Companies need to realise a workplace is a social arena, says David Maida
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The factors that make a good workplace generally don't change much from year to year. But this year, Leighton Abbot, senior consultant with JRA and project manager for the Best Places to Work Survey, noticed some differences in employee priorities.
One issue that has moved up the ranks in the minds of employees is confidence in the organisation's leadership. "Some of the development issues are less important than they were last year and some of the leadership issues are more important than they were last year. Am I confident in what this organisation is doing at the moment, versus what's in it at the moment for me at a personal level?" says Abbot.
Personal learning and development issues ranked lower this year than last, taking a back seat to concerns about where the organisation is going.
Abbot believes the economic slowdown is the reason for this shift. "Things were tightening up and some organisations were certainly starting to tighten their belts and starting to see a bit of slowdown in sales during the survey period."
The surveys were completed from June to August, when the global economy was starting to tank. But other issues they examined remain relatively static from year to year.
"Some of our overall findings have changed slightly, but on the whole it's a similar list."
That list includes the top 12 drivers of employee engagement from all respondents to the 2008 Best Places to Work survey. "It's basic sort of stuff, I think. Am I doing a good job? Am I getting something out of it and is somebody else noticing?
The number one priority for employees is simply whether or not they can feel a sense of belonging at the place where they spend most of their time.
"The question that most strongly impacts people's engagement levels at work, and so is the thing that organisations should be focusing on more than anything else is the question, 'Do I feel a sense of belonging to this organisation?"'
Allowing employees to feel comfortable and connected at work should be a key management priority.
"If you're at work for eight hours a day, it's really important that you feel like you belong at work. It's a spatial need for people. There are certainly a few employers out there who don't quite understand that part of the job of providing a workplace for people is providing the opportunity for people to interact socially in a pleasant way."
One survey question that New Zealand employees continually rate their employers badly on is dealing effectively with poor performers. Abbot says New Zealand organisations still have a hard time confronting workers with performance issues and that doesn't contribute to a good working environment.
"While New Zealand organisations might not have too much of a problem setting high standards of performance, whether they're actually managing performance in order to reach those high levels of performance is another issue."
Performance issues might be one area where a lot of employers get caught up, but across a range of key drivers many organisations are getting it right. "Ultimately what organisations want is a workforce full of engaged employees who are going that extra mile."
The Outward Bound Trust of New Zealand regularly features as a finalist in the survey and was the overall winner in 2005 and 2007. This year it won its category in the small to medium-sized workplaces (50-149 employees). But school director Steve Hall says Outward Bound does not enter the competition to win.
"We use it as a tool to look at our culture and look at areas where we think we're doing well and areas that we use as flags for development - areas to work on. But clearly we've had pretty amazing success for a not-for-profit [organisation] in the last few years," Hall says.
Winners need to score well in nearly all categories, but Hall says they did even better in some areas.
"I guess key things that we scored really well in are the ones around culture and values and mission, and people really believing in what this organisation does."
A key to Outward Bound's success in being a great place to work starts with hiring people who believe in the mission. "It's not just luck. Our instructors, who are over half our staff, we spend a five-day course selecting them at the assessment centre and we're very overt about what this place stands for and what we expect. We're very honest and upfront about the good and the bad of working here."
The other main driver for Outward Bound is their consultative approach to management. "We consult with our staff and involve them in decisions and development and progress and improvement a lot."
Hall says it's the engagement that builds credibility and trust.
"You tell us what you want. We'll work this out so it's win-win. But here's what we expect as well. It's a rights and responsibilities thing."
But maintaining that emotional buy-in from staff over the long term isn't easy.
"We need to work hard to keep those levels of engagement and involvement up so you can't take things for granted. You have to think, 'We feel like we might have talked about this but we need to involve people and discuss it again even though it feels like we did it maybe not so long ago'."
Another organisation that has consistently stood out in the survey is Flight Centre. For three consecutive years it has won in the large workplace category (400-plus employees) and was the overall winner in 2006.
Sue Matson, Peopleworks and HR leader for Flight Centre New Zealand says employee expectations have remained relatively unchanged over the past several years. "I think employees are looking for stability. I think they're looking for direction from their leadership team. I think they're looking for the opportunity to learn and grow," Matson says.
She admits it helps being involved in a recreational business.
"We're in the business of selling dreams and selling people a holiday is a pretty exciting business to be a part of."
But it's a serious business with a culture of performance. On average, 40 per cent of a remuneration package is commission-based.
"Flight Centre has a very strong culture of, 'What gets rewarded gets done'."
Matson says the Flight Centre's culture is based on "brightness of future" and the longer someone stays with the company, the more they can earn.
"Financially, when you're working on commission and you're working with clients and repeat clients, the longer you stay the better you earn."
The culture of performance also involves other incentives such as "The Global Gathering".
"Ten to 15 per cent of our top performers in every country get together in a location around the world each year. Last year it was in Hawaii. This year it will be in Barcelona. That's a huge incentive."
Each month Flight Centre also hosts a "Buzz Night".
"All the staff get together in a particular area of the business to reward and recognise the good performances and great performances in that area. Pay is one of the things, but it's constantly being recognised by your peers and your leader."
The economic downturn might discourage business from these types of reward programmes but Matson says that Flight Centre can't afford not to do them.
"It is such an important part of our culture and people want to know what they have to achieve to do a good job or a great job. That is so much more important than essentially receiving the financial benefit of working for a company - knowing when you're doing a good job and then being recognised for it."
Contact David Maida at:
www.DavidMaida.com
