Fine fine fine…  I know I’m a day late, however yesterday was a traveling day for me (coming here to Spartanburg to visit with my client, Advance America.  I got in yesterday late in the afternoon, and before I knew it I was sound asleep in the Hampton Inn’s wonderfully soft feather bed.  And yes, those beds are “dreamy”!

Anyways…

The Sandwich is Going to Get Bigger

As part of the sandwich generation, I’ve tried to explain a little of what it is like being pulled in two direction at once; ensuring that my kids grow up in a safe and secure environment while at the same time providing care and support for my dad who lives in a nursing home in Cincinnati.   As I told one of my colleagues in New Mexico, I truly am blessed, and although a burden to me and my lovely bride, our situation is considerably better than others that I know.  My dad is in a great place, he still has (most of) his health, he has friends that still visit him, and a group of employees that provide excellent care.

According to “them”, by 2030, one in five Americans will be over the age 65 (I’m raising my hand).  Because we are living longer, and since women are waiting longer to have their first child, more and more adults will face a similar fate.  Employers are going to be forced to come to grips with assisting their employees as they Rob Peter to Pay Paul.

The sandwich is just going to get bigger, it will soon be a double decker.

Staying ‘Cause They Want To, or ‘Cause They Have To

It’s nice when clients get it.

I was delivering results of a Workforce Engagement Assessment to one of my clients a few weeks back, and he mentioned that his boss (the CFO) wanted to ask me some questions about their results.  I like getting questions from senior management, and I was ready to “wow” the CFO with linkage between the results of their employee assessment and their financial results.

Boy was I surprised, you can’t judge a CFO by the degrees they have.

Instead of a discussion on the impact engagement has on EBITDA, revenue per headcount, COGS (Cost of good sold) or profitability, the CFO engaged me in a lively discussion related to Why People Stay.  She could sense in some of her own direct reports that a couple felt they “owed” something to her and the company since she had promoted them over the course of time.  A couple of others made snide comments about being trapped in their job, as their ability to find another job with similar pay and benefits was constricted due to the size of the community the organization was located in.

Wow… this from a “bean counter”!

So we talked for almost an hour about the differences between Normative Commitment (when employees feel obligated to stay), Continuance Commitment (when employees feel they have no other choice, but to stay) and Affective Commitment (when the employees want to stay).  Although all three had a direct impact on retention and turnover rates, only the last one leads to the other desired behaviors we want from employees; working hard for customers, recommending the organization as a great place to work, and helping out as part of a team.

OK, I was a little kid in a candy store… this is the kind of conversation I wish I had with each C-Suite client I work with.

As I explained, it’s rare that employees only feel one type of commitment, in most cases, all three are in there somewhere to some degree. However, as she told me at the end of the conversation only one of the types of commitment leads to engagement.

That’s why she is the CFO.

You Have To Train Your Employees to Leave, or Else They’ll Leave

Go ahead, read it again.

Yep, that is all there is.