HR 101: Money doesn’t always equal happiness

(August 2007)Alexandra McLean and Shannon Waller from The Strategic Coach examine your experiences and answer your questions about human resources and people management.

In this article: Talent management advice and non-monetary ways to keep people happy.

You asked: What are some of the easiest ways to keep people happy in their jobs? Assuming that we can’t increase their payout, what are the simple but often overlooked ways to make people feel happier about their work and their workplace?

For some people, money equals happiness. For most, however, that statement would ring true only for a short while. There are many different factors that contribute to an employee’s happiness, and money is only one piece of the pie.

There are many elements that contribute to job dissatisfaction as well. Lack of appreciation, looking for a new challenge, no growth opportunities — these are listed on exit surveys more often than not. Employees who don’t feel as though they’re contributing to the bigger picture, or who feel that what they do isn’t appreciated by others, tend to be unhappy in their jobs.

Acknowledgment and appreciation can go a long way. An employee who feels valued by their organization is a happy employee. If your employees are happy working for you, they pass that along to your customers, and you have happy customers; it’s really quite simple!

If you have an unhappy employee, before assuming it’s their salary they’re unhappy about, think about the last time you acknowledged them. When was the last time they heard how much you appreciate what they do? When was the last time you asked what they thought about a project? These conversations will do a lot more than build a strong working relationship — they’ll build an office environment full of people happy to come to work.

You asked: I’ve read a few things about “Talent Management” lately, but I’m not clear what that means in the context of our business. Suggestions?

According to Wikipedia, “talent management refers to the strategic and deliberate ways companies source, attract, select, train, develop, promote, and move employees through the organization.”

Other authors have said talent management is the best way for companies “to differentiate themselves from the competition and achieve desired goals.”

Boiled down, talent management efforts recognize that your team, not just you, is what drives growth and the success of your company. In Strategic Coach terms, it means you’ve made the shift away from being a “Rugged Individual” who’d rather do it themselves, to someone who values, appreciates, and develops other people’s capabilities, as well as your own.

In the context of your business, it depends a lot on the size of your team. To start with, look at the ways you source, attract, select, train, develop, promote, and move employees through your organization, and figure out which of these processes need further development.

At the same time, there are a number of resources you can use to help identify the talents and strengths of your team, better understand your employees and find the right roles for them within your organization. Some of the ones we use and recommend at Strategic Coach are:

Kolbe (www.kolbe.com) The Kolbe A profile measures a person’s striving instincts, how they instinctively get things done, versus their personality or intelligence. When you want to find out how someone will approach a job or task, not just how well or why, Kolbe A profiles are invaluable. If, for example, you want someone who is driven to finish projects (the ones you start), organize your office and create ongoing systems, you’d want someone who initiates in the “Follow Thru” mode. If, on the other hand, you want to fill a role in sales, it might be more appropriate to select an employee who initiates in the Kolbe “Quick Start” mode.

Strengthsfinder The Strengthsfinder 2.0 profile (available in the book by the same name authored by Tom Rath) will help isolate and identify a recruit’s strengths once they’re hired. Researched and created by the Gallop organization, it coaches readers to play to people’s strengths, not their weaknesses, for optimal satisfaction and results.

If you continue to focus on developing your own unique talents, the talents of those around you, and the systems to support them, you’ll be fully engaged and using the most important elements of “talent management.”

Shannon Waller is a team program coach at The Strategic Coach. Alexandra McLean is The Strategic Coach’s human resources and recruiting manager. Visit www.strategiccoach.com for more information.

Are you experiencing some personnel challenges in your practice? Send your questions to shannon.waller@strategiccoach.com.

(08/28/07)