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How high does your new employee onboarding rate?

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In today’s highly competitive business landscape, hiring top talent is no longer enough to ensure long-term success. Companies must also focus on effectively integrating new employees into their teams and cultivating a sense of belonging from day one through their new employee onboarding process.

According to research and studies, there is considerable work to be done in this area. The failure rate for new hires within the first 18 months ranges between 25% and 46%.  Studies also tell us that Gen Z (born from 1995 to 2009) and soon to represent almost one-third of the Australian workforce have “itchy feet”, with over one-third (39%) planning to leave their job within one year.

It’s a given that training and development have always been important for employee engagement, and 63% of Gen Z agree! Based on these figures, it’s easy to see why the crucial process of new employee onboarding can make or break the success of an organisation’s retention goals. And if done poorly increases recruitment costs dramatically.

Companies must go beyond paperwork and logistics 

New employee onboarding goes beyond the paperwork and logistics of getting a team member up to speed. It is about:

  • creating a positive first impression,
  • setting clear expectations,
  • providing necessary resources, and
  • fostering a supportive environment for growth.

A well-executed onboarding program can help new employees feel welcomed, empowered, and motivated, leading to higher retention rates and productivity.

One critical aspect of employee onboarding is the selection process. Companies invest significant time and resources in finding the right candidate. However, the importance of providing feedback on assessments conducted during the selection process is often overlooked. Sharing the results of these assessments with the new employee can be immensely valuable as part of their onboarding and employee journey with an organisation.

Providing assessment results to new employees allows them to understand their strengths and areas for development. This feedback not only helps individuals gain self-awareness but also aids in aligning their goals with the organisation’s objectives. By sharing the assessment results, companies demonstrate a commitment to the growth and development of their employees right from the start.

Moreover, incorporating the results of psychometric assessments into the onboarding process can provide detailed insights to both the new team member and their manager. High quality psychometric assessments go beyond measuring skills and qualifications. They delve into personality traits, work styles, motivations, cognitive ability and behavioural tendencies. By understanding these aspects, managers can tailor their approach to supporting the individual employee’s development.

Information for strong new employee onboarding

A psychometric assessment should provide comprehensive information on the individual’s development areas. This information includes areas where they may need additional support or training to excel in their role. Armed with this knowledge, managers can create a well-defined development plan for the new team member, addressing their specific needs and setting them up for success.

Therefore, it is crucial to evaluate the effectiveness of your current psychometric assessment tool. Does it provide valuable information and insights to both the new team member and the manager? Does it offer actionable recommendations for development?

Assessing these aspects ensures that your onboarding process starts strong and sets the foundation for long-term success.

Reach out for a free psychometric assessment trial or to discuss a tailored approach for new employees in your organisation.

Manager vs Leader – a balancing act for effective organisational performance

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In the dynamic and ever-evolving landscape of contemporary business, the imperative for balancing manager vs leader roles to enhance their effectiveness has grown considerably.

Gartner research has identified this as the foremost strategic priority for HR in 2023.

The strategic approach for Managers vs Leaders

There is a growing belief that in addition to being more effective, managers and leaders also need to model and epitomise a more humane approach, characterised by:

  • heightened empathy,
  • effective communication, and
  • a dedicated focus on fostering robust relationships with their employees.

The significance of this belief stems from the fact that embracing these aspects greatly facilitates cultivating a positive and productive workplace culture.  When there’s a balance between acting in a manager vs a leader role and connecting with their employees personally, it fosters a sense of mutual respect and trust. This, in turn, can lead to:

  • better morale
  • increased employee engagement
  • higher levels of job satisfaction

Most agree that when employees feel like their manager or leader genuinely cares about them and their success, they are more likely to be inspired to exert increased effort and achieve peak performance. Building strong relationships with employees through balancing managerial and leadership roles can also provide more targeted and personalised support to help employees overcome challenges and achieve their goals.

