
following is a short list of useful tips and hints to help increase levels of
employee retention in your organization. Put them to work for you!
 Get the right people on the bus - in his book, Good to Great, Jim
Collins talks about the importance of having the right talent on the
organizational bus. Hiring individuals who are truly fit to succeed in the
position for hire will dramatically increase the chances of that employee
being satisfied with his or her work and remaining with the company for an
extended period of time.
By far, we have found this to be the biggest predictor of future employee

retention.
 Communication, communication, communication - communication

has become so heavily stressed in the workplace that it almost seems
cliche. However communication couldn't be more important in the effort to
retain employees. Be sure that team members know their roles, job
description, and responsibilities within the organization. Communicate any
new company policies or initiatives to all employees to be sure that
everyone is on the same page. Nobody wants to feel that they are being
left out of the loop.
 Include employees in decision making -

it is incredibly important to include team
members in the decision making process,
especially when decisions will effect an
individual's department or work team. This
can help to create a culture of employee
involvement and will generate new ideas and
perspectives that top management might
never have thought of.
 Allow team members to share their

knowledge with others - the highest percentage of information retention
occurs when one shares that information with others. Having team
members share what they have learned at a recent conference or training
workshop will not only increase the amount of information they will retain,
but also lets a team member know that he is a valuable member of the
organization. Facilitating knowledge sharing through an employee
mentoring program can be equally beneficial for the team member being
mentored as well as the mentor.
 Shorten the feedback loop - do not wait for an annual performance

evaluation to come due to give feedback on how an employee is
performing. Most team members enjoy frequent feedback about how they
are performing. Shortening the feedback loop will help to keep
performance levels high and will reinforce positive behavior. Feedback
does not necessarily need to be scheduled or highly structured; simply
stopping by a team member's desk and letting them know they are doing
a good job on a current project can do wonders for morale and help to
increase retention.
 Offer a competitive compensation package - any team member

wants to feel that he or she is being paid appropriately and fairly for the
work he or she does. Be sure to research what other companies and
organizations are offering in terms of salary and benefits. It is also
important to research what the regional and national compensation
averages are for that particular position. You can be sure that if your
compensation package is not competitive, team members will find this out
and look for employers who are willing to offer more competitive
compensation packages.
 Balance work and personal life - family

is incredibly important to team members.
When work begins to put a significant strain
on one's family no amount of money will keep
an employee around. Stress the importance of
balancing work and one's personal life. Small
gestures such as allowing a team member to
take an extended lunch once a week to watch
his son's baseball game will likely be repaid
with loyalty and extended employment with an
organization.
 Provide opportunities for growth and development - offer

opportunities for team members to acquire new skills and knowledge
useful to the organization. If an employee appears to be bored or burned
out in a current position offer to train this individual in another facet of the
organization where he or she would be a good fit. Nobody wants to feel
stuck in their position will no possibility for advancement or new
opportunities.
 Recognize team members for their hard work and let them know
they are appreciated - this can be one of the single greatest factors
affecting employee retention. Everybody, in all levels of an organization,
wants to know that their efforts are appreciated and recognized. This
can be as simple or as extravagant as a supervisor may desire. Often
time a short e-mail or quickly stopping by a team member's desk and
saying "thanks" can do wonder for morale. Other options might include a
mention in the company newsletter for outstanding performance or gift
certificates to a restaurant or movie theatre - the possibilities are endless.
 Clearly define what is expected of team members - nothing can be

more frustrating or discouraging for an employee than the lack of a clear
understanding of what is expected of him on the job. In a performance
driven workplace a lack of clarity regarding job duties and expectations
can cause fear and anxiety among employees who are unclear of what is
expected of them. Even worse outright anger can occur when a team
member receives a negative performance evaluation based on
expectations and job duties that he or she was unaware of or unclear
about.
 The quality of supervision and mentorship - it has been said so

often that it is almost cliche, but people leave people, not their jobs.
Supervisors play the largest role in a team member's development and
ultimate success within an organization. All employees want to have
supervisors who are respectful, courteous, and friendly - that is a given.
But more importantly team members want supervisors who set clear
performance expectations, deliver timely feedback on performance, live
up to their word and promises, and provide an environment where the
employee can grow and succeed. Failure by supervisors and
management to provide this can cause an employee to start looking for
greener pastures.
 Fair and equitable treatment of all employees - one of the surest

ways to create animosity and resentment in an organization is to allow
favoritism and preferential treatment of individual team members. The so-
called "good ole' boys club" can create a noxious organization culture and
foster resentment among team members. This culture will only get worse
and can create a devastating exodus of valued team members. Be sure to
treat all employees equally and avoid favoritism at all costs.
The Real Costs of Employee Turnover
Employee turnover is unavoidable. It is a fact

of business life as are its associated costs. Or is
it?
The costs of employee turnover can be

staggering, ranging anywhere from 1/2 to 5
times an employee's annual wages dependant
upon his or her position. It is neither possible,
nor desirable to completely eliminate turnover
from your organization. Some of the costs
associated with employee turnover are
unavoidable and must be expected to occur in
the normal course of business. But not all the
costs!
You can do something about the high cost of employee turnover...
Before you can start to combat the costs of employee turnover, you must
be aware of what these cost are and what they entail. There are, of
course, some obvious costs that come quickly to mind, but there are also
numerous other costs that you may have never considered that can have
a serious impact on your bottom line.
The Hard Costs:

