Of course, you can make just about any group of statistics dance a jig on the head of a pin, but for decades, research and analysis has confirmed that between fifty and seventy five percent of employees choose to leave an organization for one sad but simple reason: how they perceived they were treated. Before you jump to the conclusion that we’ve developed a culture of entitled whiners know those statistics have for the most part remained valid since before Dr. Spock suggested coddling his first baby. We lose good people not because of their issues of money, promotion, and benefits, we lose too many good people because we either treat them badly or we don’t treat them well enough to convince them to stay.
Business school 101 teaches us Maslov’s hierarchy of needs, and while it’s been over 70 years since they were first published, some things are so brilliant, so valuable, and so true they deserve our eternal attention. His “pyramid” of five needs were from basic/bottom to top: physiological (water, food, warmth, rest), safety (security, the family, and employment), love/belonging (friendship, family, and intimacy), esteem (confidence, achievement, respect), and self-actualization (creativity, spontaneity, and problem solving). Notice there are three more levels of needs (motivators) above a safe job with a paycheck and a high deductible health insurance plan. And think of the untold billions of dollars and immeasurable number of hours poured into hiring, training, and managing with a focus on only the two most basic human motivators at the bottom of pyramid. Now add to that the time and treasure spent on locating, replacing, and training new employees to replace those who have chosen to leave. Total all of that and imagine adding that back to your bottom line.
Before I was mature enough to listen to sound business advice, I went into the restaurant and lounge business. It seemed like a great idea at the time. You can imagine how quickly that eager train high-balled off the tracks. A good family friend owned a successful restaurant and earnestly told me this: “it’s not just what you have coming in the front door, it’s what you prevent from going out the back door”. I nodded appreciatively and quickly ignored his sage advice. Sure enough, a day of reckoning arrived not long after I had discovered just how much had gone “out the back door”. It was too late. The point is it would have cost me nothing to prevent the hemorrhaging, but not doing so cost me everything, and it continued to cost me for the next 48 months as I paid monthly for having not listened to good advice.
By paying attention to more than just the two, basic needs of our team, we can create a win/win/win. First, we win by retaining our best and brightest. That alone should be enough to get our attention. Those whom we have solicited, trained, developed, and in whom we have invested heavily simply stay with us. Next, we don’t have to search out and reinvest in new hires. That process alone is extremely time consuming and expensive, a major friction anchor impeding our forward progress. And, finally, by fulfilling the higher needs of our employees we stoke the fires of creativity, participation, commitment to the team cause, and, equally important, the ability to become accountable and to solve one’s own problems. There you have it. With no additional investment we can by simply paying attention to something besides our employees’ paychecks and office equipment, retain motivated, creative, accountable and committed team members who would rather be a problem solvers than problem creators. Just imagine working and winning on a team like THAT!
Originally published in Beaumont Business Journal, Heat And Humanity Column
