Vicki Anderson

In today’s work environment of job instability, the only thing truly portable is knowledge. Employees and employers alike have a lot to gain by developing learning organizations. Employers gain by having motivated, involved employees. Employees gain by enjoying their work more while adding to their personal worth.

In order for organizations to be competitive today, most work requires judgment and initiative. Even in routine tasks, employees need to notice errors in quality or processes that would require their adjustment. Employees are in the best position to recommend and make changes
Everyone is motivated by what interests them and is important to them. By developing and challenging your employees to learn, you also get them involved in their work. You are creating an environment where employees can be motivated to take pride in their work and gain more job satisfaction. So many managers make the mistake of focusing on money as the only or main motivating factor for retention of good people. Money is universal—everyone wants to feel they earn what they are worth. We have been conditioned to measure ourselves by money. However, the most effective long-term motivators are factors that go along with money. Many studies have been replicated over the years which show that people who achieve job satisfaction, feel appreciated for what they do, and develop increased skills are far more motivated to contribute to their work environment than those who are paid well, but get no job satisfaction, development, or appreciation for the work they do.
So, what can you do as a leader to develop and challenge your employees? Learning can take many forms such as classroom training, seminars, self-paced courses, coaching and mentoring, working on an improvement team, reading books and articles, temporary job assignments, addition of job responsibility, and training/teaching others. Developing people also means keeping people informed about what’s going on so they can make informed decisions about their work.

Look for opportunities to help people feel they make a contribution to your organization by inviting them to take on more responsibility or have input to decisions when they seem ready. This develops decision- making skills. Remember that according to Marcus Buckingham’s “First Break All the Rules,” employees join companies, but they leave managers. Employees are likely to feel more loyal and productive for managers who take an interest in them by developing them.
While employees do leave their organizations for other employment, it is often because they are not able to achieve their career goals in their current organization within the time period they want. If you have done everything you can within your organization to develop and coach, you still may not be able to prevent that. However, if you do not develop and coach them, they will leave earlier. At least you will have had the benefit of their expertise and involvement for an extended time.
Take time to engage your employees in dialog about where they want to go and what they want to learn. Find out what they like and don’t like about their jobs. Ask for ideas about ways to improve the things they don’t like or the processes that don’t work efficiently. Help them be realistic about what can and can’t be done. Listen and mentor. You’ll find you not only improve your employee retention and engagement, you will increase your own job satisfaction as well.

A recent article by The Conference Board reported that only 45% of people were satisfied with their jobs vs. 61.1% in 1987. http://www.conference-board.org/utilities/pressDetail.cfm?press_ID=3820 They also reported that 22% of the people surveyed said that they didn’t expect to be in their current job in a year.

I don’t think this is very surprising given all the changes in employment and the economy in the last year. I also don’t think it is just that people are scared for their jobs. When major layoffs and economy downturns happen it is natural for people hunker down and look out for themselves. It is more difficult to think about what you contribute to the team and how you are making a difference wherever you are if you are only focused on yourself.

I think being a successful part of the world is considering what contribution you make. Job satisfaction is not only being paid what you think you are worth, but it is feeling like it matters whether you do your job or not. And that doesn’t mean whether you get in trouble for doing it or not. Take a look at any job from garbage pickup person to waiter to lab technician to manager to ceo. If that person does not see the importance in their job and is not surrounded by others who value what they do, they are less likely to take an interest and feel satisfied.

And who has the power to help people see their work as worthwhile? It is management, coworkers, and the employes themselves. If you don’t like what you are doing, ask yourself why it needs to be done and what would happen if you didn’t do it. If you have coworkers who serve you by getting you what you need to do your job, let them know you appreciate their effort and what difference it makes to you being able to do your job. If you are a manager, don’t be a recognition miser. Be generous with appreciation and discuss what value employees bring to you and your customers by the way they work. And don’t forget to let your boss know if he or she is doing a good job. They are often the least recognized and it flows downhill from there!

My favorite saying is “The grass is always greener where you water it.” What are you doing to help your grass grow greener?