How to keep talented employees motivated in tough times
Across the country, employees are tired of doing more work with fewer resources and little or no recognition. Burnout is the new normal. More than half of those surveyed by DDI, a talent-management firm, said their careers are stagnant and that they plan to look for another job when the economy improves. These same employees are more than twice as likely to move to another company if given the opportunity. The message is clear: Not now, but soon, retention will be a real problem. Until then we have a sick patient: the American worker.
The treatment plan:
- Give challenging assignments.
- Develop new skills.
- Provide recognition.
- Clarify how individual jobs connect to the objectives of the organization.
- And, when the economy returns, provide advancement opportunities.
Here are a few low-budget tips:
- Set aside time during weekly meetings for each person to report good news, personal or work-related. This should break the pattern that meetings are always about hearing bad news.
- Â Each month do something fun to celebrate a recent success. Grab an ice-cream cone and go to the local park. Catch a movie, take in a museum. Assign a team of two to come up with the activity for the next month. This will create friendly competition, and teams will want to outdo the others with the most fun activity.