The problem, according to Gartner, is that even though:

“HR leaders try to build commitment, courage and confidence in leaders to help them answer the call, ‘human’ leaders remain few and far between. Critical obstacles to success include their own (very human) emotions of doubt, fear and uncertainty”.

What is needed?

Many successful managers are technically outstanding, but sadly, they lack behind when it comes to “softer” skills. They need all the help they can get. For example, help can include practical tools that facilitate the appropriate discussion and development initiatives.

With the recruitment market forecast to remain tight, the role of managers in retaining top talent becomes indispensable. It’s accepted that employees are more likely to stay with a company where they feel valued, respected, and supported. So, by prioritising empathy, communication, and relationship-building, managers can balance their roles,  create a more attractive workplace for top performers and foster a stronger sense of loyalty.

To explore our tailored and user-friendly tools designed for each team member, contact us.

Employee retention – how critical is the role of the direct manager?

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As we traverse this new world of work, one key area that needs attention is the role of the Direct Manager.

There’s been a seismic shift in how people work in the last few years. Indeed, the pandemic has driven millions worldwide to recognise that the traditional office-based work model is no longer the standard norm.

Direct managers have always been necessary for the workplace. Still, their influence is even more critical now as many businesses have moved to a hybrid work model.

In this blog, we’ll explore why a direct manager is essential in this new world of work. And we’ll look at their impact on employee satisfaction, productivity and retention.

What does direct manager mean?

Before we explore the importance of direct managers, let’s define what we mean by this term.

A direct manager is responsible for supervising and managing a group of employees.

Direct managers are often the main point of contact for employees when issues arise and play a crucial role in ensuring employees are working to their full potential.

 

The Critical Importance of the Direct Manager in Employee Retention

Clear communication is vital for effective direct management

One main reason direct managers are so crucial is that they act as a bridge between employees and the organisation. Effective communication is vital in any workplace, even more so when working remotely.

Direct managers ensure employees understand both:

  • the organisation’s goals and objectives and their role and
  • purpose within the company.

They also provide regular feedback and support. Therefore, assisting employees in feeling engaged and connected to their work.

Supporting employee well-being is a crucial aspect of direct management

Direct management is also crucial in ensuring employees’ well-being, even when working from home. With a blur between work and personal life, employers must pay attention to their workplace health and safety responsibilities. Employees should feel valued and supported by their employer. A remote work environment highlights this. Employees may experience feelings of isolation and disconnection from their team and organisation.

Further, being well-positioned, direct line managers more quickly identify when employees struggle with their workload or face increased stress. They offer support and guidance, such as providing access to mental health resources or adjusting an employee’s workload.

Maintaining team morale is the responsibility of the direct manager

Working from home can sometimes be isolating. Ensuring that team morale remains high is paramount. Direct line managers play a vital role in this area. Examples are providing opportunities for team building and socialising, even if done virtually. Regular team meetings, social events, and other initiatives promote a sense of community and belonging among employees. All this boosts morale and productivity.

Encouraging development and growth is another important responsibility of the direct manager

Finally, direct managers are essential in helping employees to develop and grow within their roles. This responsibility needs more emphasis in a hybrid working world where employees may interact less with colleagues and managers.

Direct managers provide:

  • training and development opportunities
  • guidance to employees in identifying their strengths and weaknesses and
  • direction on advancing their careers within the organisation.

The significant impact of Mediocre Managers

Research from SEEK tells us that mediocre management is the number one reason people leave companies. Let’s face it, managing people is complex. Add to it the complexity of hybrid working – and the degree of difficulty goes up a few levels.

How to support Direct Managers?

In summary, direct line managers need all the help they can get.

Dentists need specialist tools to treat patients.

So too, managers need the right tools to lead and support their people in each of their roles.

 

At, Great People Inside we offer a fantastic, cost-effective range of customised online tools for each individual. Our tools include development suggestions and guidance.

Reach out for help to be in the presence of more Magnificent Managers in your organisation.

 

Isn’t it more important to prioritise job fit over white vs blue collar?

