Categories
Leadership and HR Sustainability

The same old talk about employee retention and engagement

I’ve always found it delightful to work on employee engagement and retention. It’s like mastering an emotional theory from the basics to the sophisticated elements that drive us to engage in our work. However, as the real world is based on practical actions, I’ve decided to group and identify what each stage of this theory involves with Maslow’s theory of needs as a background.

The guiding thread that assesses and facilitates all these aspects is the BP of each area. A skilled business partner can identify gaps within each of these elements and recruit customized solutions for each area, in collaboration with HR service areas (training, compensation, etc.).

Physical Aspects

Areas involved: Facility Management and Benefits and Compensation Management

Starting with the basics done right. Just as I mentioned in this post, beginning with what is visible, physical, and initially noticeable ensures a good first impression. Here, everything that is physical, essential and structural is involved:

What we offer:

  • Timely payment of salary and benefits.
  • Predictable hours, respected breaks, and no excessive overtime.
  • Comfortable shared spaces: Comfort in collective facilities such as bathrooms; room temperature; meal and rest areas.
  • Comfortable and personalized individual workspace: desk, chair, screen, headphones, etc.
  • Noise and interruption management.
  • Accessibility in facilities and equipment.
  • Comfortable commute to work.
  • Health insurance.
  • Occupational health and safety measures.

In summary, before offering a ball pit and beer, make sure your employees have a good chair to sit on.

two basic needs: cats and books

Trust and Security Aspects

Areas involved: Leadership and Internal Communication

Elements of security constitute fundamental aspects of human needs, as seen in Maslow’s hierarchy. Yes, deep down, we all fear unemployment and crave a dose of stability. For the workplace, the offer of security comes through the company’s internal communication and the immediate leader, often neglected despite being so fundamental. By providing assurance that employment is not at risk, employees develop trust in the company.

What we offer:

  • Managerial communication: Clear, frequent, and open communication about the current state of the company: aspects of the company’s financial health, changes, and expansions.
  • Leadership communication: Clear criteria and expectations regarding performance with constant feedback.
  • Unemployment insurance.
  • Outplacement: In case of termination, the company offers a service that helps employees find new job opportunities.

In summary, contrary to what some may say “stability is impossible and no longer necessary offer” having the assurance that your job is not at risk is and will always be one of the most basic needs, from a high executive to a software developer. Yes, we like to know that we have our job under control.

Social Aspects

Areas involved: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB); Leadership and Culture

Feeling included, welcomed and accepted even when showing my true self. This aspect generates connection within the group; only with this well-consolidated social element can high-performance teams exist sustainably.

What we offer:

  • Workplace diversity: In teams, leadership, and top-level management.
  • DEIB: Policies, campaigns, and training.
  • Team building.
  • Psychological safety.
  • Opportunity to contribute to others.
  • Non-violent communication as organizational culture.

Encourage and provide more open channels for dialogue and sharing among employees (I’m not talking about a pet photo channel on Slack). Value collective contribution and teamwork more than solo heroism. Where people are gathered, there is an opportunity for genuine connections, and yes, we all need that, especially where we spend 1/3 of a day.

Esteem Aspects

Areas involved: Endomarketing, Employer Branding, Performance, Marketing and Compensation

Now moving up to more sophisticated aspects, we find elements of pride and prestige.

  • Company with a reputable name, ethical and well-known.
  • Opportunity to excel in what one does (right person in the right place, optimal-level challenges, contribution, and recognition).
  • Rewards, promotions.
  • Job title.
  • Job perks.
  • Autonomy.
  • Impact of work: Involvement/participation in decisions outside your area of expertise and beyond the scope of work.

Who doesn’t like to work for a well-known company with a good product, no ethical issues, a good position, and some nice perks?

Self-Realization Aspects

Areas involved: Career Management, Learning and development, Mentoring/Coaching and Talent Development

Now, we can talk about long-term elements and strategic career planning, a sense of value, and perhaps even a legacy.

  • Long-term career perspective.
  • Long-term career development planning.
  • Opportunity for personal growth.
  • Work that reflects values.
  • Ecosystem for innovation.

