When Janice and I say that we work with leaders and organizations who really do believe that their employees are very important, most people laugh. They say things like, “Let us know when you find an organization like that.” The degree of cynicism around this issue is enormous!
How many companies do you know that say something like “People are our greatest asset?” How many do you know that actually act in alignment with what they say? More important, how many organizations have employees who believe they really are valued? Do yours?
Do you really mean it when you say, “People are our greatest asset”? Do you act accordingly? That’s the hard part. Do you, for example, ask your employees their opinions and advice? Do you pay attention to what they say? Do you foster leadership skills at all levels? Do you want engagement in their work from your employees, or do you just want compliance? If you don’t engage your employees, you are wasting much of the huge resource of their talents and experience.
My business partner, Janice Calnan, and I gave a presentation two weeks ago to the Ottawa Manufacturers Network (OMN). In it, we outlined the issues I described in the last two posts. We will be working, in partnership with the OMN, to offer some solutions to the emerging problems.
Solutions boil down to one direction that companies and other organizations need to take: developing a workforce that is engaged in their work, that works collaboratively throughout the levels of the organization, and that pools its experience, skills, creativity, energy and enthusiasm so that the whole really is greater than the sum of its parts. That is where a company’s sustainable economic development and profitability will be rooted.
If you are an employer, your high quality workers are about to become more valuable, and more in demand, as the growth in our workforce slows to a stop. How will you attract new workers and how will you keep the ones you have?
The way the world economy is going, more and more work is being outsourced from North America to countries like India and China, where a skilled workforce can be paid considerably less than North American workers. That being said, many jobs will not be outsourced and skilled North American workers will be very valuable to their employers. How will you develop your workers so they provide high value to your company?
Many employers are reluctant to invest in the development of their employees (at all levels), primarily because they are concerned they will lose them to competitors who will try to lure them away. That is possible unless your company is the best place for them to work.
So, how do you create a work place that attracts and keeps the best workers that you will need in order to thrive? It’s not just about how much you are willing to pay. It is also about job satisfaction. If your company pays competitive rates and provides workers with an environment in which they thrive, you will be able to develop a highly creative, productive and collaborative workforce. And you will be able to keep them when a competitor waves a few more dollars at them.
To do this, you may need to make significant changes to the way that you lead.
2011? My brother was born in 1946, at the leading edge of the Baby Boom. Last year he turned 60. In 2011, he will be 65. 2011, then, is time when the first Boomers reach the “retirement age”. Many, like my brother, will retire sooner. Others will continue working beyond age 65. But 2011 signifies a major change in the labour market, in North America and beyond. The Boomers have dominated and their moving on will have a big impact.
The first impact will be in sheer numbers. Projections from Statistics Canada give three scenarios for the Canadian workforce, depending on a number of different factors. The middle projection indicates that the growth of the labour force will decline significantly over the next 10 years, arriving at a no-growth level by 2016-2021. With the economy continuing to grow, the demand for skilled employees is increasing and the competition for them is heating up. How will employers handle their workforce issues? If they don’t handle them well, their companies will be in trouble.
Where will we find the workers we need? The projections indicate that in the next 5 years or more, workforce growth will come largely from immigration. At the current rate of immigration, that will not solve the problem, especially since we do a mediocre job of integrating skilled immigrants into our economy.
We can encourage older workers to stay in the workforce. The Province of Ontario, for example, has recently joined most of the other provinces by removing legislation that made retirement mandatory at age 65.
We can also encourage higher skills development and employment for socio-economic groups that have traditionally been under-represented in our skilled workforce: women, aboriginals, people with disabilities and other visible minorities.
The other very important thing we can do is focus on developing the quality of the workers that we do have and utilizing their skills, abilities, creativity and experience better than we do now.
To me, fostering job satisfaction among employees is essential to businesses and other organizations:
- Satisfied employees are engaged in the work they do and bring their best to their work;
- Engaged employees are not only happier but more productive;
- Higher productivity results in a better bottom line.
Job satisfaction, then, is not some airy-fairy concept that is irrelevant to creating a thriving organization. It is an essential ingredient. In his book, The Servant Leader, former Better Homes & Gardens executive James Autry states bluntly that “Business is about people. Business is of, by, about, and for people.” Some of those people are your clients and customers, of course; the others are your employees. If you ignore their needs and wants, you do so at your peril.
One thing that really disturbs me is how many people dislike the work that they do. It seems like a terrible waste. I have worked with thousands of people over the years and I know that everyone has activities that they love to do and are good at doing. Given that we spend the largest part of our waking existence working, whether we get paid or not, doing work that we hate is a waste of our talents, energy and lives. This is also a huge waste for employers, who so often get less than our best.
When people dislike their work, what is going on? It is probably for one or more of the following reasons:
- The work itself may be unpleasant, tedious, dangerous or demeaning;
- The work may be OK for some people, but it is not a good fit for their interests and abilities;
- The people they work with are not a good fit for them and are seen as negative;
- Their boss operates in a way that creates a negative atmosphere (at least for them);
- They don’t get support or appreciation for what they do; they aren’t listened to or valued (keys to job satisfaction for many people);
- They don’t believe the work they do is meaningful, worthwhile or makes a contribution.
Many of us are seeking passion and purpose in our lives. We want to find greater meaning, to love what we do each day, to really be alive. How can we discover our passion and purpose if we have not already done so?
Perhaps I can use my own experience as an example. My passion and my purpose in life are, first, to help people appreciate, honour and love themselves. Without this fundamental self-respect and self-love, we are limited in all that we do. Without this understanding, how can we be purposeful and focused in our actions?
Once we appreciate our own gifts, we are better able to grow and develop them and use them well, to live fully and do whatever it touches our souls to do. Acting in alignment with who we are, doing what is meaningful to us, enables us to tap into our passion.
The other key piece of my passion and purpose is helping people collaborate in order to achieve for the greater good. Doing whatever we find meaningful is often easier and more effective when we work together with others in some sort of communal effort. It can be as small as passers-by gathering to get a car out of a ditch or as complex as doing our best to make the world a healthier, more prosperous, more peaceful, and more loving place for all its inhabitants.
If there is one theme in all that I do, have done and want to do, it is that people matter. My personal mission statement, which has evolved over the years, is this:
To educate, empower and inspire people
to be the best they can be;
to appreciate themselves and others;
to collaborate and make the world a better place; and
to achieve what they truly want.
Life is first about being. “Who am I? What’s important to me? What do I have to offer?” Then, it’s about doing. “How do I live the life I want? What’s my focus? How can I contribute? How do I interact with others?”
Whatever role we play - business leader, worker, spouse, parent, team member, volunteer, friend or any other – we bring ourselves to whatever we do. I love the title of one of John Kabat-Zinn’s books, Wherever You Go, There You Are. It’s true. We can’t escape ourselves. In my perfect world, no one would want to.
My work, in a nutshell, is helping people align what they do with who they are. That defines their purpose. That’s where the passion comes from. My tag line for my Ascendo Consulting business is “Helping you fly in your work and life.”
I work with leaders who want to make a difference;
with organizations that really mean it when they say “People are our greatest asset”;
with those searching for the right kind of work and work environment; and
with people who are in career transition, voluntary or otherwise.