In today’s work environment there is a tug of war between employer and employee over what their day to day looks like and what their futures hold. Covid has put more fuel on the fire to have both sides evaluate what is important while focusing more time on health, family and financial security than ever before. To ensure an organization has productive and loyal employees they must focus on flexibility, compensation packages rather than just a salary and for employees to feel they are part of a family not just another badge number.
Remote, hybrid or RTO is the hot topic and has been for a while. All have an opinion on this and provide specifics around one is better than the other. Isn’t it amazing how many companies where able to flourish during Covid when everyone was working from home? My thoughts are two things drive an employer to require all to be back in the office or even settle in on hybrid roles for some positions. First, the leadership team has the micro-manage philosophy and feel you have to be heard, seen and available all the time to do your job. Next, the employer has this overwhelming thought that collaboration will never exist if your not in the same room. Both proved to be untrue during Covid as team building, innovation and overall collaboration shined during this difficult time. The bottom line is this pandemic bumped up the wattage in the life is short and important light bulb and life work balance is more important than a paycheck.
Inflation, long commutes and long hours made everyone think about how am I being paid for what I do. With the flexibility mentioned above, employees were more accepting of things that disappointed them in the past and one of the key ones is compensation. I have seen the biggest shift in views on compensation in the last two years that I’ve seen in my entire career. People want to feel like they get a piece of the pie and are valued long term. The organizations that excel in employee loyalty take it beyond a paycheck and possible bonus. They get creative in offering stock at levels that have never seen it before, create equity programs, give unlimited PTO and provide a sense of we value our employees long term and don’t believe high turnover is reasonable or sustainable.
Most all want to make more money that comes from different sources as I mentioned above. But, an organization can create a culture without digging deep in their pockets that truly makes their employees feel like they are part of family and not another badge number. Create team events offsite at least once a year, celebrate the wins of the organization more often and provide fun activities once a month where employees can decompress and just be people. I don’t believe any organization can’t find a line item in their budget to provide simple things that release the day to day pressures of their job and go home thinking wow my organization actually sees me as a person not a number.
