Over half of the
employee population in my organization is mid to late fifties (with “widget”
jobs) so they are extrinsically motivated by the pension contributions and the
healthcare options that the company provides (Ryan & Deci, 2000). Since
it’s an aging population, employees are focused on benefits such as their
retirement and healthcare.
Currently, the
company contributes 14% of an employee’s pay into a pension account and money
is budgeted and allocated to each employee to purchase their medical, dental,
and/or vision plans.
Although, this
sounds like a key motivator to many, the younger employees are extrinsically
motivated for different reasons. They value the resume equity of their position
and plan to use it to elevate themselves to a better paying job elsewhere which
directly ties to Martin and Schmidt’s argument that companies need to keep it’s
employees engaged (2010).
Yet, in both
instances, employee engagement is very low. The older employees complain that they “do” the same job
every day and since they are so vested with the company that they are “sticking
it out until they retire” while younger employees feel that upper management
fails to support professional growth (Moore, 2011).
Inherently, it
has effected customer service to our clients and stagnated major projects. Rather
than help employees finding meaning in their work (Moore, 2011) the company
considers it an incompetence issue and has re-structured departments several
times within a year reinforcing the lack of desire and motivation of
performance.
Ryan, R., and Deci, E. (2000). Intrinsic and
Extrinsic Motivations: Classic Definitions and New Directions. Contemporary
Educational Psychology. No. 25, pp. 54-67
Martin, J., and Schmidt, C. (2010). How to Keep Your Top Talent. Harvard
Business Review, pp. 3-9
Moore,
K. (2011, July 6). Wharton's Cappelli On Careers[Video
file].Retrieved from:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLmgEWw7kxM&feature=autoplay&list=UUOxcxiUNpYv7NPbxpBobVlg&playnext=1
Interesting post, Dayna. Sounds like a cycle that could use some improvement. What types of rewards or incentives would you recommend to help motivate both ends of the workforce? I personally enjoyed the ideas in "Mentoring Millennials" and think in this case the reverse mentoring could be useful.
ReplyDeleteNIce application of the readings to your own workplace. Like Nicole, I'd be interested to hear what changes you would make based on what you learned from this week's material.
ReplyDeleteHi Dr. Neff & Nicole,
DeleteReverse mentoring could be valuable in my work environment, however, in order for it to be fully beneficial a culture shift would have to occur (Meister & Williard, 2010). The older employees are resistant to technology and change. In fact, when IT decided to update our computers to the latest version of Microsoft Office the older employees complained for months that it impeded their work flow and it was invaluable. Also, the older employees are “knowledge” hoarders. They are resistant to share their information because they feel it would make them less valued. Group mentoring may be a less threatening method to transfer skills and if implemented over a series of months could change the mindset and improve productivity Meister & Williard, 2010).
Dr. Neff & Nicole,
DeleteI forgot to add that "reverse mentoring" is actually what the Zappos culture inadvertently promotes. It's really an interesting model that their CEO outlines in his book "Delivering Happiness."
Hi Dayna,
ReplyDeleteI found your post especially interesting because at Varian there is a large population of employees who are 50 and above. Many have spent their entire career at Varian and in talking to some of these employees, they are counting down the days to retirement. And speaking of, Varian offered early retirement packages recently and over 80 employees signed up for this. Varian will have to fill these soon to be vacant positions and when I interviewed Eric Boedker for my post last week, he mentioned that they were looking to hire younger employees. This makes me wonder how Varian will modify HR and management programs to motivate millennials and keep them engaged to stay. I think that changes need to be made to address a younger workforce and cultivate their skills and talents.
~ Sheila
Hi Sheila,
DeleteYou're absolutely correct. Regardless, if you're a trendy company or not, I think that organizations need to engage their employees by creating meaning in their jobs as Moore noted. Employees need to be tied to the agency's mission and feel as though they are making a difference and not just making a "part," or answering a "question" from a concerned client. As far as HR is concerned, I agree with you. I think they are the entry point for employees and set the initial tone for the agency. It's important they evaluate environmental factors and adjust accordingly to help maintain profitability.
Dayna,
ReplyDeleteHope your feeling better. Reading the HBR article "How to keep your top talent" by JEan Martin and Conrad Schmidt, has some really good points. From what I read, it sound like your younger staff need to engage in a talent development program. Something with higher risk and rewards. The older staff are happy and stable, but the younger workforce need that challenge until they too can start counting down the day till retirement.
Hi Jack,
ReplyDeleteIs that another new hat? Thanks. Still under the weather, but slowly recovering.
I agree with their points, and yes, the company should invest in talent development programs for younger staff, but they allocate very little funding for such. The most they invest is in a tuition reimbursement program which is meager. The other drawback is the "older" managers view the younger "rising stars" as threats.
The company needs to shift the internal cultural perception and begin to connect the mission and it's strategic goals to everyone's position, like I mentioned to Dr. Neff and Nicole above, group mentoring could be a less threatening option for both generations.
Thanks for the post.
Hi Dayna,
ReplyDeleteBoy, are you certain we don't both work at the same organization. What you describe I believe happens everywhere. With all the reorganization your organization is going through I hope that you don't lose too much knowledge.
Feel better!