Turning over one employee can cost around 1/2 of a low skilled hourly
workers annual wages plus benefits, while losing a member of C-Level
upper management can cost 3 to 5 times his or her annual wages and
benefits.
Consider this: if your firm has a turnover rate of 25% (about the national
average) and employs 40 employees each earning $25,000 annually, your
costs of turning over 10 of these employees over the course of a year will
be at least $125,000! What could you do with an additional $100,000+ in
resources?
Severance pay can also be a huge part of employee turnover costs. This
is especially true with highly skilled employees and high-level
management. These are wages on which you will never see any return on
you investment!
The costs of recruitment: Each time an employee is lost the hiring and
selection cycle must start again. These costs can be significant:
advertising costs to announce your job opening to the masses, cost of
recruitment agencies, background checks, reference checks, drug testing,
cost of overtime pay, temporary help and much more.
Hiring costs: Once you've made a hiring decision, the costs of turnover
don't stop, but rather continue. Sign on bonuses, relocation costs, and any
increases in salary level necessary to attract new talent all add up quickly.
The time spent by HR managers to onboard and train the new employee
can also be costly and unnecessary. These are all tangible costs that
could be avoided with a better employee retention strategy.
10 Things That Can Impact Employee Retention

Most managers understand the importance of employee retention and its impact on the overall health
and vitality of an organization. The importance of retaining top performers will only increase over the
coming years as the massive cohort of baby boomers begin to reach retirement age making it easy for
younger employees to find work.
In a previous article we identified some useful tips to help improve employee retention in your
organization. Given the importance of retaining your best employees, we have compiled another list of 10
important factors that can impact employee retention in your organization.
 Shorten the feedback loop - do not wait for an annual performance review or evaluation to come due
to give feedback on how an employee is performing. Most team members enjoy frequent feedback about
how they are performing. Shortening the feedback loop will help to keep performance levels high and will
reinforce positive behavior. Feedback does not necessarily need to be scheduled or highly structured;
simply stopping by a team member's desk and letting them know they are doing a good job on a current
project can do wonders for employee morale and help to increase retention.
 Offer a competitive compensation package - any team member wants to
feel that he or she is being paid appropriately and fairly for the work he or she
does. Be sure to research what other companies and organizations are offering
in terms of salary and benefits. It is also important to research what the regional
and national compensation averages are for that particular position. You can be
sure that if your compensation package is not competitive, team members will
find this out and look for employers who are willing to offer more competitive
compensation packages.
 Balance work and personal life - family is incredibly important to team

members. When work begins to put a significant strain on one's family no
amount of money will keep an employee around. Stress the importance of
balancing work and one's personal life. Small gestures such as allowing a team
member to take an extended lunch once a week to watch his son's baseball
game will likely be repaid with loyalty and extended employment with an
organization.
 Beware of burnout - staff adequately to reduce the amount of unwanted overtime a team member
must work. Some employees enjoy the extra money that accompanies overtime hours, while others would
rather spend their time with their families or doing other activities they enjoy. Burnout can be a leading
cause of turnover. Recognize the warning signs and give employees a break when they need it.
 Provide opportunities for professional development and growth - offer opportunities for team
members to acquire new skills and knowledge useful to the organization. If an employee appears to be
bored or burned out in a current position offer to train this individual in another facet of the organization
where he or she would be a good fit. Nobody wants to feel stuck in their position will no possibility for
advancement or new opportunities.
 The ability to provide input and be taken seriously - everybody has

opinions and ideas, some are better than others. However every team
member wants to feel that their input is welcome and will be taken seriously
without ridicule or condescension. Some of the greatest ideas can come
from the most unlikely of places and people. Creating a culture where input
is welcome from all level of the organizational chart will help your
organization grow and encourage long term employee retention.
 Management must take the time to get to know team members - it's
not a big surprise that one of the greatest complaints that employees
express in exit interviews is a feeling that management didn't know they
existed. Nobody wants to feel like just another spoke in a big wheel.
Managers are very busy - everybody is busy, but it is crucial that managers
and supervisors take the time get to know the team members who work
under them. Learn and remember a team member's name, what skills and
talents they bring to the table, and what their business interests are. The time spent by management
getting to know team members is well invested and can eliminate the headaches caused by having to
continually hire and re-train new employees.
 Provide the tools and training an employee needs to succeed - nothing can be more frustrating to
an employee than a lack of training or the proper tools to successfully complete his or her duties. You
wouldn't try to build a house without a hammer, so why should an office job be any different? Providing a
team member with the tools and training she needs to be successful shows a commitment and
investment in that employee and will encourage the team member to stay with the organization.
 Make use of a team member's talents, skills, and abilities - all team members have knowledge,
skills, and abilities that aren't directly related to their job description, but are still useful to an organization.
Utilizing a team member's talents in areas other than their current position will indicate to an employee
that management appreciates and recognizes all that an employee has to offer to the organization. This
can also provide work variety and helps to break up the everyday grind of work.
 Never threaten a team member's job or income - While threatening an employee with termination
or demotion might seem like a surefire way to get the results needed from him or her, doing so will likely
cause the employee to leave the organization. Put yourself in the employee's shoes, what is the first thing
you would do if your job was threatened? Odds are you would probably update your resume and start
checking for open job postings expecting the worst. If a team member's performance is not what you had
hoped it would be, work with that team member on ways to improve his performance, saving termination
only as a last resort.
Take some time and seriously evaluate what your organization is doing to encourage a high retention
workforce. Having a seasoned and well trained workforce can deliver a competitive advantage that is
difficult to replicate. The best part is most of your efforts to retain your employees come free or with little
charge and offer huge returns on a manger's investment in time and resources.
At The Rainmaker Group we are committed to helping organizations achieve a high retention workforce
where team members truly enjoy coming to work each day. We can help your organization develop the
strategies and programs to make this happen. Give us a shout today, we'd love to hear from you!
Personalized Recognition Increases Employee Morale and Retention

