Stretching the compensation dollar isn’t always about cutting back. Often, it’s simply about using the resources available to you more effectively. To get more from your compensation investment, consider these three approaches.
1. Shorten the work day
Recent headlines told the story of the experiment conducted at Perpetual Guardian, a New Zealand-based financial services firm in which CEO Andrew Barnes told employees to work 32 hours per week instead of the usual 40, but with no cut in pay. The results? A 24 percent increase in work-life balance and a more effective workday.
The New York Times quoted professor Jarrod Haar of Auckland University of Technology, one of the researchers analyzing the results of the experiment, as noting, “Supervisors said staff were more creative, their attendance was better, they were on time, and they didn't leave early or take long breaks. Their actual job performance didn't change when doing it over four days instead of five.”
We shouldn’t be surprised by this. One of the surveys sparking Barnes’ interest in the experiment is this one showing the average worker accomplishes as little as three hours of real work each day. Giving people the opportunity to find ways to be more efficient and effective, with a real benefit to themselves, can prove a powerful motivator.
2. Focus on strengths, not weaknesses
So much management philosophy guides us to counsel employees and offer feedback on areas of weakness and opportunities for improvement. Rather, focusing on employee strengths and encouraging more emphasis and productivity in line with those goals delivers more impact in the short and long-term.
John Hollon offered an excellent summary of the research in a recent Fistful of Talent blog post, including noting these results form a 2016 Gallup study showing significant increases in employee performance by following this strategy, including:
- A 10-19% increase in sales;
- A 14-29% increase in profits;
- A 3-7% improvement in customer engagement;
- A 6-16% lower turnover rate (in already low-turnover organizations);
- A 26-72% lower turnover rate (in previously high-turnover organizations);
- A 9-15% increase in engaged employees; and,
- A 22-59% reduction in safety incidents.
3. Change behaviors, not minds
A good deal of research shows more diverse organizations are more productive and more profitable. Yet organizations often struggle with creating inclusive as well as diverse work environments. Fast Company recently suggested a solution – “forget about what employees think and focus on what they do.”
The article explains:
“In the short term, telling employees how to behave can be an effective anti-bias training. After all, employees are used to being told what to do by their employers. In the long term, those bias behavior changes can result in long-term biased attitude changes.”
Of course, hiring for diversity is ground stakes, as working closely with someone different than you is the fastest way to begin to think of “other” as individuals not all that unlike you after all.
Cracking the whip, demanding more hours out of employees, pushing training to improve weaknesses – none work to improve productivity or performance. What other ideas have you seen work well to address real human needs on a human level?
As Globoforce’s Vice President of Client Strategy and Consulting, Derek Irvine is an internationally minded management professional with over 20 years of experience helping global companies set a higher ambition for global strategic employee recognition, leading workshops, strategy meetings and industry sessions around the world. He is a leader in the WorkHuman movement and the co-author of "The Power of Thanks" and his articles on fostering and managing a culture of appreciation through strategic recognition have been published in Businessweek, Workspan and HR Management. Derek splits his time between Dublin and Boston. Follow Derek on Twitter at @DerekIrvine.
Going to cheat here, Derek, offering super-concise agreement!
1. Work smart vs long. Output quality is more relevant than duration of effort.
2. Build on strengths (generally what people do best and most enjoy, anyway!)
3. Don't care what you think if you do right.
Posted by: E. James (Jim) Brennan | 08/15/2018 at 02:39 PM