Nothing for You!
Date Posted: October 22, 2020
Posted In: Ideas, Workforce,
by George Friesen, Workforce Solutions Group, St. Louis Community College
It was hard to believe. Her look was a mixture of boredom and annoyance as she barked out “nothing for you.”
I had called this big box drug store three hours previously to confirm that a prescription I needed would be ready. They assured me that it would be. Four hours later I appeared at their drive through window ready to pick up my meds. I was asked for my name. I gave it and the response was quick and harsh. “We’ve got nothing for you.”
I told her that I had been told three hours previously that my prescription would be ready for pick-up. Her look of annoyance got more intense and after a couple of minutes of looking at her computer screen said, “Yeah, we do but it’s not ready, come back in fifteen minutes and we’ll have it.”
I know that what happened to me is not unusual, we’ve all experienced variations of it. Several years ago, my wife and I were in a big box hardware store looking for an item. We saw an employee and asked if he could help us find it. He replied, “First I’ve got to call a buddy of mine. Be with you in a minute.”
The key issue is what drives these kinds of detachment from work? To state the obvious, neither of these employees wanted to be where they were. Neither of these employees were experiencing any kind of joy in the work they were doing. For them work was drudgery, endured because they needed the money. Their life at work certainly didn’t have to be that way. If their management teams had understood the profound impact of these three drivers of engaged, high-performance employees, they wouldn’t be.
- Clearly understanding what their employees’ value.
- Being fully aware of the power of transparency in all of their operations.
- Understanding the power of positive reinforcement.
First, understanding what employee’s value.
A leading management consulting firm asked thousands of employees this question, “what do you value most about your company?” And thousands of managers were asked, “What do you think your employees’ value most about your company?” The answers were both surprising and enlightening.
Managers said that the top three things their employee’s valued were:
- Good pay
- Job security
- Promotion and growth
Employees said that the top three things they valued were:
- Interesting work
- Full appreciation of work done
- Feeling of being in on things
Good pay was number 5 on the employee’s lists.
What’s the significance of this disparity? The answer is simple. Lacking an understanding of what employees’ value greatly weakens an organization’s ability to respond effectively to their needs. And not being able to do this results in an unmotivated, unhappy, disengaged workforce.
Just like the pharmacy employee who told me, “Nothing for you.”