What motivates the workforce?
A few years ago a book called The 2020 Workplace (Meister & Willyerd, 2010) delved deep into the ways a company can attract, develop and retain employees. They discussed what people want from their daily jobs, what is required by employers to help people grow, and the importance of engagement. This book focuses on the following important features that matter to today's workforce:
Collaboration
Authenticity
Personalization
Innovation
Social connection
Do you provide this for your workforce? Is your workforce going to take you to 2020? Whether you do this today or not, you are going to have to make sure you appeal to and develop today's workforce for tomorrow. If they are not engaged and valued, you will waste a lot of time and resources looking for people to join your team, care about the business, and give their best. The authors of The 2020 Workplace focus on the need for today's workforce to engage just as Daniel Pink, in his New York Times best seller Drive (Pink, 2010) discussed the need for today's workforce to have autonomy, mastery, and purpose . I also recommend checking out Pink's book and a great online illustration of Drive which describes how to get employees motivated and producing high quality work long into the future. Reference Pink, D. (2010). Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us. RSA Animate. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc Meister, J. & Willyerd, K. (2010). The 2020 Workplace: How Innovative Companies Attract, Develop, and Keep Tomorrow's Employees Today. New York: Harper Business Publishing, 2010.