“An organisation pays a heavy price when its bright, capable people quit and leave. But it’s even more costly when bright, capable people quit and stay.” – Rodger Dean Duncan
Are your employees faking it? Ask yourselves these questions:
Do people come to work—every day — knowing what is expected of them and then, do it — or not?
Do they know what is critical for their organisation’s success?
The answer is that most of them do not — and the consequence is that 50 percent of all work is Fake Work.
Simply put, many employees are “quitting,” staying at their jobs and doing “Fake Work.” But those Fake Workers aren’t happy about it; instead, they want to feel they are contributing to organisational goals.
Recent research indicates that
87 percent of employees are not satisfied with the results of their work at the end of most weeks.
73 percent of workers say their organisations’ strategies and goals are not translated into specific work tasks they can execute.
70 percent of workers do not know what to do to support their organisations’ strategies and goals.
81 percent of workers do not feel a strong level of commitment to their organisations’ strategies.
Organisations must rethink how they both weather the current economic circumstances and motivate their employees.
The best answer is to help all employees to aligh with the organisation and become valued and valuable. and potentially increase performance by 10 to 20% in the process…
Here are 7 guidelines to help employers motivate their employees before they ”quit” and stay:
Explain the organisation’s goals and strategies to all employees.
Employees need to know more than a mission statement. They need to understand the goals and the strategies and why they are important.
Identify Real Work and the results the organisation is seeking.
Too many employees don’t actually understand what their company wants and needs them to do. Employees need clear goals translated into daily work.
Share decision making with individuals and work teams.
Allow employees, through the eyes of their team, to determine how and what they will do to complete organisational goals. When employees participate in the decisions that affect them, the more engaged they will be.
Help employees align their work with their team.
Alignment occurs when employees develop, clarify, prioritise and negotiate their Real Work tasks with their team members. In the right environment, individuals will appreciate being surrounded by smart, capable people who can help them solve and work through problems.
Help employees and leaders adopt each other’s perspectives.
Once employees begin to understand the others’ perspectives, the more they are able to work as a cohesive unit to achieve organisational goals.
Ensure that all learning is linked to organisational strategies.
Employees need and require development in a thriving learning environment—when it makes sense.
Rethink Performance Management Processes (PMP).
Make your PMP processes more collaborative, encourage open discussion and develop a performance plan that clearly links to the achievement of organisational goals, as well as making best use of the employees individial talents..
In conclusion, almost all employees have a great need to do Real Work and to contribute. To do that, they must be brought in to better understand the organisation, its goals and how they link to strategies, align to them, and then execute work that matters.
By Brent D. Peterson and Gaylan W. Nielson
Brent D. Peterson, Ph.D, is the co-founder and chair of The Work Itself Group, Inc.. He is the co-author of FAKE WORK along with Gaylan W. Nielson, M.A., the co-founder and CEO of The Work Itself Group, Inc.
