The Buzz

October 22, 2008

Dreaming of a Better Job

By Devon Brooks - Business Examiner - Thompson Okanagan

Moya Webb, president of Everest Recruitment says the recognition that keeps employees happy can be small, but it needs to be genuine. Too many bosses substitute rote performance for sincerity and workers know it.

When it comes to the labour market, the Okanagan is a fickle suitor, one day keen to welcome newcomers, desperate for their skills, other days showing would-be employees the back of the hand and demanding a premium, known as the 'sunshine tax' come off the top of their salaries.

The so-called sunshine tax, which is what locals call the lesser pay scales in effect because of the number of people keen to live in the land of sun, lakes and grapes, does still exist, but the companies that are punishing employees with it often enough punishing themselves.

Moya Webb is the president of Everest Recruiting, which specializes in management and professional employees. Says Webb, "Some employers are more enlightened shall we say, and others aren't - they're still draconian."

Webb says some businesses cling to the sunshine tax yet do so with their heads in the sand, bemoaning a lack of employee loyalty and constant staff turnover. Webb estimates that 75% of companies have increased their salary range and fully a quarter have increased them "substantially".

The fact is that salary is an important motivator, but only up to a point. Beyond that, employees are less concerned about getting more money than in a host of other things that indicate to them that their employer values them.

Each year Hewitt Associates puts together a list of the 50 Best Employers in Canada. The list of the country's best is eclectic and in no way reflects what might be considered "sexy" businesses. They range from lawyers and banks to travel agents and retailers.

Since McDonald's Restaurants of Canada makes the cut at #36, clearly this is not solely about big salaries.

Hewitt Associates says the rankings are based on employee engagement, which it defines as: "Engagement is not about creating "happy" or "loyal" employees, but about measuring the state of emotional and intellectual involvement or commitment of the workforce."

There is no "one size fits all" approach, since making employees feel more like a person rather than another body is essential to employee engagement.

Webb notes that some companies are youth oriented so perquisites for those employees are more likely to be adventure activities like skiing, nights out or parties, perhaps family oriented days.

A job that requires a lot of travel is often aimed at the very young, probably before they have a family although a few senior workers enjoy it because their children are grown up so time away isn't as disruptive.

Older employees are sometimes shut out of jobs because they seem over qualified for a position. This makes some employers nervous. They believe the person is just using their company as a "stepping stone", but in reality Webb says, many of those older employees are returning to the part of a business that they love best, or because it simply suits their current lifestyle and needs.

Another way to relate to individual workers is matching different types of commitment to their personality.

In small companies staff are often required to fill several roles and will often have authority to make decisions because they have to. Webb says, "Some people really enjoy that feeling of empowerment, but others need to be more carefully managed."

Webb makes note of several companies operating in the Okanagan that she describes as exceptional in relating to workers.

One of those is Kelowna's Acro Media, which provides web design, online software and Internet marketing services.

The company is celebrating its 10th anniversary and now has 40 employees.

CEO Shae Inglis is one of four controlling partners and describes his belief on employee motivation this way: "If they aren't disgruntled they're more committed."

At one point in Inglis' career he was the disgruntled employee. Now, as the CEO, he says he recognizes why some decisions were made by his previous employers, but at the time they left him feeling unappreciated and uninvolved.

He uses a different approach. "You have to educate people on why they're being treated the way they are."

One of the ways that the company keeps employees informed and builds team spirit is through the "slappies". The slappies is a monthly ceremony where one employee gets a 'slap on the back' for something great they've done while another gets a tongue-in-cheek slap in the face for the most interesting screw up. Inglis takes pains to point out that the 'slap in the face' is done humorously and is designed, not as a put down, but as an educational experience for the staff. The slappies have expanded somewhat so that recognition comes for several categories with employees voting ahead of time on which ones deserve the "prize".

The company also offers flexible hours, leaves of absence, an "aggressive" profit sharing program and birthday cakes with, Inglis says gleefully, "really bad birthday songs."

These things can pay off, if they're handled well. Webb says, "It can be as small as a preferred parking space."

On a tour of the Kelowna bridge construction site she saw supervisors handing out lottery tickets to workers who had made some extra effort to put safety first.

She says the tickets work because they are inexpensive, aren't given so frequently that they are taken for granted and hold the potential of becoming something really big. In any case they are fun and reward those who make the effort on safety issues. Aside from the obvious cost in suffering, accidents can shut down construction sites, lower morale and are enormously costly.

Another of Webb's companies of distinction is beelineweb.com in Winfield. Ched Gaglardi, the company's CEO says, "We pay our employees very well, but we know in this day and age that money isn't everything."

What beelineweb.com offers is flexibility in hours for the 10 employees and a strong emphasis on health. In this case that includes a paid half hour break each day to be used for some physical fitness activity, whether that's a walk around the neighbourhood or a workout in the on-site exercise room.

The company is 10 years old, but the emphasis on health is more recent, starting up three years ago.

Says Gaglardi, "The original motivation was that healthy employees work better and are happier."

The half hour isn't just a break. Says Gaglardi, "They use it [for exercise] or lose it."

He says the participation rate is effectively 100% with all employees making use of the opportunity.

Gaglardi hopes one pay off is reduced absenteeism but admits, "I don't actually know our rates. I'd like to think we have lower rates and they're getting sick less often."

What he does know for sure is that the company has an extremely low turnover rate. "We really don't have a staff turnover."

The only employee who has left in the last two years gave them a year's notice, and wanted to return to her Kootenay roots.

At Acro, Inglis says they did an internal review a few years ago to figure out why some employees left.

Reasons varied from one employee to the next, but Acro Media came up with a unique solution, someone they call the "Dream Manager". The Dream Manager's job is to talk with employees and find out what they really want to do, and then help them plan on how to get there.

An employee's wishes are open ended. Some might want to give time to their charity, buy an expensive house, get a promotion within the company, or even, in one case to leave the company and become...a chef.

The Dream Manager only works if there is trust and confidentiality, which Inglis supports. "I don't know the dreams and it has to work that way." He adds, "It seems like backward thinking to plan for something [or someone] who's going away from the company." But Inglis doesn't see it as backwards because sooner or later, "He's going to do it anyway."

In this case the chef went to school while still working at Acro Media until he graduated.

According to Inglis this sends a powerful message to the remaining employees as well. "We're showing our commitment to them as persons."

Webb says often companies don't realize how many senior staff are throwing covetous glances elsewhere. They aren't willing to quit without something better to go to, but they are looking. She knows because like Acro's Dream Manager, they come to her in confidence, letting her know about their real career aspirations. They aren't willing to apply for jobs they see in the paper in case word gets back to their current employer but they are willing to have Everest Recruitment try to match them up quietly behind the scenes.

Webb says, "That's one of the toughest things for me. I'll walk through an office avoiding eye contact with the employees there who want to get out. They tell me how bad things are, while the manager is telling me how good things are and how happy the staff is."