Two-Factor Theory – Frederick Herzberg (1923-2000)

In conjunction with Maslow’s foundational insights, Frederick Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory (1923-2000) has been instrumental in shaping my exploration of employee retention and engagement. As Herzberg delves into the dynamics of satisfaction and dissatisfaction, it becomes evident that his perspective complements Maslow’s hierarchy seamlessly.

■ Satisfaction: Rooted in motivational factors such as recognition, promotion, and achievement – elements resonating with the sophisticated aspects of social, esteem, and self-realization discussed earlier.

■ Dissatisfaction: Primarily stems from hygiene factors like salary, company policies, and job security – connecting with the physical, trust and security aspects mentioned previously.

As illustrated, “hygiene” factors don’t serve as direct motivators but are foundational. Their absence creates a suboptimal employee experience, emphasizing their crucial role as basic elements. Motivational elements, enhancing performance and well-being at work, depend on hygiene elements being addressed first for their effects to emerge.
The collaborative insights of Maslow and Herzberg offer a holistic understanding, providing a comprehensive lens for navigating the intricate landscape of employee motivation and fostering a workplace conducive to individual growth, commitment, and enduring fulfilment.

References:

Maslow, A. H. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50(4), 370-396.
Herzberg, F. (1959). The Motivation to Work. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

Categories
Productivity

A Quick Summary of What I Learned Studying Productivity

I’ve discussed the 3 moods of productivity in this post Productivity moods. Understanding these moods was as fundamental as the other aspects I gonna talk about in this post.

Productivity can be understood in various ways. Out of every 10 people I ask, more than half share three common aspects of productivity:

  1. Doing the maximum possible,
  2. In the shortest time,
  3. With the best possible quality.

In essence, this means that productivity involves quantity and speed.

While this makes a lot of sense, I believe it goes beyond that.

I consider some other elements important when it comes to productivity:

→ Right Direction: Where am I headed? Without a purpose for what you do, even if you do a lot, quickly and in good quality, it won’t be sustainable in the medium and long term if the results don’t take you where you want to go.

→ Satisfaction in the Journey: Am I well doing what I do? Am I happy with my journey? Because if not, if I get sick, I won’t be able to produce anymore. So staying well is a priority. If I’m okay, I can take care of the rest.

After this philosophical reflection, a few more reminders:

Productivity is a progressive process that takes time to refine. You gradually build your individual way of managing life’s demands: combining different methods, tools, and habits, abandoning some along the way, and experimenting with others. It’s an endless cycle of testing, learning, and adjustments.

We can think of productivity as a pyramid of needs:

  1. At the base, first, understand, organize, execute, and evaluate our current tasks.
  2. Then identify all our projects and manage them. Within these projects are tasks.
  3. Reflect on goals that take more than 1 year. Within them are various projects.
  4. Now, with more breathing space, think about our life areas separately: work, health, finances and so on. From this reflection, extract tasks, projects, and even goals.
  5. Balancing (not perfectly) the previous points, you start thinking about more sophisticated aspects: lifestyle, values, mission, purpose, etc.

I believe it’s crucial to start with what’s most urgent, what’s right in front of us (tasks), before advancing to more sophisticated elements (values, purpose, etc.). You wouldn’t think about decorating the house when your sink is broken and leaking water everywhere. Decoration is an important element, but it’s impossible to survive in a house when you can’t do your basic routine.

In addition to these 5 progressive aspects of the productivity journey, I strongly believe that we must consider 3 elements:

  • The choice of Tools: Notion, Trello, Asana, etc.
  • The development of Habits: Check-in/Check-out, when to check emails per day, recurring meetings, weekly/monthly reviews, etc.
  • The choice of a Method: GTD, PARA, Bullet journal, etc.

The method is undoubtedly the most important element because it will sustain you when things go wrong. It’s like a safe space always available, regardless of where you are and your current life situation: you have a place to return to – your beliefs, your best routine, your values and what you really need to worry about – This safe space is your productivity system.

Perhaps this is the core of the productivity issue for me: having the clarity to do what I can in the present moment, according to the conditions and resources I have at the moment. And to do this, I build a system that allows me to navigate life’s ups and downs.