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Historically, blue collar vs white collar jobs referred to manual labour jobs that involved physical work. In the 1940s, this classification was not only based on the job itself but also on social class. Examples of such occupations include those in the construction, trades, and manufacturing sectors.

 

Fast forward to today, and collar colours

Today, blue collar jobs form an integral part of the workforce for many organisations, regardless of the industry sector. These individuals serve as the backbone of a company, frequently working in physically demanding environments and can face heightened risk.

Although businesses must prioritise customer satisfaction, ensuring all employees are content and well-suited for their respective roles and company are equally important.

 

What are the advantages of fit for white v blue collar and all employees?

There are numerous advantages, even in collar colour roles such as blue collar vs white collar jobs. Let’s look at some benefits here.

Any improvement in productivity translates to increased profits regardless of collar colour

A contented team of workers can greatly enhance their own productivity levels. A cheerful workforce creates a favourable work atmosphere that inspires employees to put in extra effort, resulting in improved organisational productivity. As most business people know, any productivity boost translates directly to increased profits.

Keep your top people

Happy employees, regardless of blue collar vs white collar or another collar colour, can also help reduce employee turnover. A high employee turnover rate can cost businesses severely.

 

According to AHRI, employee turnover costs 1.5 times the employee’s salary. 

 

Better mental health across all collar colours for jobs

Today, mental health has become a top priority in all workplaces. Employees well-suited to their job roles tend to experience higher satisfaction levels and are more likely to maintain good mental health. These aspects ultimately result in a more secure work setting.

 

When employees are happy in their jobs, they tend to be more alert and have greater attention to detail. And so, the likelihood of workplace accidents or injuries is reduced. Providing a safe work environment is always a must for organisations.

 

How to hire the right candidate for blue collar jobs?

Modern psychometric assessments can predict role success with high levels of accuracy. But they are rarely used for wage-based or less-skilled roles due to perceived cost constraints in many instances.

 

Great People Inside has a solution to this issue for successful business outcomes. Our highly precise psychometric evaluations are unbiased and efficient in assessing candidates for all job levels. From entry-level to executive positions, from the machine room to the boardroom.

 

The GR8PI platform can design cost-effective assessments to precisely measure fit and what’s essential to each specific role. The result for people in companies is improved productivity, reduced employee turnover, and better mental health.

Are you aware of other collar colours?

In addition to the well-known blue collar and white collar jobs, several other types of jobs are distinguished by collar colour. Each is explained in an article written by Kelly Campbell.

  • Gold collar – Signifies white collar workers with higher skills and are in higher demand. These include doctors, engineers, lawyers, and pilots.
  • Red collar – Refers to workers that work in the government whose salaries come from the red ink budget. This category may also include farmers.
  • Pink collar – An outdated term used to describe sectors historically dominated by women, including nursing and secretarial work.
  • Grey collar – These jobs are often associated with the gig economy or freelance work. Examples of grey collar jobs include graphic design, web development, and writing.
  • Green collar – This is one of the newest additions which refers to jobs in the environment.

We’ve seen the effects. We encourage you to try GPI for blue collar and other roles to make a real difference to your company.

What’s the actual cost of replacing top performers at work?

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As a CFO or finance professional, to help determine what’s the actual cost of replacing top performers at work, what if I asked you to rank your team members from top to lower performers?

Your estimate will likely come up with numbers (give or take) that are approximately:

  • 25% of your team are high performers,
  • 50% are average performers, and
  • 25% are below par.

What distinguishes top performers at work?

According to a McKinsey study, high performers are 400% more productive than average performers. And the productivity difference might reach 800% in sophisticated professions such as management or software development. These outstanding performers have distinct cognitive, behavioural, and personality traits.

Identifying these traits and hiring outstanding individuals is likely to result in considerable financial rewards for your company.

These employees not only boost productivity and income production, but they can also improve:

  • staff turnover,
  • management workload, and
  • investor and consumer confidence.