It seems that now more than ever employee
recognition and rewards are limited at best in
many organizations. Unfortunately many
managers don't understand the importance of
recognizing and rewarding a team member's
hard work and a job well done. Many might
even ask why they should recognize their
employees when they are "just doing their
job." The truth is that recognizing employees
for their hard work is one of the least
expensive and easiest ways to improve the
level of morale and employee retention in
your organization. The return on investment
for a manager's time and limited expenses
can be incredible.
Recognizing and rewarding an employee's performance reinforces

positive behavior and encourages additional positive behavior. If a team
member feels that he or she is appreciated they will be much more likely
to repeat their behaviors in the future and even put out more effort than
before. When a business leader understands the power of recognizing his
or her employees the culture of an organization reacts to this recognition
and moves in a positive direction helping to retain more employees.
Employee recognition can be as simple or as extravagant as one desires.

The following is a short list of simple ways to recognize team members for
a job well done and improve retention in your organization.
• A simple "thank you" or "nice job" given in regular frequency can
significantly boost team morale. Often times a team member will
greatly appreciate the time you spent to find him at his desk and
deliver the message in person.
• Send a thank you card or e-card. Also photocopy the thank you
and document the reason for the recognition in the employee's
file. Let the employee know you did this - it will let her know that
her hard work will not be forgotten.
• Movie tickets, gift certificates, or an engraved gift are excellent
rewards for an employee who has excelled or put in the extra
effort to make a project happen.
• Recognize the team member's

contribution in front of members of
management. This can reduce the
tendency for employees to feel that
their supervisors take all the credit for
their hard work.
• Recognize loyalty and exceeding

expectations. Mention the team
member's hire anniversary, large contract won, or surpassing of a
sales goal in the company newsletter or at a staff meeting.
• Know how to recognize your staff. Not all staff members want to
be singled out at a gathering of hundreds of fellow team
members, while for others it would make their week. The
approach to recognizing team members can vary greatly by
generational cohort. You might seriously embarrass a baby
boomer by having them stand up in front a group of their peers
and discuss their recent success, while a Gen X-er will relish this
opportunity.
The bottom line is that employee recognition works. Recognizing

employees for their contributions increases employee satisfaction.
Satisfied employees produce more and remain in their jobs longer.
Employee recognition is one of the easiest and least expensive ways to

increase satisfaction and reduce turnover in an organization. What are
you waiting for? Give your team members the recognition they deserve
today!
The Rainmaker Group is committed to helping organizations develop a

high retention workforce that creates a culture team members desire to
work in.
Employee Retention Starts With Hiring the Right Employee
Employee Retention - It may seem obvious -
but the key way to improve Employee
Retention is by selecting and hiring
candidates who are right for the job.
We see it all the time. Employee Retention is

the hot button topic these days. Our
Customers call us asking, "What can I do to
better improve retention in my organization?"
Our answer is very simple. Begin with hiring the right employee.
I know. We hear it all the time. "People leave people, not jobs."
The reality typically is the employee probably doesn't fit the job. Or the
boss doesn't understand how to motivate and reward the employee.
Why is the boss really "bad?" The boss is "bad" because they expect the
employee to perform - they expect the employee to do their job. But the
problem is - the employee doesn't fit the job. The employee can't do the
job from a behavior, values, or personal talent perspective so the boss
puts their attention on their employee's inability to do that job. In other
words, the boss focuses on the employee and what they aren't doing. We
call this "the doom loop."
Step One - Employee doesn't do their job as expected.
Step Two - Boss notices.
Step Three - Boss tries to help the employee or skirts the issue until
someone else notices.
Step Four - Employee feels pressure.
Step Five - Boss ostracizes employee somehow or says something to

employee while hoping that the employee updates their resume and gets
a job elsewhere.
Step Six - Employee feels more pressure - updates resume.
Step Seven - Boss wishes employee would leave while employee wishes
boss would leave them alone.
Step Eight - Confrontation or quiet boiling over of boss and employee
Step Nine - Employee leaves and leaves angry - spoiling the morale of
the team.
The result of a hiring mistake? Well - I wish it
were just limited to the costs associated with
hiring. The real cost of poor Employee
Selection are found in poor team morale and
low productivity. After all... "Bad employees"
don't leave quietly.
Try this sometime. Take a dog and ask it to

meow. Or take a cat and ask it to bark.
Madness, right?
That's what is happening every day in

America. Employee Retention and
Employee Selection are after-thoughts.
"Hurry... Get someone in here. We need
someone to do the job now."
What you really need is someone to do the job well. If the job could talk,
what would it say?
What to do...
Benchmark the job.
Match the applicant to the benchmark from a Behaviors, Values, and

Personal Talents perspective. See more on Employee Selection
Personality Profile
Set expectations - Train the manager on what to expect from the
employee.
When you bring the new employee on your team, begin the coaching
process immediately.
Interested in seeing the power of the best Pre-Employment Personality

Profile System available? It will be our pleasure to show you a sample
profile of the most powerful Job Match System available. Give us a call or
drop me an email at
Is Brown-Nosing Encouraging a Culture of Mediocrity in Your Team?

