For all HR managers & line managers who have been suffering from sleepless nights on how to motivate employees , lets get one thing straight – “Do not waste time finding ways to motivate employee” . This may sound controversial and totally anti-HR but the fact remains that human beings are embedded with hard work and sacrifice as traits. So does that mean we do not worry about retention of employees or is our job only to weed out demotivated employees from our payroll.
No , we only need to change the way we think. So lets find out ways on “how not to demotivate employees”.
Following are the top 10 work cultural traits that are a sure short answer to better employee retention.
1. Transparency in communication
So Is the junior most employee of your company aware of the new business unit launched in the company ? Is he/she aware of the new policy rolled out ? Are your employees aware of the reason for managements decision on the new cost cutting exercise ? Are employees spending more time on corridor talks than in their work station ? If the answer to any of the above is "YES". then there is a serious communication break down.
Plug the above issue immediately by ensuring that your leadership team frequently sends out communication via e-mails , town halls, conference calls , internal blog posts, one-on-one interaction .
2. 2. Personalised support as per individual needs :
T This is something that supervisors need to initiate for their team members/subordinates. Do you approve unplanned leaves for employees who are in need of one ? Do you permit flexi- working hours to women employees ? Do you permit your employee to leave early when they have some personal work ? These options seem very simple to implement but they go a long way in keeping employees motivated.
3. Effective reward & recognition program :
On the spot awards , recognition in large forums , team awards ,assigning high performing employees to special projects. The list if endless . An effective R&R program should be a norm in all organisation.
R Refer to my blog on : Reward & recognition programs : How best to implement.
4. Access to leadership - 
M Most employee just know their CEO , MD , VPs etc only by their name. Its very important for leadership group to have an "open door" policy . Top management should allocate certain number of hours to listen , solve , help middle & junior level employees. Most top leaders are so engrossed in chasing clients to build business that they forget that their employees are their key assets.
5 Performance management program -
In In majority of the companies the percentage of attrition peaks post performance appraisal season. Poor PMS systems is a key demotivator in workplace.
Refer to my blog on : 10 PMS pitfall to avoid in work place
6. Intrapreneurship/ entrepreneurial opportunities within the company :
A All organisation have enterprising employees that are go-getters and are always fired up at the idea of starting their own venture. If their business ideas for new product or service is in line with the business , then why not fund their ideas & share profit. Kodak, Toyota, Yahoo are all examples of success stories in the area of intrapreneurship.
7. Monetary benefits -
M HR managers shy away from this fact . However on doing a reality check it is a fact that BPO industriy that has the maximum number of HR concerns thrive on "on the spot pay check ", generous bonus for employee referrals , monthly increments to sustain themselves. Tagging high performing middle /senior managers to new business opportunities where variable allowance is linked to a percentage of revenue earned in the year is also a good idea.
8. Work life balance
O Organisation that have been consistently winning the best employer award swear by this mantra. Your organisation may not be the best pay master in the industry but by creating 5-days work culture , flexi- timings , work from home alternatives , you allow your employees to spend more time with their family , pursing hobbies etc.
9.Clarity in career path/new career opportunities :
T There is always a grey area but if your organisation can create vertical & horizontal career paths then it becomes a dream organisation for any employee. Can a technical guy move into finance , can the finance guy move into HR , can HR move into project management etc. Its very important for HR to create a blue print where the technical/functional/behaviour competency is listed complete with the learning curve in each role. Then on an annual basis top performers should be given a choice to select their next role . With sufficient hand-holding it would be easy for this set of highly motivated employees to opt for career transition .
10.Empowerment
So what does this fancy sounding English word actually mean. Its very simple "trust your employee enough to give them freedom to execute". There is nothing much HR managers can do to ensure empowerment , this is completely up to individual supervisors. What we can do is frequently take feedback from employees to check if their supervisors encourage employee to take new initiatives without breathing down their necks for approvals.
So what does this fancy sounding English word actually mean. Its very simple "trust your employee enough to give them freedom to execute". There is nothing much HR managers can do to ensure empowerment , this is completely up to individual supervisors. What we can do is frequently take feedback from employees to check if their supervisors encourage employee to take new initiatives without breathing down their necks for approvals.
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