A terrible hire could result in hidden costs, such as

  • lost corporate credibility,
  • greater stress, and
  • worse employee morale.

What’s the bottom line or actual cost of replacing your top performers at work?

The bottom line is that hiring the wrong person can have long-term implications for your organisation. So, getting it right the first time is essential. And it’s scary these costs are not captured in the P&L and that actual costs can show as staggeringly high.

Making another smart investment for your organisation

As a senior finance professional, you recognise the critical nature of making wise investments that yield a good return. However, in my experience, one area in which many firms frequently struggle is how they hire their people. That is, having a consistent replicable process across the organisation that results in the right outcome- a top performer.

Hiring the incorrect individual might cost you far more than you think, with estimates ranging from 30% to 250% of the employee’s compensation.

To solve these recruitment problems and significantly increase the hiring of top performers at work, our award-winning GR8PI assessments can help. The platform provides an easy approach to measuring and qualifying the attributes of high performers. Advanced analytics are employed for a thorough insight into a person’s cognitive ability, behavioural patterns, and professional interests and motivations.

As a result, making it simple to discover outstanding performers and avoid undesirable recruits and costs.

Investing in a recruitment strategy that easily and reliably identifies high performers is critical to the success of any firm. Senior executives we work with improved their ability to identify top performers by 300%.

Renatus Capital Partners, a private equity firm, says it best:

“We use GPI assessments for our own company and all our portfolio companies. Not only do they have tools they can customise for practically every HR situation but the diagnosis around same, advice on which tools to use and the outcomes are priceless.”

Mark Flood , Director – https://renatus.ie/

So, why not contact us today to learn more about how we can assist your company in identifying and hiring top performers?

How to measure values alignment to strengthen your organisation

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It doesn’t matter whether you’re a small family business or a large multinational; values alignment is at the heart of an organisation’s culture. A strong set of values can help build a positive work environment and foster:

  • trust,
  • integrity, and
  • accountability.

Values provide a sense of purpose and direction to clients, stakeholders and employees. Both are vital to you as a business, identifying business identity and as an individual. Values represent your inner voice reflecting your morals, scruples, and integrity. They are what you stand for. They are the personality of your business, which in turn affects your decisions. So, what you do and how you do it; your culture.

Importance of values alignment

Most business owners and leaders proudly feature the organisational values:

  • on their websites,
  • in job advertisements, and
  • during company presentations to stakeholders.

While your company’s values define your culture, how can you be sure that everyone in your team is on the same page? Think back to when you experienced a situation where you were required to compromise your values. How did you feel about it?

For most people, it makes them uncomfortable, and they struggle to reconcile the differences.

But why should we be bothered if not all employees align with corporate values?

Aren’t values just a guide?

After all, it’s not like they are a government regulation!

Values and company culture are important because they significantly impact the success and longevity of a corporation.

Leaders should be concerned. Your culture, the heart of your business, can quickly become a liability if the core organisational values are not accepted, embraced, and practised by every team member in your company. A lack of alignment by team members with your values can interfere with the ability of your business to deliver its strategic goals. As a result, this position can negatively impact the overall productivity and success of the organisation.

Team members must align with organisation values to avoid misunderstandings, miscommunication, and a lack of trust among team members. Without solid values, alignment can lead to:

  • reduced morale,
  • decreased motivation, and
  • lower levels of job satisfaction.

It can negatively impact the overall performance of the team and the organisation as a whole.

Current methods used to measure alignment at interview

Discussions about values often come up during the interview process. And most hiring managers have their own approach to checking alignment. This approach may include:

  • articulating the organisation’s values and their link to operations,
  • asking the candidate about their decision-making process, or
  • inviting them to state their interpretation of the organisation’s values.

No matter what questions you ask, it’s not an objective measure. Especially given that research for SEEK shows that almost half the candidates say they haven’t been sincere in their interview.

You could flip a coin as you have a 50/50 chance of getting it right. If you fail to verify alignment, the issues arise months after the employee joins the team when it’s too late.

