A study on the Motivation and Retention of Employees

I originally wrote this article back in 2011 for CyHRMA magazine (issue 33, April 2011) but wanted to share it with you because I think its contents still apply today. The message is that we’re not all the same, we’re not all motivated by the same things and so one size does not fit all. And on top of that, not only are we not all the same, we don’t remain the same! So the more perceptive and adaptable organisations can be, the better they will be at motivating and retaining their staff.

StepStone Solutions, one of the world’s leading suppliers of talent management solutions with over 1600 customers in 50 countries, carried out an online survey on motivation, gathering data from 3000 adults in Germany, Austria, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, France, Belgium and Italy as well as another 2000 adults from a YouGov poll in the UK. The results revealed a highly diverse set of employee groups in terms of what motivated them, thus emphasizing the need for employers to adjust their approaches in terms of attracting, retaining and developing employees, accordingly. Five groups emerged from the research, each one characterized by different attitudes and priorities in terms of their career paths but also unique in terms of the way they contributed to the company. Specifically, they were as follows: - Cash Chasers, Ladder Climbers, Bread Winners, Quality of Lifers and Flexibility Seekers. 

Cash Chasers

Cash Chasers are often relatively new employees who have not yet developed a sense of loyalty to the company. They are likely to be more interested in their own survival rather than that of the company and are quick to seek new job opportunities if the company is going through hard times. They are prepared to work overtime but only if they are paid for it since they are keen to boost their earnings. Of all the groups, they are most likely to retire early and this requires financial foresight. They are valuable in the sense that their ingenuity and often superior knowledge could lead the business in a lucrative new direction so it is important to be aware of their interests and to keep them engaged. The majority expect to be in a different position after 3-5 years. A clear understanding of their future in the company through open communication will help retain them.

Ladder Climbers

Ladder Climbers seek promotion and prominence and work towards their goal with a long-term strategy that maximizes their opportunities and profit. The possibility of promotion is what keeps them loyal to their employer and in order to get noticed and move ahead, they are likely to provide services over and above what is expected of them, by putting in long hours, without getting paid for it. If their career needs aren’t met however, i.e. if they are not given a chance to prove themselves or do not receive recognition in the form of advancement, they will look elsewhere. Around a third of them see themselves in a more senior role within 3-5 years and in comparison to the Cash Chasers, prefer stability so are less keen to work abroad.

Bread Winners

Bread Winners are family-oriented and are therefore strongly interested in money. However, even though being the main household earners makes their income very important to them, they are less prepared to work unsociable hours in order to earn more. They therefore seek a flexible and convenient environment, both in terms of hours and location. With regard to loyalty, they expect to be working for the same company within the next 3-5 years and are committed to their organization, especially if they can relate to its ethics. Since they seek stability due to family commitments, they may be reluctant to work abroad but it is worth discussing this possibility with them if potentially it could benefit the whole family.

Quality of Lifers

Their priority is to maintain a good work-life balance, thus making work fit around their personal needs and having a convenient workplace. They are less likely to work overtime since they are reluctant to sacrifice their lifestyle for the sake of their job and an increasing number are considering going freelance or seeking alternative employment in order to fulfill their need for flexible working hours. ‘Quality of Lifers’ also place less importance on promotion but if the company they work for has a code of ethics and brand they can identify with, they are more likely to remain working there. If their desire for work-life balance can be satisfied, they can contribute to the company due to their experience and reliability.

Flexibility Seekers

This group usually refers to the older workers of the company who are less interested in promotions and more interested in flexibility than any other group. They are more likely to postpone their retirement in order to earn extra money but their priority is to fit their job around their original retirement plans. Out of all the groups, they have the greatest desire to work from home. Their employer’s social and environmental activities are particularly important to them and as older workers they have superior experience and interpersonal skills, making them top candidates for knowledge sharing and company mentoring programmes. Some are interested in travel opportunities in order to broaden their experience.

Overall Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this study was to educate employers on what to ask of each employee in order to make the most of their talent, fulfill the business’ needs and improve retention and profits. With much of the corporate world having undergone major change in the past year, many people are now seriously revising their long-term work and life plans. Employers are assessing budgets, succession and retention issues and employees are worrying about possible redundancies or double work-loads. Some are waiting to make a job move as soon as the economy stabilizes and this potential loss of talent once the market picks up plus the job losses entailed so far could leave organizations with a large number of knowledge gaps. As a result, it is imperative that employers understand their employees’ needs in terms of what drives them and what their priorities are and how these might change over time, in order to retain them.

Giving the wrong tasks or offering the wrong rewards to the wrong employees can increase a company’s retention risk.

Once you get to know people as individuals and discover the contributions they are most willing and able to make, you can apply this knowledge and reward your employees appropriately, thus creating a powerful bond that is very hard to break.

A Successful Retention Strategy

In the short-term, the Human Resource team can gain valuable information from their employees by encouraging them to express their career preferences, strengths, needs and requests for training and development. This will show that the employer is a good listener - a vital element in becoming an employer of choice.

This information can lead to a mid-term strategy where career-planning programmes are developed giving employees a feeling of stability and clear overview of their future within the company. Career-plans help employees understand what they need to do and learn in order to reach where they want to be and also how their contribution is important to the company in terms of reaching its objectives. With time, this helps them clarify the direction they want to take, both professionally and personally.

In the long-term, employee development and commitment requires ongoing maintenance. Job satisfaction must be boosted in order to improve productivity and the company must demonstrate its willingness to reward its people appropriately, for their unique contribution. This could be done through enhancing employment practices e.g. providing the choice of flexible hours, working from home, money or holiday trade-offs and regular communication plans. In terms of the latter, some managers are rather reluctant to have regular reviews with their subordinates about their career directions and aspirations as they feel that they may not be able to meet their expectations. However, it is much better to be aware of your subordinates’ future hopes so that you can at least try to accommodate them accordingly and avoid a surprise resignation from somebody who was considered a loyal team member. In many instances, their career move is one you could have accommodated yourself as an employer, had you known about their aspirations in the first place.

References

“Getting the Best from your Employees – Understanding Career Motivations to Drive Better Performance”, HR Insight Paper, StepStone Solutions (www.stepstonesolutions.com) – unfortunately this source is no longer available since StepStone Solutions has since been rebranded and later acquired, as per below press releases:

• StepStone Solutions is now Lumesse - HRreview (May 2011)

• Saba Software Completes Acquisition of Lumesse (prnewswire.com) (Nov 2018)

• cornerstoneondemand.com/company/news-room/press-releases/cornerstone-completes-acquisition-of-saba-software/ (April 2020)