The Problem with Thanks!

There seems to be a split in the mind frame of what motivates employees in this day-and-age... some think they want more dough, others believe it is more important to bond over cookie dough. Workers of various ages may find a plateau in their competitive drive, a drive they'll soon rediscover. It's a raging debate in the Total Rewards arena:

What's more important Compensation or Benefits?

I know, we've got to cover our health care costs and pay for our kid's college... that's a given... a baseline. Beyond that....

Should Employee Engagement be performance based or an all-inclusive, socialized participation trigger?

Before answering what you prefer, you might want to consider the difference between a benefit and the elements compensation. You are gonna get paid... that's how the world works. But, you don't come to work only for the pay check. You don't sit through a team meeting counting the minutes under the auspice of how much you got paid to endure such stupidity. You find parts of work that you enjoy and allow that to fuel your ascension.

If you measure the minutes in each day... you probably hate your job!

When your boss reads from a list of your achievements in front of a group of people, do you feel appreciated?

When you receive an apology masked as recognition, do you feel appreciated?

Wouldn't you rather know where you stand and have the respect to voice your opinion regarding your professional development?

Do You Feel Appreciated?

... and what's so big about feeling appreciated anyway?

If you get a mercy pat on the back because you tried and failed, the compassion of your leaders may actually serve to retain your loyalty in your organization. But, do you want the level of your engagement to be based in the way people react to your failures? Work is hard and we learn from our mistakes. Professionals become Artists when they create solutions to unanswered questions.

Engagement happens when you realize that you have done something no one else can do. The less-than-inventive fulfillment houses that pretend to be engagement agencies would want you to pretend that challenging yourself is less important than that which you are entitled to.

You are entitled to nothing. Your company could go tits up tomorrow and if your CEO invested a quarter of her deferred compensation into organizational development, she is going to walk away with a large check.

First place trophies are held high. Plaques for showing up are a consolation of all the time you wasted pretending to enjoy your job.

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave