There are two laws I really like:  the first, Murphy’s Law says, If anything can go wrong, it will.  You can bank on that.  The other, Bardwick’s Law of Entitlement says, What ever people get for free stops being a delight and very quickly becomes an entitlement.

Woe befalls the endlessly generous giver who never requires something be earned.  Instead of receiving gratitude and love from those they’ve benefited so generously, their free offerings are taken for granted and therefore have no value.  At the same time, "What have you done for me lately,”  has no limit and is never satisfied.

Dear Reader, you may well be wondering where I’m going with this.
 

 
If you’re a really generous parent, grandparent, teacher or friend, you may be wondering if this is directed at you.  The answer is Yes, beware of unfettered generosity, but the real target of this message is organizations and their Human Resource Departments.

There’s a very old and widespread belief that if employees are happy their gratitude will be equaled only by their productivity and retention rates.  In other words, as morale climbs, performance will soar.  As a result of this heartfelt belief, Human Resource Departments have generated a long list of things that will make employees happy.  This point if view is so widely accepted that virtually every medium and large organization give most of these things to all of their people.

There is nothing controversial or debatable in these offerings so I call this list of “give-aways”  a Mother’s Day and Apple Pie list.  Every thoughtful and conscientious organization offers some variation of the following and (in no particular order they include), competitive compensation and benefits; tuition and time for school; opportunities to improve and use your skills, stirring mission and value statements; knowing what’s expected of you; admirable and believable leadership; a culture emphasizing transparency, trust and inclusion, flex time and parental leave.  I could easily create a longer list but this is enough for the reader to get the picture.

Alas, these offerings which are widely believed to motivate and gladden the heart of employees, generate almost no significant pay-off for the organizations which offer them.  Among my favorite pieces of information in my recent book, One Foot Out the Door, are the sets of results on pages 92 & 93 that give us the percent of employees who find these working conditions or forms of recognition significantly valuable to them.  A glance at the data swiftly reveals how much is given – and how much is taken for granted.

In 2006 the international consulting firm Watson Wyatt Worldwide released two sets of data from their WorkUSA 2000 study of “Employee Commitment and the Bottom Line”.

Gaining Employee Trust Relies on Seven Key Factors
1.  Management explains the reasons behind major decisions            10%
2.  Management works to gain support for the business direction       10%
3.  Management strives to motivate employees to high performance  10%
4.  The most qualified employees are promoted                                   10%
5.  Management acts on employee’s input                                              9%
6.  Management strives for job security                                                  9%
7.  Employees are encouraged to participate and be involved                8%
8.  All other factors                                                                               34%
 
Key Drivers of Employee Commitment
1.  Employees trust senior management                                              14%
2.  Employees are able to use their skills on the job                            14%
3.  Rewards and recognition are competitive with other firms              11%
4.  Jobs are reasonably secure                                                             11%
5.  The company’s products and services are of a high quality             10%
6.  There is little stress related to work                                                  7%
7.  The company’s business conduct is honest and based on integrity  7%
8.  All other factors                                                                             28%

Would these percentages be higher if we just kept giving employees more rewards and even better working conditions?  The answer is, no.  There are several reasons why there’s no bang for the organizational buck:  first, the same things are available for everyone irrespective of what anyone wants, and those things are given and not earned.  The result is they are not valued.  Second, what really matters for an individual is determined by what that person most needs or wants now.

I am not advising a major take-away of things employees take for granted.  That would be an invitation for active disengagement with performance plummeting.  No, this is a warning not to expect a big pay-off from working conditions or rewards

    * that are taken for granted.
    * that everyone gets.
    * that are not earned in any way.
    * that have been in place for a long time.
    * that are just like those offered by every other company.

On the other hand, Do expect a big pay-off when working conditions and rewards demonstrate the organization’s view that this individual is a major asset and working conditions and rewards are

    * customized to meet that individual’s preferences or needs
    * customized outcomes that are earned through performance.
    * customized outcomes that are specifically targeted to individuals
    * customized outcomes that reflect the specific needs and priorities
       of employees in this company
    * customized outcomes are a commitment for a year or two and then priorities
       and needs are reassessed.

Many employees in many companies in many countries are discontent and fearful because the changes which are occurring are disruptive, swift and major.  One of those critical changes in many workplaces is that employees who used to be regarded as key assets have become mere costs to be cut.  That basic attitude does not foster employee commitment to the organization or engagement with its work.

But hundreds of studies tell us that strong positive feelings of commitment and engagement are the key to success, specifically financial success.  Gaining those feelings of commitment and engagement requires responding to employees as individuals who really matter to the organization.  One of the key ways that organizations can achieve the key motivators of commitment and engagement is by meeting that person’s most important needs or preferences at this time.

The task is much easier than it sounds because at any time there are relatively few categories of things that people really want.  What management needs to do is not hard:  managers need to know a lot about the work their employees do and a little about their life outside of work.  All that takes is asking questions and really listening to the answers.  The goal is to convince individuals by how the organization behaves toward them that they and their work really matter.

That’s it; the magic key to success.