Therefore, it is critical to understand which values align with your vision of the company.

Values alignment and cultural measuring tools are essential for organisations to assess the potential candidates’ values and cultural fit. By using these tools, organisations can identify candidates who share the same values and beliefs as the company, leading to:

  • increased job satisfaction,
  • higher levels of employee engagement, and
  • better overall performance.

Additionally, values alignment and cultural measuring tools can help to reduce turnover and increase the likelihood of a successful long-term employment relationship.

Objective information will inform your decision

Our flexible values alignment assessment solution scientifically measures more than 13 different values, so you can choose which ones to include for your organisation. We start by benchmarking values alignment in your business. Then you compare potential candidates to determine a “fit” for your company.

Typically feedback we receive from our clients says:

“The flexibility of the tool is impressive. It has helped us hire people who fit as we can develop custom benchmarks and assessments that measure our precise role requirements and ensure alignment with our values.”

 

“GR8PI has improved our hiring success and reduced employee turnover by 76%.”

When values align, employees are motivated, engaged, and committed to the company’s success.

To learn more about our values assessments, email with “values” as the subject, and we will be in touch shortly.

 

 

Five ways of reducing the risk of dropping employee retention

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Rate of Employee Retention

Employee retention is no doubt a key challenge. A recent study by Gartner states that the rate of employee turnover is likely to be up to 75% higher. And in addition, it takes 18% longer to fill any available jobs than pre-pandemic. Not to mention the annoying “quiet quitting” phenomenon, which is white-anting businesses too!

And the reasons why staff retention is affected?

The main reasons employees are leaving and affecting employee retention are:

  • inadequate salary,
  • deficient perks and benefits,
  • overworked,
  • lack of support,
  • career progression,
  • better work-life balance,
  • absence of recognition, and
  • unhappiness with management.

What can you do?

Whether we are trying to shift a few covid kilos or improve our qualifications doesn’t matter. There is never a single magic bullet. It’s usually a series of conscious actions and the discipline to implement them that results in the outcome we seek.

 

If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.

– Lao Tzu

 

Let’s start from the very beginning

Getting back to the basics by reviewing your people processes is a perfect place to begin to improve staff retention in your organisation. Here are a few thought starters.

#1 Realistic Position previews

The talent competition is fierce and at an all-time high, so your recruitment process needs to be engaging, timely and professional. How you or your team handle the recruitment process can strongly influence the desire for a new player to choose to join your company or not.

Research shows that providing applicants with a realistic job preview during the recruitment process positively affects the retention of those new hires. Selling the job or the business as Utopia is not a good idea.

#2 Professional interviews to increase employee retention

When it comes to interview questions, “where do you see yourself in 5 years?” or “sell me that pen” are way past their use-by date. The objective of the initial interview is to confirm that skills and abilities align.

The goal of the second or final interview is to confirm fit. Is the applicant a good fit for the job? Equally important is for the candidate to verify if the job is a good fit for them.

It’s a lot less costly to retain people than hire new staff, and with retention as key focus, you need objective information to de-risk the selection process. Tools like our customisable psychometric GR8PI assessments will give you these critical candidate insights— insights that are impossible to glean at an interview.

#3 Socialise and onboard for retention

Early failure is often high among new employees, and hybrid work has added further complexity.

Onboarding aims to help your new team member understand how to be successful in their new job. First impressions count: you have one chance to make a great first impression when an employee starts with your company.

So, it’s best to ensure you have strategic onboarding and assimilation processes that can quickly help new people become embedded in your business and the role. And therefore, more likely to stay. Possible approaches here include:

  • shared and individualised learning experiences,
  • formal and informal activities that help people get to know one another, and
  • assigning experienced employees as role models or mentors for new staff.

#4 Managers are key to minimise staff turnover

Those first few weeks and months in a new employee’s job are critical, especially in the new hybrid world. A first-rate manager-employee relationship is vital in delivering the employee experience and connection to the business for retention.

