I was listening to Jane Garvey and her guests on Radio 4 this morning discussing bad breath, dirty toenails or calling women “laydeeeeez” – the deal-breakers that ultimately spell doom in a ‘romantic’ relationship. Anyway, as I was wondering what to put in the blog this week, it got me to thinking about the deal-breakers of the working relationship between employee and employer.
The consulting community have, as usual, assigned a number and letter descriptor (that Tom Peters has a lot to answer for with his seven ‘S’ model!) to help corporate types understand what is after all a pretty simple idea, but it probably makes them feel much better about paying thousands in fees for the privilege of being told the blindingly obvious. Anyway, it’s known as the four ‘Cs’ of employee engagement – culture, commitment, communication and compensation. In other words, if you’re unhappy about your pay, ‘the ways things are run around here’ and how you get to find out about stuff, you’re probably much less likely to be satisfied/happy and productive at work (see, I told you it wasn’t rocket science).
Productivity at work (which is what bothers employers after all, not your ‘happiness’ as such) has long since been understood as a combination of ‘skill x will’. It takes effort and time to build expertise and talent at work and the will to apply it effectively, but motivation is highly fragile and can disappear in moments. Deal-breakers are highly personal and, rather than it being something big and obvious like bad pay and prospects, it can often just be the straw that breaks the camel’s back that has people running out the door before you can say ‘Headhunter’. It could be the boss who demands constantly but never says thank you; it could be a promotion deemed unfairly denied or the retraction of a perk of the job like free parking or Business Class travel. If people like the company and have a greater connection with their employer’s brand, a perceived failure to live up to their ‘promises’ by the company and it’s officers can feel like even more of a betrayal. Like disappointed and disenchanted lovers, disengaged employees don’t always physically leave the company (marriage/partner/husband/wife), they can keep miserably going through the motions for quite a long time. This is why CEOs and HR departments the world over always seem to have ‘engagement’ on their agenda but few seem to pull it off, especially in a recession.
According to some ‘research’ conducted with 1,326 respondents by HireScores, they found that American companies are the most appealing work places to Brits, with US brands topping the poll. The study also showed that UK brands are desirable to many of the respondents – companies such as British Airways (really?) and Virgin. Coca-Cola is seen as the ‘dream employer’ by more than three quarters of UK job seekers. According to the response to the question ‘which of the following companies would be your dream place to work’ the following constitute their top 10 most desirable employer brands.
1. Coca-Cola – 76%
2. Microsoft – 69%
3. Google – 66%
4. Apple – 61%
5. Virgin – 57%
6. Vogue – 54%
7. Facebook – 51%
8. Disney – 48%
9. Kraft foods – 44%
10. British Airways – 41%
When asked why, the research found that 76% of those polled ‘dream job’ would be at Coca-Cola, with 23% admitting it is for the ‘freebies’ and 42% saying the salary is the main reason for Coca-Cola being their dream job. Of the 48% that dream of working for Disney, 34% say it is because they believe it will have a ‘fun atmosphere’ while 28% claim it has been a ‘childhood dream’. When asked ‘do you think you will ever achieve your dream job in your dream company?’ only 16% said ‘yes’. 38% admitted that it was just a ‘fantasy’ and 21% feel it is ‘unachievable.’ So, I guess their deal-breakers could be finding that a day’s work at Disney doesn’t consist of going on any of the rides, or that if you work for a mean boss even free sugary drinks won’t make him or her any sweeter to work for.
So, what would my deal-breaker be? I’ve thought about that a lot and I can honestly say that I can pretty much work my backside off for just about any company that hires me, but what I can’t abide is a boss I don’t respect. I don’t have to like them or agree with them all the time, but I have to respect them as leaders. I have left jobs I’ve enjoyed, for companies that I liked because my old boss had gone, the new one wasn’t up to much in my book and frankly, life’s too short to put up with idiots. Funnily enough, it’s a common deal-breaker that many people identify with although it’s hardly ever one that is dealt with openly in the recruitment process (because no one wants it to look like they were the one who is difficult to get on with or rubbish at their job) or, where they exist, exit interviews (because people still want to know they can count on a decent reference).
How highly, I wonder, does this figure with any current ‘engagement’ or employer branding programmes that are currently going on? If anyone does measure employee turnover and the exit patterns of talented employees, what do they really do about that most insidious of deal-breaker – the bad boss? Let me know if you come across any great examples, I’d love to hear about them.
The nicest thing I ate this week: A pistachio macaroon at Comptoir Gascon in Smithfield.
Most useless fact I learnt this week: The dot that appears over the letter “i” is called a tittle.