What we can learn about "brown-nosing"
from our dogs.
Do you have a dog?
If you do - how do you and your dog interact?

Does your dog love you unconditionally when
you get home after a hard day of work? Is it
excited to see you? Of course they are! Dogs (and other pets) help you
escape from reality and that's a good thing - when it's at home. It's costly
when it is at work.
Are you sometimes more excited to see your dog than people in your life
including family members?
Chances are - YES!
 Why is it that you love your dog unconditionally? Is it because it is

unconditional?
 Why is it that you give more attention to

your dog than family members who should be
more important?
We have a dog. And quite frankly, I am not his

biggest fan. His name is Boo and he is the
dog from hell. Boo does things he shouldn't
and I am not the most appreciative of his
behaviors. In other words - his performance is
quite low. Boo avoids me and I avoid him.
On the other hand, Boo loves my wife unconditionally and she loves him
back.
Despite having all the toys and chew things he could desire Boo chews on
stuff that is important to me and my wife. Yet because Boo is such an
amazing "brown-noser", she forgives him. How can she not forgive
something (or someone) as cute and cuddly as Boo who dishes out
unconditional love all the time? I don't find his "brown-nosing" to be
effective so it doesn't work for me. I want performance!
I think dogs, without realizing it, are amazing "brown-nosers" in more

ways than one. While a dog is a dog, what about "brown-nosers" at work?
What does that cost organizations and teams?
Do you allow "brown-nosers" to perform at mediocre levels because you

like them? Are you rewarding "brown-nosers" who give you unconditional
love while turning a blind eye toward their performance?
I think there are a couple lessons here to learn here.
 We create our own reality about others (including dogs) - I am not

particularly fond of Boo - so I look for "performance" transgressions - while
my wife's fondness for Boo gives him freedoms that wouldn't otherwise be
there. We see what we "look for" in others. If we expect bad, we get bad.
If we expect good - we get the good.
 The second lesson is just as much human nature as the first. As a

leader, are you enabling some to get away with poor performance
because they are good "brown-nosers"?
How much is "brown-nosing" costing your organization?
Certainly one must consider the loss in productivity attributed to these

underperforming "brown-nosers". These costs can't be understated as
they add up quickly and are unlikely to change for the better with any
degree of ease.
However there are some other costs that

might not come so readily to mind. Think
about what these "brown-nosers" are doing to
the level of morale within your organization.
Other team members are incredibly acute as
to who is not pulling their weight,
underperforming, and being favored by management. As these "brown-
nosers" are allowed to underperform their workload must be shifted to
others, which is likely to frustrate even the most loyal of employees.
These "brown-nosers" can quickly drive a wedge between top performers

in an organization and management. This can cause considerable
difficulties in communication between managers and those who take on
the tasks assigned by management. This wedge can also erode the level
of trust employees put in their managers as well as seriously tarnish a
manager's credibility.
The ultimate result these "brown-nosers" have on an organization can be

devastating. As communication suffers and morale plunges the natural
result is that employee turnover will start to increase. If left unchecked this
upward trend in turnover can become an organizational epidemic!
Give us a shout, we're here to help and would love to hear from you!
Using March Madness to Improve Employee Morale

It's that magical time of the year for basketball
fans. That's right it's time once again for
March Madness! During the next three weeks
offices and workplaces around the country will
be abuzz with the latest news and information
about the big tournament and high hopes will
be set for alma maters participating in the big
dance.
All this excitement brings with it office pools

and wagers placed by workers who try to
predict how the 64 team tournament will pan
out. Not surprisingly all this extra-curricular
office activity will have an impact on
productivity: a 1.2 billion dollar loss in American productivity to be exact.
Stop! Before you rush to send out a scorching e-mail to everyone in the
office warning of the repercussions for office gambling and using company
time to get in on the March Madness fever you should know that there is
an upside. Office pools and all that chatter about college basketball can
actually encourage camaraderie and help to boost employee morale in
your organization. The key is getting March Madness to work for your
organization and its team members.
Try as you may, but it is highly improbable that anybody can stop the
March Madness bug from going around the workplace. It is inevitable that
somebody will be filling out tournament brackets during work hours. Sure
monitoring worker's online activities and threatening termination for
anyone participating in office pools or online tournament brackets is one
option to ensuring your organization stays productive during the coming
weeks.
However think of the time and effort this would take to enforce, the high
costs of employee turnover associated with terminating those who
break the rules and recruiting new team members to take their place, not
to mention the devastating effects this could have on organizational
morale. Perhaps there is a better solution.
Given the strong correlation between employee morale/satisfaction

and levels of production, customer satisfaction, and firm revenues it
might be advisable that you actually embrace the phenomena that is
March Madness and sponsor an event within your organization. This
approach to dealing with the distractions of March Madness can have a
number of benefits for your organization.
First off formally sponsoring a March Madness event or tournament poll