Compounding the challenge, many managers have never received any formal people management training. Frequently, a person has made it to manager due to tenure, success in their previous role, or the desire to retain a person.

While these may be valid, today, managers need access to new tools to lead and manage their employees. Such tools help them foster career aspirations, well-being, and connection to the organisational culture.

#5 Training and development to improve employee retention

CFO to CEO: “What will we do if we train them and they leave?”

CEO to CFO: “What if we don’t and they stay?”

This conversation rings true today more than ever.

But not just any old training works. Sending your people to a one size fits all training course is just wasting money. Everyone learns differently, and unless you fully understand what training is appropriate for each employee, you will not achieve the outcomes.

A gap analysis can clearly highlight the specific deficiencies. Our customisable GR8PI suite of dimensions helps you identify gaps. By enabling you to benchmark and compare your staff at a glance, you can customise the thorough training needed across the various groups.

 

Elon Musk says, “Some people don’t like change, but you need to embrace change if the alternative is disaster”.

 

If you’d like some help in this area, please reach out or book a call to learn more.

How an HR management tool can predict sales people performance

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Better sales staff equals more sales revenue. It sounds simple. However, an HR management tool can help significantly to increase your salespeople’s productivity.  A complex task fraught with misunderstanding.

Finding high-performing staff involves a specific hiring approach that targets those with precisely the right attributes for the job at hand.

Once you have the right players, it doesn’t stop there. It’s a question of matching them to the right sales roles, managing them and developing the sales team in an ongoing way to ensure maximum efficiency and results.

Remember the old maxim ‘If you can sell, you can sell anything’?

Well, times have changed. Not all sales positions – or reps – are created equal.

According to studies by Herb Greenberg, Harold Weinstein and Patrick Sweeney in their book How to Hire and Develop Your Next Top Performer:

around 50% of sales employees lack the fundamental traits necessary for effective salespeople, and

a further 25% are selling the wrong thing, for the wrong managers, in the wrong place.

That leaves just 25% of salespeople operating to total capacity and producing great results.

So one size doesn’t fit all when finding the right salesperson to sell your product or services.

Financial benefits of hiring the best salespeople

Having a sales team composed of star performers can make a significant difference to your bottom line.

In a study of 100 businesses, Sales Force of Top Producers – A Manager’s (and Owner’s) Dream, reported in Employer’s Advantage, the company’s top performer outsold the bottom performer by a whopping average of 5.7 to 1 – with a range of 3:1 to 9:1.

Just imagine what kind of results you’d get if your entire team worked at the lower margin of 3:1, not to mention 5:1 or higher.

Salesforce Work.com and the TAS Group drew some more shocking statistics from their research. These include:

  • Two-thirds of salespeople miss their sales target.
  • More than half of all salespeople close less than 40% of potential deals.
  • Top-performing sales reps are 250% better at qualifying leads.
  • High performers are 2.5 times more likely to be effective qualifiers than the general population.
  • Revenue can be up to 25% greater at companies where sales and marketing integrate well.

Talent Management – how do you measure an individual salesperson’s productivity?

All this begs the question, just how productive is your own sales team? Can you measure individual productivity? And once you’ve measured it, how do you replace or improve average or poor performers?

The answer is using the advanced science from the next generation of smart psychometric assessment tools. Our award-winning Great People Inside psychometric testing platform will help you identify those essential success attributes for each sales role. As a result, you can match each position with the right employee.

Great People Inside’s psychometric analysis will tell you:

  • what makes your top performers so great
  • why your average performers are less effective
  • how to improve your least successful performers

How to hire the best people with an hr management tool

The right psychometric assessment tools can help you find the right people for your sales roles.

Applied correctly, the Great People Inside HR management tool can make your recruitment of future high performers up to three times more successful and also significantly reduce sales team turnover. When considering the statistics, these results should be music to any employer’s ear.

Figures reported in Employer’s Advantage show that three out of four new sales employees don’t last the distance. They have, in fact, only a 25% chance of staying with the company for an entire year.

