It appears very simple, eh? "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." The Golden Rule appears so all-inclusive that it could be a panacea for all human relations. Just treat everybody the same way you would appreciate being treated and all will run wonderfully, right?
Just a second... Something is off...
Does your twenty-something top gun account rep aim for the exact same things out of their work that your forty office clerk wants? Is your technical staff aiming for the same goals and reimbursement as your secretary?
Apparently, their desires are quite unique, though too many business owners apply a one-size fits all method when rewarding their most important employees. When a big contract is completed, everybody receives the same thing, whether you buy them lunch or a gift certificate. Delivering an identical reward to the whole team is what's fair, right? But is it really fair for the top staff?
Retain the Top Staff
Startlingly few entrepreneurs realize that the Pareto Principle lesson about their team teaches that a few of their team are producing the bulk of your entire business' bottom-line. In addition, just about every management book talks about case studies comparing the productivity of the top team members to the least capable (yet still useful) team members. The gap between the best and worst have been reported as high as 100 to 1. The nearest these numbers ever seem to approach is at best 4:1. So now how much more does this extraordinary variance in value end up costing?
Assuming that your yearly cost for the least capable staff member is $30,000, how much are you paying your top staff? Since a fair bit of the costs for staff are fixed, those costs don't go up in relation to base salary. For the intent of this example, let's use some worst-case numbers, $60k. Assuming that your $30k person generates $30k of value (otherwise you'd let them go, right?). If your top employee is a measly four times more productive than the worst, they deliver far more value for how much more they cost.
If you pays for more training for the low-end players, costs instantly go up, but without any guarantee that productivity will likewise go up. Think about what part of your time is factored into the "cost" of this moderately competent employee? Probably none. Management costs are usually invisible, factored away as overhead. It certainly
feels like you're being productive - trying your hardest to bring along the strugglers, hoping that they eventually rise above their shortcomings. Consider how much of your time is spent with either of these employees:
- The self-managing dynamo who, with speed of a bullet train, handles customer complaints, delivers defect-free results, and even cleans up after himself in the breakroom
- The newbie who has a few interpersonal problems, occasional product defects, some trouble following instructions, and shows up late on Mondays because of an occasional hangover
Apparently your top performers are worth the effort. As such, it's crucial for every small business owner to retain their top performers, as this handful of hotshots embodies 80% of your team's value. Their familiarity with your unique systems combined with their talents and ability to get the job done in a pinch makes them nigh unto priceless.
Now, what's the most effective way to show appreciation for your top people? How do you indicate to those high performers that they're wanted, and increase the likelihood that they'll stick around?
What's the most effective plan to keep your best people?
Coat their palms with silver. If your $30k worker puts in 80-hour weeks during the last month of a key project, most exclusively monetary rewards would come in at a rate
less than minimum wage. Just rethink this choice. This can be quite insulting, seen, instead, as a half-hearted attempt to pay them off and ease a boss' guilty conscience. Regardless, once the taxman gets his piece of the action, the ultimate value of this cash may end up being far less than it costs to give it out.
Pay for a training trip. Some folks might be excited about an opportunity to attend a class in a place with the company picking up the check. They may even ask to spend the weekend before or after, out of their own pocket, just to really benefit from this chance to see a new place. Be careful though, this could seem to your top performer that you noticed their efforts in need of training. They might assume that they should get additional training to be worthy of the real reward that lies waiting. If your achiever is sensitive, they might be upset that all of that extra work they went through was an indicator to you that they were struggling along. Offering a training reward in this circumstance could be mistaken that their difficulty was obvious, and now you are taking corrective action.
Offer a promotion. Though the appeal of an impressive title or material gains accompanying a promotion may inspire some, more and more workers have come to understand the dangers of the Peter Principle. They fear that their work lives will change a great deal should they become team lead. Your powerful personnel probably
like their current job. That's why they're so darned talented at it. Before thinking about a promotion as praise, ensure that the new role actually uses the skills and capabilities present in these high achievers, or you may end up losing them. If you think it's best to go for it, make sure your rewardee realizes that it's alright to get their old job again if things don't work out with the new position.
Give additional holiday time. Everyone wants time off, right? Unfortunately, if you offer this reward to a very dedicated person who is so totally immersed in their career that they have little else in their lives of work, they may not know what to do with themselves during this spare time.
Do unto others as they would have done unto them.
As you can see, there are many methods to reward your best. It's easy to be tempted to offer all of your team members the same thing. It's
especially tempting to offer them something you'd like yourself.
All of this leads to a fundamental process:
communication. In a nutshell,
ask your shining stars what they
really want. What award will allow them to truly feel loved? The life that causes a person to turn into a talented account manager is quite distinct than the path of a great office manager. You may be shocked by the replies you hear. If truth be told, your employees may be surprised, as well, to discover that you are actually giving them a voice to decide upon the reward for their hard work.
- Do they want cash?
- Do they want more demanding work?
- Do they want a little time off to appreciate their children?
- Would they rather have more mentoring?
- Do they merely want to be recognized at a company function?
- What rewards have they received previously that really made them feel good?
The answers can differ drastically for each individual, depending upon their long-term objectives, how their desires at this time are being met in Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, and the current challenges in their life. Don't make the blunder of believing that the answer you get now will remain the same throughout your high performer's career.
In the end, instead of attempting to reward your staff the way you would like to be rewarded, break The Golden Rule, and spend the time actually understanding their needs and wants. By involving them in decisions that affect their lives so directly, you might unintentionally benefit from the Hawthorn Effect and inspire your worker by demonstrating you care. You will probably notice that you've developed a work environment that makes your high achievers more contented than they've ever been. As a result, they will find a way to push themselves to new levels of productivity, understanding that their labor will turn into rewards that are truly meaningful to
them. You may even earn their respect and loyalty for a lifetime.