allows managers to control the college basketball tournament on their
terms. Consider using any number of sports sites such as Yahoo! Sports
or ESPN to host the tournament bracket for you. This can eliminate much
of the time an ambitious employee might spend setting up a bracket on
paper and printing it off for others to fill out. Another main advantage of
controlling the office pool is that one can place the kibosh on any illegal
office gambling. While rarely enforced, gambling in the workplace is illegal
in most instances and could pose a potential liability to companies that
knowingly allow it to take place. Instead consider offering a small prize
such as a college sweater, or free round of golf to the winner or top
placers in the office pool. Better yet customize the prize to those receiving
it and truly show you care about his or her personal interests.
Another benefit to sponsoring a March Madness pool in your office is that

it allows managers to better control the amount of time team members
spend on the big tournament. Having a scheduled break time for 15
minutes twice a week to get together and discuss the tournament pool
and how everyone's favorite team is doing is a great way to minimize
excess time talking about the tournament. Most organization allow for a
15 minute break in the morning and afternoon that this get-together could
easily take the place of.
Think about it - instead of huddling around the water cooler complaining

about workplace issues or gossiping about other team members,
employees will be encouraged to set aside their workplace
dissatisfactions and take a fresh breath of March Madness air. In the
process team members will get to know each other as they talk about
where they went to college, who their favorite teams are, or who the next
Michael Jordan or Lebron James is going to be. Thanks to this scheduled
March Madness break time team members may begin to forge new
friendships which can lead to greater collaboration on projects and
assignments.
Camaraderie can play a huge part in the effort toretain employees . It

has often been said that people leave people, not jobs. If workers feel a
bond or connection with their fellow team members they will be less likely
to feel discontent with their job and will be encouraged to stick around
longer. Any loss in productivity because of March Madness could well be
countered by the effects that this newfound camaraderie can have on the
efforts to retain employees.
Another thought of how to incorporate March Madness into your

organization without killing levels of production while raising employee
morale is to designate a day (Fridays work great!) where team members
are encouraged wear ties or sweatshirts supporting their favorite school in
the tournament. A great addition to this day could be a pot luck lunch
where team members share some of their favorite arena foods with fellow
team members.
What this all boils down to is Employee Morale at your organization.

Everything discussed above can have an incredible impact on the level of
employee morale within your organization. High levels of employee
morale have countless benefits including increased employee retention
levels, reduced turnover costs, higher levels of productivity, and most
importantly increased sales and profits.
It should be no surprise that happy employees stay in their jobs longer,

produce more, and drive revenue growth. There is no secret formula to
high levels of morale buried somewhere in a desolate desert. Rather it is
often the little things that management does that say, "work can be fun"
or, "this is a great place to work". March Madness is just one example.
Avoid the temptation to scorn the big dance as these efforts will probably
be ill received and ineffective at best. Instead embrace what makes March
Madness great - the camaraderie it encourages between people of all
backgrounds. I will bet that any lost production will soon be recouped by
the positive benefits associated with improved employee morale.
More great information on:
Employee Retention Strategies

Employee Selection Solutions
Human Capital Development
Motivating Employees
Rewarding Employees
At The Rainmaker Group we are dedicated to helping your organization to

create an organizational culture that breeds and encourages high levels of
employee morale. The benefits of high employee morale are just too
powerful to ignore. Give us a shout today and start maximizing possibility
in your organization!
Work-Life Balance Goes a Long ways In Retaining Employees and
Reducing Turnover
We hate to admit it, but we're almost all guilty
of it: intruding into our employees' time away
from the office for some work related
"emergency". Don't feel bad, you are not the
only one to call Bill on his cell phone just after
he left the office on Friday because you forgot
to ask him something that couldn't wait. Or
could it? Keeping that constant tie to your
employees even when they are away from the
office could be seriously hurting your
organization. When employees don't feel like
they have a break from their jobs, they are
often the first to experience burnout that leads
to poor employee retention, diminished
morale, and increased turnover costs.
These days it is easier than ever to communicate with employees during

their time away from work. The click of a "send" couldn't be easier and
seems relatively unobtrusive. But is it? Consider the following scenario.
Over the weekend you send a couple of e-mails to an employee of yours -
Bill. The matter seems important to you at the time so you mention its
importance to Bill in the e-mail and flag it as a high priority e-mail.
Bill gets to the office on Monday morning after a nice weekend with his
family and sees that you and two other superiors of his have sent him 5
seemingly important e-mails over the weekend. Bill starts his Monday
morning off in a frenzy to catch up on the work he now feels behind with.
Right away his week has started off stressful.
By the end of the week Bill feels like he has taken care of all his
necessary business for the week and is looking forward to another
relaxing weekend with his family. But in the back of his mind there is now
a lingering doubt: Did I forget to do something important on Friday? Is that
report due on Monday morning first thing, or in the afternoon as usual.
Before Bill knows what he is doing he has logged on and is checking his
work e-mail on Saturday afternoon just to make sure he didn't forget
anything important or something hasn't came up at the last minute.
Of course Bill receives the two or so "important" e-mails you sent him that
morning. In no time Bill has logged onto your company intranet and is
mining some data in one of the company's databases. Before Bill realizes
what has happened, his Saturday afternoon is shot and he has missed his
alma mater's big football game. He quietly curses out his employer and
gets off the computer feeling a little cheated out of his weekend.
Bill gathers up his family and takes them out to eat, a little grumpier than
before and with work still on his mind. Monday comes around, a couple
more "important" e-mails received over the weekend and another hectic
start to the week.
At this point Bill is in danger of heading into a downward spiral of hectic