Of those that do stick, only one in 10 go on to become a genuine top performer within three years.

So what is the essential DNA of these star performers?

Many have fundamental traits and attributes that help drive their peak performance for the longer term. Using our validated and reliable customised sales assessments, we work with you and scientifically study your current top-performing salespeople.

These measures enable us to create a customised job profile benchmark specific to your company based on your company’s top performers, not a random benchmark based on a collection of external organisations. A company customised standard means you can clearly see what sets your top performers apart from the rest.

This benchmark can also be used to significant effect when recruiting new sales staff, ensuring that candidates fit these rigorous criteria and carry the ‘work genes’ critical to success in their roles. You don’t take risks when buying a personal asset such as a car, so why risk it when hiring your most crucial business asset.

Try us! Just click HERE and we will be in touch.

Looking to hire? First build a positive Workplace Culture

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As workplace culture continues to evolve while we slowly resurface, it’s easy to blame the pandemic for this disruption. Add the “great resignation” or whatever it’s called now, and we have plenty of excuses.

If you’re a business that has tried to recruit someone over the past several months, you are undoubtedly familiar with how difficult it is to find top talent.

According to the ABS, in May 2020, 6.5% of businesses reported at least one vacancy. By February 2022, this was the case for 23.5% of businesses. Unemployment is at 4%, the lowest rate since 2008. So it’s a challenge to find top talent in a tightly competitive market.

A survey by Glassdoor tells us that 77% of respondents said they would consider an organisation’s culture before applying for a job, and 70% said they wouldn’t bother applying for a position if they felt the company’s values didn’t align with their own.

Given this, perhaps it’s a good time for organisations to critically look at their workplace culture and make sure their house is in order first. And ensure company culture is not contributing to their hiring and retention woes and costs.

So, what is the culture in a workplace? 

Great question. There are many definitions varying from the look and feel of the work environment to whether the business provides ping pong tables and fresh fruit for staff every day.

Workplace culture examples in action might be, should we speak up and tell the boss that the latest sales strategy will result in a train wreck. Or should we keep our mouths shut in fear of being “decapitated” for suggesting such a thing? If we make a mistake, is it considered the “end of the world” or a learning opportunity?

A fish rots from the head down, and so it is with workplace culture. When your workplace culture isn’t prioritised by leadership, it’s reflected in each employee’s:

  • performance,
  • productivity, and
  • retention.

 Are you playing to win or playing not to lose?

Many businesses tend to look only at the monthly profit and loss as indicators of success. But it’s equally important to focus on your employees and how they experience working in your company.

Caring about your customers and their experience with your business is a waste of time if you don’t care about your employee’s experience. Employee experience is directly linked to customer experience.

A well-designed employee journey allows your people to understand their value to your organisation. Your employees feel cared for and are set up for success during their employment.

If your company hasn’t conducted a culture audit in the last two years, it’s a good exercise to undertake. Culture audits can vary, although they can be as simple as asking employees what’s going well and what’s not. An audit can involve using some of the great software tools in the market that help analyse this.

Sounds expensive! How much does organisation culture change ‘cost’?

Organisation culture doesn’t usually have a line item in the P&L, so it’s not tracked or measured. Any activities that lead to a positive workplace culture tend to pay for themselves.

The benefits of a workplace culture that supports its employees can mean:

  • a higher rate of retention,
  • lower recruitment and re-recruitment costs,
  • diversity happens more organically, and
  • productivity goes up.

Any increase in productivity goes straight to your bottom line.

No time like the present

A business is more likely to benefit when its culture focuses on the way employees view the company. And with significant change more recently in employee views and preferences, workplace culture may need to change.

There isn’t any “one-size-fits-all” culture that makes every employee happy and productive. But paying attention to what is achievable will pay off “bigly” for your employees and business.

Risky recruitment

Attracting the right talent, the best fit for the job and your organisation’s unique culture can be very risky. There’s lots to consider. For example, you need to determine whether your potential new hires, managers, and team can work together. And work together from various locations.