Categories
AI Employability

Blogs, Cover Letter, ChatGPT and the Budismo

The blogosphere has seen many phases, we know.

Back in the day, we had the avant-garde phase; in 1999, there were only 23 blogs. However, it was in the 2000s that things started to escalate. Those who experienced that era know it well—blogs were delightful, with a distinctly personal and intimate character, akin to an open diary. They communicated with the only intention of sharing, and creating records, without an ulterior motive or strategy behind every word. There was no planning, no traffic strategy, let alone brand archetype construction.

I’m the ruler, buy from me

Between 2005 and 2008, blogs gained more visibility due to their organic impact on the audience. I remember in 2007 I would never buy a shampoo without first researching what my favorite bloggers had to say about it. Of course, they didn’t earn a penny from it; they bought the product and provided a sincere review. I recall a brand called Bepantol, originally a baby ointment, but bloggers recommended it for hair treatment. Due to the surge in product sales, the brand revamped its packaging, price, and brand strategy, transforming from a modest diaper ointment to a complete hair treatment line—all thanks to bloggers who didn’t earn a dime from it.

We know where this was heading, right? Around 2008, blogs started being seen as an opportunity for manufacturing value for brands, becoming just another source of traditional information. Naturally, this led to them becoming dull, predictable, and repetitive.

Currently, there is a massive influx of blogs, especially corporate ones, with a singular purpose: conversion. Few personal blogs offer a genuine perspective, with the aroma and taste of real life, with its unpredictability and unique perspective.

Contents with personal experience are often found on other platforms like Instagram and YouTube. Do you need help with the introduction between two cats? There are hundreds of YouTube channels providing tutorials, but maybe two or three blogs in Portuguese with quality and in-depth content. Moving to a not-so-popular country? Two or three blogs with posts from 2015 might be the deepest and most personal content you’ll find. I feel like most of the content on the internet today is superficial, offering obvious advice that barely extends beyond page 2. The content caters to the masses — shallow, obvious, and cliché.

Corporate blogs seem more like copy-paste with word substitutions, almost like what we used to do in school when copying an assignment. The worst part is that it works for them: they sell. We are neck-deep in superficial, obvious, and repetitive information that feeds on itself. The writing for these blogs often follows a similar pattern, produced by non-experts. It’s common to reach the end of an article and realize it wasn’t written by an expert but by a journalist.

And to add to the mix, we have the arrival of ChatGPT.

As a frequent user and consumer of content produced by ChatGPT, its modus operandi is easily identified.

Working in human resources, I see how the automation of this tool, when not used carefully, makes us miss opportunities. When someone applies for a job, a cover letter is frequently requested. This document is a chance for the candidate to stand out beyond the resume, showcasing enthusiasm, energy, and motivation for the company and the open position. Where’s the problem? It’s when people use standard, robotic, and predictable technology to try to surprise, evoke emotion, and captivate. Needless to say, this doesn’t work.

I read several cover letters a day, and currently, almost 100% of them are written by ChatGPT — meaning they all say the same thing. Much like the texts from corporate blogs, just changing the subject and nouns. There’s no enthusiasm, colour, personality, drama… life.

Getting a job is hard work. And worse, it’s unpaid. Often, we don’t even receive a response to an application that took hours to prepare. ChatGPT has been a lifesaver for this.

Yeeah. We can’t write enthusiastic, energetic, and personalized letters to every job offer, Karina, wake up.

Yes, I know.

This complexity between these two choices reminds me of the teachings of Buddhism, the philosophy that seeks the “middle way” as the key. Buddhism teaches us to navigate between extremes, find harmony amid polarities, and embrace the serenity that resides in balance.

But there’s also no perfect balance, little grasshopper.

Chat-GPT plays its role in content generation beautifully, but the other genuinely human, sensitive, and touching part (fortunately) cannot be replaced.

Don’t forget to do your part in the work, human.

Only then can you extract the best from these digital tools. The magic happens in the pursuit (not attainment) of the subtle balance between these two polarities.