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September 2007
Navigating the differing psychologies of today's workforce can be a tricky business. With baby boomers representing the old guard, and so-called "Generation X" and "Generation Y" employees making up the burgeoning younger ranks, companies large and small are confronted with the challenges of creating a working environment that fosters a culture continually motivating established employees while retaining younger, ambitious employees who are continually looking at other opportunities.
In the information technology (IT) industry, the challenges behind building and maintaining company morale and retaining employees are in some ways more difficult. With IT, for example, the pace of change and evolution is high and opportunities abound for those who are tech-savvy enough to navigate the marketplace and recognize attractive business alternatives.
According to Dr. Jan Ferri-Reed, president of Pittsburgh-based KEYGroup, there are several things to keep in mind for both emerging companies looking to establish an identity, and for longer standing companies hoping to refresh their images and boost morale. The first step to achieving that goal is to trying to establish what makes a company unique and expand on that in such a way that it inspires employees and creates synergy around the company's mission. It's also good practice to explore how a company does things differently - or better - than their competitors.
"Companies often forget the importance of employee engagement," said Ferri-Reed. "Companies must be aware of the ongoing need to define and communicate a shared, inspiring vision or direction, or to adequately provide incentives. Without some level of a rallying focus like that - something people will want to work for and towards - employees can get restless."
Entreprenurial Spirit
More established employers are more likely to eventually start taking company culture and, to some extent, their employees, for granted, while more entreprenurial companies just starting out are more apt to focus considerable attention on their company's identity when it comes their employees.
"Start-up businesses bring a certain level of entrepreneurial spirit to a company, and that can really be used as a leverage point," said Ferri-Reed. "Likewise, more established businesses should look at ways of re-capturing their own entrepreneurial spirit, because the feeling of community that can come with believing you're starting something new, unique or innovative can really boost the sense of purpose within a company workforce. For established companies, that renewed spirit can come about when someone new is brought on to lead a business or department, or if the company decides to take its business in a drastically new and exciting direction."
Incentives are Key
It can be challenging to rally employees in all age groups around a company culture or vision, since what inspires some people may be greeted with skepticism or even cynicism from others. However, according to Ferri-Reed, if there's something all employees can respond favorably toward, it's incentives; it could be in financial form, the chance to work on more challenging and unique projects or even through old-fashioned positive feedback and encouragement.
"Particularly when it comes to IT, companies should always be asking what they're doing to continually train, teach and upgrade the skills of staff professionals," said Ferri-Reed. "It's a pretty safe bet to assume employees want to learn and improve as they work since that can add variety to the workday and take monotony out of the equation. Everybody wants some challenge in their work and companies need to ask what they're doing to challenge, regardless of age, those in the company, while matching their best talents with opportunities to further learn and develop."
Competitive Compensation
When you look at many entrepreneurial companies, the reason they get started is they're based on a fresh, bright idea and they don't want to be hindered by bureaucracy and the layers of red tape so often typical of large, established enterprises. So, you have in place the aforementioned entreprenurial spirit and the sense of excitement and enthusiasm that's inherent when starting a company.
Of course, excitement and enthusiasm can only go so far. Start-up companies are often hindered by a lack of what keeps most employees on board: money. When it comes to retaining employees, start-up companies and more moderate-sized established businesses operating on tight budgets often must be able to offer methods of compensation beyond mere paychecks.
"You always want to do your best to ensure your salary rates are commensurate with your market," said Ferri-Reed. "When you can't quite match that, and have to pay a little under-market, you have to start looking toward other options. You'd be surprised how well people will respond to an extra week of vacation a year, for example. Being creative with your benefits package and having flexible benefit plans that can better cater to individual benefit needs can go a long way in keeping your top-tier employees on board and content."
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