To do this requires deep knowledge of their personalities, strengths, weaknesses, interests, work styles, competencies, and abilities. Our next-gen technology and solutions will do this work for you.

Why not make contact and learn more about our psychometric assessments so you can make an informed decision?

Motivation – how to measure this attribute in a reliable way

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Motivation is the key to performance and success. The past two years have caused many workers around the globe to re-evaluate what’s really important to them. 

Maintaining productivity while working flexibly from home has prompted a massive shift in employees’ thinking. The Great Resignation is evidence of this reset.

Organisations have quickly adapted to the increased complexity of almost half of all workers now working remotely in some capacity. Employees have reported challenges with not being able to “unplug”, communicate, and generally stay motivated.

While organisations have implemented guidelines to manage boundaries and new apps to address communication, motivating employees from a distance is a different kettle of fish!

Motivation, engagement, or drive?

Ask anyone who set and achieved a personal goal what helped them achieve it, and they will usually say something such as I just “wanted” it. This situation describes motivation.

It doesn’t matter what you call it – engagement, drive, motivation, dedication or enthusiasm. The challenge for businesses has always been maintaining motivation in their team.

Studies tell us that motivated and engaged employees are more productive, innovative and creative than disengaged team members.

One Emerald Group study concluded that “motivation is the main force through which individuals allocate effort to generate and implement innovative ideas”.  

Two main types of Motivation

Intrinsic and extrinsic (think internal and external) are the two main types of motivation. Rochester University describes them as follows:

 

Intrinsic motivation involves performing a task because it’s personally rewarding to you.

Extrinsic motivation involves completing a task or exhibiting a behaviour because of external causes such as avoiding punishment or receiving a reward.

 

 

Examples of extrinsic motivation are increased salary, a bonus, a company car, or a promotion. These rewards are external and separate from the job itself.

On the other hand, intrinsic motivation refers to factors that come from within a person. Intrinsic motivation is about behaviours driven by sheer enjoyment and wanting to do well at your job. 

Of course, sometimes intrinsic and extrinsic motivation go hand in hand to help you complete a project or task.

Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation at work

Giving positive feedback at work is highly motivational. We all like to know we are doing well. And that our contribution is appreciated by others. However, it’s vital that your positive feedback should be specific. And in addition, it helps your team members understand your standards and expectations.

You may also wish to use extrinsic motivation as a manager or leader. In this case, it’s important to offer rewards strategically. For example, giving a reward to your sales team to increase the ranging of a product with their clients may focus your team’s efforts solely on ranging. Perhaps with a result to the detriment of sales.

Business benefits

The 2021 Employee Experience Survey, conducted by Willis Towers Watson, discovered that 92% of employers worldwide said the employee experience would be a priority over the next three years.

Gallup researchers studied the differences in performance between engaged and actively disengaged work units. They found that those scoring in the top half on employee engagement nearly doubled their odds of success compared with those in the bottom half.

In fact, across a range of areas, work units in the top quartile in employee engagement outperformed bottom-quartile work units by:

  • 10% on customer ratings,
  • 22% in profitability,
  • 21% in productivity.

How do you quantify Motivation?

These numbers speak for themselves- and most CEOs and CPOs would be delighted to achieve these levels in their business. But given the complexity that HR teams and leaders are navigating, how can they quantify and qualify a diverse group of employees to understand their motivational drivers truly?

Quantifying and qualifying motivational drivers is where we come in. Great People Inside has released six new dimensions in its psychometric assessments, two of which are:

  • Internal Motivation
  • External motivation

You can easily make sense of the data, and benchmarking key motivational drivers for your business can also be performed.  

This scientific information helps organisations pinpoint the relevant motivational approaches in their psychometric testing across the board – for Individuals, business units, and teams in any department anywhere in the world.

Like some more information?

We’d be happy to help your organisation better understand its employees through internal and external motivation evaluations. Reach out by email or phone on +61 2 8850 6520 to find out more.