workweeks followed by less than relaxing,
work-filled weekends. Before long bill feels
that he can't get away from the office. It is
always on his mind in one way or another. He
might even wake up during the night and
worry about work. Sadly he even gets out of
bed and checks his e-mail to make sure he
hasn't missed anything important.
Many employers might be ecstatic to have a hardworking, dedicated

employee like Bill on their team. The truth of the matter is that it probably
won't last long. Bill is on the verge of serious burnout, and his
performance at work is suffering because of it. He is less friendly with
people, and has even "snapped" at a couple co-workers.
Not surprisingly this has an effect on those around Bill. Everyone is a little
less excited about work each day and even go so far as to avoid Bill at
times. In no time the stress has become too much for bill and he wisely
listens to his wife's advises and "quits that damned job."
Certainly this was not the outcome Bill's boss had anticipated when he
sent that first e-mail on Saturday morning. Nor can one e-mail be blamed
for these events. Rather it was a snowball effect that gained more and
more mass each time Bill gave up personal time to attend to work matters.
If you are in the habit of sending e-mails or worse making phone calls to
employees on the weekends, stop. Your employees need the time away
from work to relax and rejuvenate before another hard week of work. If
you simply cannot find the time to communicate with your employees
during the week and must send e-mail on a weekend, be sure to let your
employees know that they are in no way obligated to respond and attend
to work matters during their personal time.
Respecting you employees' need for balance between work and their
personal life can go a long way in retaining talented employees and
reducing turnover costs. Although the story about Bill is fictional, I can
guarantee that numerous real life stories have taken place with surprising
parallels. Don't drive your best employees away by burning them out and
invading their personal time!
Study Suggests Employees Leave Bosses, Not Jobs

Careful selection of employees and
managers can have a huge impact on your
employee retention efforts and employee
turnover costs at your organization.
It has been said more than once, and for good

reason, that employees leave their bosses -
not their jobs. A Florida State University study scheduled for full release
in the Fall 2007 issue of Leadership Quarterly confirms this. The study
conducted by FSU professor Wayne Hochwarter and two doctoral
students - Paul Harvey and Jason Stoner - shows that 40% of employees
work for bad bosses based on survey results.
The reasons that employers score poorly are varied and many:
• 39% of workers said their supervisor failed to keep promises
• 37% indicated their supervisor failed to give credit when due
• 31% said their supervisor gave them the "silent treatment" during
the past year
• 27% report their supervisor made negative comments about them

to other employees or managers
• 24% indicated their boss invaded their privacy
• 23% said their supervisor blamed other to cover up personal

mistakes or minimize embarrassment
Read the FSU study here.
So what does this all boil down to? The

effects of having bad bosses in your
organization can be devastating. High
turnover, poor employee morale, employee
theft, diminished customer service,
substandard employee performance, lower
production, and an organizational culture of
fear and mistrust can all be blamed in part on
poor bosses and managers.
The costs of having poor managers and bosses can be incredible.

Consider the cost of employee turnover, which is different for all
industries and positions, but has been roughly estimated at $15,000 -
$17,000 per employee in low to moderately skilled positions. Having a
manager who drives potentially valuable employees from your
organization can have a huge impact on your bottom line, and your
customers.
How many employees have you lost due to poor manager - employee
relationships?
Respondents of the survey also indicated that a good work environment

was often much more important than their current pay level. Employees
who work under poor bosses are less likely to give the extra effort asked
of them when it is needed most. These employees are less likely to take
on additional tasks, work longer hours, or work occasional weekends, and
are generally less satisfied with their jobs.
Many employees would be willing to supply additional time and effort

when asked of them, and might only require
minimal compensation if they are happy with
their job and work environment. While those
employees who are dissatisfied with their
current job conditions are likely to refuse
outright, or demand costly compensation for
their efforts.
The ramifications are immense. Managers and Bosses should be the

captains of your organizational team. They should be great motivators,
innovators, and leaders, who inspire the team members they supervise to
achieve great things. These managers understand how to treat
employees fairly and with respect, and more importantly understand why it
is important to do so. Managers who do this in turn breed new leaders for
the organization who will follow the example set forth by their
predecessors.
Poor managers on the other hand lead by fear, mistrust, and deceit.
Employees who cannot adapt to this environment are likely to defect, and
with good reason. Those who do stay are often unhappy with their work
environment, or worse adapt to and reinforce this self-perpetuating
culture. Some of these employees will eventually move on to
management positions themselves and continue the cycle of poor
managers and less than stellar results.
It is clear to see that the stakes couldn't be higher when it comes to

