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Employee Motivation – Is It Different During This Recession?

Guest post by: Betsey Nash

Article Overview: With a down-scaled budget, how do you (as an employer) motivate your employees? How do you keep them from looking for "greener pastures"? Betsey has some positive suggestions for you.

Employee Motivation – Is It Different During This Recession?

"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics," famously spoken by Benjamin Disraeli. I remember his quote at this time of year, when many businesses are crunching numbers and gazing at crystal balls in an attempt to create a compensation budget for 2010. Seems we all estimated average wage increases of about 3.8% in early 2009, then downgraded them to 2.6%, and now expect wage increases - if there are any at all - to be below 2% in 2010. 54% of respondents to a nationwide survey said they froze all wages in 2009, and only 13% of them plan to thaw them in 2010.

The consumer price index is down nearly 2% over the last 10 years, so at least inflation won't eat up most of any increase employees might see. But benefits increases are estimated to be anywhere from 5% to 15%, and there are few employers expedited to absorb anywhere near that much. In fact, health care premiums have risen 131 percent in the past 10 years; workers' contributions to premiums have risen 128 percent-about 10 times faster than inflation.

If you have relied on salary and benefits increases to motivate your employees over the years, it's time to find another way. Not every employee feels lucky to have a job - some are starting to look around to see what's offered by those businesses who are already feeling the up-tick. What else are you doing to keep your valuable employees from looking for greener pastures?

I have read study after study about why people work or why employees stay at one employer, and one can get caught up in the minutia, but a common thread through them all is: Humanity. Treat an employee like they have a brain and a life, and they may cling to you as if you took a thorn out of their paw. It doesn't matter the generation, it seems; most employees respond to praise and individual attention.

One study of more than 1,500 employees in various work settings discovered that the most powerful motivator was personalized, instant recognition from their co-workers and managers. It stated that if a manager simply asks for employee involvement, that in itself is motivational.

This study conducted by Wichita State University showed that the top motivation techniques are:

- Personally congratulating people who do a great job

- Writing a personal note or email about the specific job well done

- Publicly recognizing others for good work

This information backs up what we all learned in the first Megatrends book back in 1982 - all this high tech leaves us wanting more touch. 63% of the respondents in the Wichita State survey agreed that a pat on the back is a meaningful motivator.

As you crunch your compensation budget for 2010, remember that even if you don't have the dollars, you should set aside some time to pay attention to those employees who are key to your success. It will work. No lie.

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Article Tags: budget, employee motivation, recession



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