selecting who will manage the employees of your organization. Hiring a
bad manager can have devastating effects on your company and can put
the organization in a serious rut which can be nearly impossible to get out
of. While having a great management team can ensure the future
succession of new successful managers and the overall health and
longevity of your organization.
You might be throwing money out the window trying to retain unhappy
employees with bonuses, work perks, and additional salary when the root
of the problem is contempt for the supervisor he or she reports to. How
much money could you save with better managers and happier
employees???
The problem is clear, and a solution at hand: hire and retain better
managers who in turn retain better employees who are then able become
strong and effective managers. Sounds good on paper right? But how do
you get started?
Here at The Rainmaker Group we have some of the best in class

personality assessments available to us. These assessments can give
shocking insight into potential employees, managers, and leaders in your
organization.
At The Rainmaker Group we don't sell personality assessments - anyone

can sell you that. At The Rainmaker Group we deliver results. As a
business partner committed to helping you maximize the potential of your
organization we will help you identify the skills and characteristics crucial
to success for leadership roles in your company. Through the use of our
Personality Assessments and Job Benchmarking techniques we will
help you determine an ideal candidate for management positions and then
match potential candidates based on their skills, values, behaviors, and
attributes.
These assessment tools can help to identify which individuals are fit or
unfit for leadership roles in your organization. Our assessments can help
to raise potential red flags during the hiring and selection process. For
example does the candidate desire power within your company because
he or she truly believes he can effectively lead others for the betterment of
the company, or does he or she desire organization power as a means to
exert his or her will on subordinates for their own personal benefit.
There is a huge difference between the two candidates described above,

and it can be very costly to find out the hard way. At The Rainmaker
Group we help to hedge your bets by giving you the most detailed insight
into the motives and desires of your potential job candidates. Using these
tools effectively can help to ensure a healthy line of employee
succession within your company and ensure the overall health and
survivability of your organization.
The Rainmaker Group is committed to helping your organization maximize

its potential. We are here to help and would love to hear from you! Learn
more about Effective Employee Selection and Retention at our website, or
give us a shout today!
Improving Employee Retention with Job Shadowing and Internship

Programs
Are you in the same career field that you
studied in college? If you are like most people
the answer is probably "no," and chances are
you've changed careers three to five times in
your life.
Ever wonder why this is?
I feel a big contributor to the high number of

career changes the average person makes is
the fact that most people don't know what type of career they are fit for or
will enjoy when they choose a field of study in college. It's actually kind of
scary to think that at 19 or 20 years of age many of us make a major
financial and life decision when we don't really know who we are, what we
like, and what we are good at.
The result? Many of us spend a good portion of our professional lives

moving from job to job trying to discover what it is we really want to do for
a living.
While this certainly has an impact on the individuals who move from job to
job in search of their calling, it also has an impact on the organizations
that employ these individuals in pursuit of their life's calling. Unfortunately
these organizations get stuck paying the high costs associated with
undesirable employee turnover. These costs include hard costs such as
recruiting costs, time spent interviewing new team members, training and
orientation costs, as well as the soft costs such as lost productivity,
reduced morale, missed opportunities, and a diminished customer
experience and goodwill. When figuring in all the associated employee
turnover costs, turning over one employee can
easily set an organization back 150% of that
employee's annual salary and benefits.
One low cost, low risk method I have found to

be very effective in "weeding out" individuals
who aren't sure what they want to do in life is
to use internships and job shadowing. A
summer internship (paid or unpaid) or job shadowing experience offers a
potential employee an unparalleled insight into what a job is really like
before they commit to it.
This provides incredible benefits both to the employee and the

organization. The employee is able to make a more informed career
choice and the organization benefits by not having to recruit, hire, and
train individuals who aren't going to stick around.
Internships and job shadowing don't have to be overly complex. Hiring an

intern for a short project assignment - say 2-3 months - can provide a
potential employee with a great look at what a career with your
organization might look like. The same is true for job shadowing. Inviting
potential employees to follow a seasoned member of your team for a day
or even a half day is a great way for a candidate to "test drive" a job and
see what it will really be like with little or no cost to your organization.
My first job was as a bus boy at a local buffet style diner where my duties
were to go from table to table and clear off the dirty dishes and trash left
behind by guests and prepare the table for the next party. Within an hour
of my first day on the job I decided I hated it and was going to quit as soon
as possible. Granted restaurants are notorious for having a revolving door
of employment, but I think you get my point.
If I had been given the opportunity to follow a bus boy for an hour I would
have quickly self selected myself out of the candidate pool. I think this is
the case for most positions that people are unfamiliar with or unsure
about. A short period of job shadowing provides a candid insight into what
the position is like and helps a candidate make an informed career
decision.
Retaining the best employees possible is no small task. It's similar to a

large jigsaw puzzle with hundreds of pieces. Using internships and
providing opportunities to job shadow are just one piece of the puzzle, but
they can serve as a very important one when done correctly.
Take some time and seriously evaluate how your organization uses
internships and job shadowing opportunities in its hiring and selection
process. You might be missing a golden opportunity to improve the level
of employee retention in your organization and not even realize it.
Struggling with employee turnover?
The High Cost of Retaining the Wrong Employee

Recently at a conference I spoke at I had a
conversation about employee performance
management with a manager during one of
the breaks. This conversation was one that is
all too familiar for me - how to manage the
employee who "doesn't get it" and has
become a real headache for this manager. She
was at her wits end having done everything in her power to get this
individual to "work out" and needed my advice.
I asked her what her gut instinct told her to do and her reply was, "Let him
go..."
She went on to explain that she had properly trained this individual and
had given him opportunity after opportunity to improve his performance
and had even involved other managers in an effort to improve his
performance.
At this point I asked her how much time she spent each day dealing with
issues related to this individual's performance. She quickly replied, "At
least an hour... sometimes two..."
Doing some quick mental math I asked her, "What could you do with that
one hour a day - twenty hours a month, six weeks a year - that were spent
addressing this individual's performance issues if a high performer were
hired to replace him?"
Her expression went blank and after some time she finally broke the
silence, "Wow, I never thought of it that way. That is a lot of time to spend
dealing with this individual. I hate to let him go, but..."
I can't help but think how much retaining this individual is costing her
organization and how many opportunities were missed by keeping this
individual on her organization's bus longer than necessary.
The truth is that the underperforming team member likely realized that he
was doing poorly in the job and just as his manager lacked the courage to
let him go, he too lacked the courage to leave on his own accord and find
more inspiring work elsewhere.
The question must be asked... How long does one allow a "problem
employee" to hang on until he or she is let go? A month? Three months?
A year? In my opinion all are too long.
Every minute that a properly trained employee who understands what is

expected of him/her but fails to perform up to expectations is allowed to
remain in his or her position is a minute too long. Retaining this individual
will only diminish your organization's ability to realize its full potential.
As a manager and leader you have a moral obligation to see that the right
people are in the right jobs within your organization and that those
individuals who are not performing up to expectations are let go to find
more inspiring employment elsewhere. To allow poor performance and
mediocrity to persist in any form will only cost your organization in terms
of missed opportunities, reduced productivity, and diminished morale.
Recruitment and Retention: Some Creative Strategies
Attracting and retaining staff in an increasingly tight labour market isn’t as
simple as placing an ad in the paper or issuing a weekly paycheque; in fact,
many properties across the province have given their HR practices a serious
overhaul in a bid to entice good employees and keep them happy.
“The importance of retention really hit home a couple of years ago,” says Mandy Farmer, Vice
President of Accent Inns. “We’d always had an excellent rate of retention, and then suddenly we
weren’t doing so well anymore.” In a bid to turn things around, Accent Inns made a valuable
discovery. “Initially, we scrambled a bit,” admits Farmer, who explains that management’s first
reaction was to offer incentives like trips to Mexico as a retention tool. “We thought we were making
strides, but it was only through conducting an employee survey that we realized our staff members
were looking for something a little more meaningful.”
Consequently, Accent Inns has taken the needs of their employees to heart. Staff now has input on
everything from the uniforms they wear to the types of benefit plans offered. And equally important is
that they’re given explanations if their requests can’t be met. “They are thrilled at having a say in key
decisions,” says Farmer.
This type of positive staff engagement is also at the core of the retention strategy of the Marriott
Pinnacle Hotel, which was listed as one of BC’s best companies to work for in BC Business Magazine’s
2007 survey. “Our goal is to empower our associates,” explains Mike Truscott, the Marriott Pinnacle’s
Human Resources Director. He says that staff members are equipped to handle this freedom by
participating in a thorough orientation process, which is also a key ingredient in the hotel’s overall
retention strategy. “We have a two-day orientation process, we match new associates with a ‘Certified
New Hire Trainer,’ and new staff also receive 30-day, 90-day, and annual assessments so that they’re
made aware of how they’re doing,” explains Truscott.
In conjunction with retention strategies, the Marriott Pinnacle has also instituted steps to facilitate
staff hiring. Not content to sit back and wait for potential employees to knock on their door, the hotel
has a very proactive recruitment process. “We offer incentives to those associates who recommend
our hotel to potential candidates; we work closely with universities and colleges across the province to
recruit individuals who’ve shown a passion for the industry; and our human resources department
provides on-going opportunities for students looking for practicum opportunities,” says Truscott.
This emphasis on the importance of developing recruitment and retention tactics is echoed across the
province. At the Chateau Victoria, where staff retention has always been top of mind, the last four or
five years have seen the implementation of even more creative endeavours. “Birthday brunches, six-
month recognition, a significant staff discount, and an education allowance are all part of our recent
initiatives,” says General Manager Brenda Ollis, who notes that creating a genuine atmosphere of staff
appreciation is the single most important factor in retaining staff. She believes it is a key reason why
44 of the hotel’s 105 employees have been with Chateau Victoria at least five years.
Further up the coast, the Middle Beach Lodge in Tofino has also stepped up its recruitment and
retention strategy. “Due to the seasonal nature of our business, we’ve got added challenges,” says
Human Resources Director Keith MacLean. In a bid to implement the resort’s mantra, “Live, Work,
Play,” Middle Beach Lodge has sourced accommodation for its employees to ensure they have a safe,
clean place to live. “By building staff housing on the property, and then buying houses and apartments
in the area to use as staff accommodation, we’ve been able to mitigate one of the most difficult
aspects of retaining our staff,” notes MacLean.
Equally important is fulfilling the “Play” aspect, which is done through annual trips, parties, and
teambuilding sessions. “We do a camping trip to Sprout Lake, a ski trip to Mount Washington, and
offer a management retreat to Hornby Island,” explains MacLean. He’s also got an unconventional
plan for next year’s hiring process: he plans to conduct interviews out in the surf. “I need to convey
that this is more than just a job… it’s a lifestyle.”

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