From abcnews.com – How to Have More Fun at Work. This topic is going to become more common as Gen X ascends and Gen Y populates the workforce. Already we are seeing numerous articles on work/life balance enter the article sphere.

I’ve worked for many Boomer managers who were suit-and-tie, get your work done leaders with no time for, well, fun at the office. At one technology employer, we had a dartboard and ping pong table in the lunchroom that was a huge hit. In the sales department, we would take a 15 minute afternoon break to go trash-talk each other while competing like we were in the Olympics. To this day, I remember how enjoyable those competitions were. Afterwards, we would get back to work almost invigorated from the mini battle.

Now for a strange aside. When my son was in preschool years ago, the teacher explained that children learn better when they have large-muscle activity before a seated learning time. I don’t know if that is true of adults or not, but as I mentioned, I always felt invigorated after a game of ping pong. I had more energy and was more “alive” on my phone calls.

Yet there is a downside to offering this type of fun at the office. The word came down from the Boomer management team that salespeople should not be playing ping pong at any time during the day. Mind you, no other departments received a similar dictate, just sales. After that, every time we went to get a coffee or snack, we would see others enjoying a part of the corporate culture that was forbidden to us. That rule created much angst and resentment between the sales team and the managers.

My point is simple, if you are going to commit to a culture of fun, make sure you set parameters at the beginning and make it accessible to all employees. And remember, the opportunity for employees to have some fun will go miles to improving morale and hopefully retention.

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Now HotJobs.com offers up their survey about job seekers in 2007 – Many workers to consider new jobs in 2007. No surprises in that headline. Their stats:

The survey — in which nearly two-thirds of respondents (66 percent) said they would consider new job opportunities in 2007 — suggests the U.S. workforce is full of “passive job seekers” looking to improve their prospects.Optimism about new jobs in 2007 was also common among survey-takers, as approximately 70 percent believe opportunities for job seekers are better or the same as one year ago.

These numbers are similar to SHRM’s results.

There is a stark contradiction later in the article.

Salary ranked as the main thing workers would change about their jobs (39 percent), with benefits coming in a distant second place at 12 percent. In addition, three-fourths of respondents said they did not get the raise or bonus they expected in 2005.

Yet, later in the article is this finding:

When asked how they define success, respondents opted for less tangible benefits than salary. Nearly half (46 percent) said having a work/life balance was the key to success, while 41 percent equated “feeling fulfilled” with success. Only 9 percent considered a high salary as the indicator of success.

It would be interesting to know the age groups that were surveyed, or at least the break out of respondents. Salary is probably what most survey participants believe is the “proper” answer to a survey question regarding why they would leave. Yet half of them do not find it to be a key to their own personal success.

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CNNMoney.com offers this quick story – Planned job cuts take big Dec. dip. The phrase “planned job cuts” is a poor construction, but it essentially means expected layoffs.

Planned job cuts for all of 2006 fell below 1 million for the first time since 2000, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc., an employment consulting firm.

Be wary of the naysayers spouting an impending doom for our economy. The economy is robust and it truly is an employee’s market right now. The reason why you should be aware of this fact:

“With the American economy at full employment for the first time since Sept. 11, 2001, the latest job-cut data provide strong evidence that employers turned their energy toward retention in 2006,” Challenger said.

There is a perfect storm brewing right now (or perhaps already raging). We have historically low unemployment, almost automated job search agents and a new generation of workers who monitor new opportunities . . . all the time.

Retention will be a top priority for 2007. It should be a top priority every year. Salespeople are on the look out for something better. If turnover is trampling your sales staff, perhaps it is time to provide some assistance to your sales management team?

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Thomas Register has a blog. If you have worked in the industrial market, you probably are familiar with their encyclopedia-like register. I used to be a sales manager for a high precision sheet metal fabricator and was quite familiar with researching the Thomas Register. The fact that they have a blog today speaks volumes.

ThomasNet.com (online name) has a post that plays off of the CareerBuilder.com 2007 Job Forecast that was released earlier this week. Their 7 tips are all excellent including number 7:

7) Better training
In light of a seeming shortage of skilled workers within their own industries, employers are looking for transferable skills from other industries. Seventy-eight percent report they are willing to recruit workers who don’t have experience in their particular industry or field and provide training/certifications needed.

Hallelujah. This issue is one of the most assiduous obstacles we face in teaching our customers to look at transferrable skills and talent. Many hiring managers feel safer hiring a retread from their industry than a neophyte with clearly transferrable skills.

Point number 5 warrants close attention when dealing with Generations X and Y:

5) More promotions
As the perceived lack of upper mobility within an organization is a major driver for employee turnover, 35 percent of employers plan to provide more promotions and career advancement opportunities to their existing staff in 2007.

We’ve touched on this topic numerous times including this excerpt from our article Hiring Adjustments for Generations X and Y:

Gen X and Y candidates are looking for a skills path. They desire to understand what skills are needed to be successful in the position today. The long-term incentive is to understand what skills they will personally develop or acquire within the company. They prefer a horizontal management structure and respond to personal skill development. Titles are out. Responsibilities are in. It is imperative to share with the candidates the responsibilities they will inherit as their skills become more advanced over their tenure with the company.

Larger companies tend to have a path for employees to grow in responsibilities. Smaller companies face a bit of a challenge in that area if they are not conscious of it.

I worked as a regional sales manager for a 200 employee company when I was in my late 20’s. I enjoyed my job immensely but my boss at the time was in his early 30’s and I was aware of the fact that I did not have any upward mobility within that company. I could have switched departments, but that would have led to a step backwards initially – a step I was unwilling to take. Financially I was doing quite well but the days started to all look the same. I wasn’t growing at the level I wanted to so I left the company for another opportunity with more responsibility.

As a manager, it is important to keep expanding your employees’ responsibilities. Expect them to do more, learn new skills and move into a larger position within the company. This doesn’t mean titles necessarily. Keep them growing in their skills and prevent their positions from becoming routine. This approach is one of the best methods for stemming the tide of turnover amongst younger workers.

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Wrong. There are many myths regarding December hiring, but we have found it to always be an abundant time for sourcing salespeople. A Recruiter’s View: Five Myths About Holiday Job Hunting discusses the most common myths.

A couple specific points from the article:

3. Positions open up in late November or early December because many professionals quit their jobs this time of year. As David Knowles, a senior recruiter with Excel Unlimited, an executive search firm in Houston, says, “The holidays can bring on a time of longing to be closer to family, roots and people. If no bonus is involved, people often will quit Dec. 1, and give two weeks notice so that they can be with family for the holidays.” Professionals who have been looking to leave a company will plan their resignations in order to start a job right after the new year.

We have seen this play out frequently. Many strong employees tough it out during the year but Dec. 31 seems to be a tripwire in their mental tolerance. If they are in a deteriorating environment, the new year becomes a natural target for a fresh start.

6. Strong companies often want to start the new year with a bang. “Companies that are forecasting profits want to have key people in place to start the year off well,” says Mr. Knowles. Sales organizations often have their national sales meetings in January and want to have their whole sales force on hand.

Weak companies follow this approach too when hiring salespeople. National sales meetings are a real motivator for hiring.

During the holidays, job candidates need to make sure they’ll be available.

This point is one of the strongest reasons for hiring in December. Most candidates can be available during the month. This article discusses Christmas eve and New Year’s Day interviews. I don’t find much merit in those approaches. The holidays should still be the holidays and spent with family and friends. But that week between Christmas and New Years can be a bountiful time for interviews if the candidate is willing to invest an hour or two.

The other side of this pattern is retention. As an employer, it is an important time to be in communication with your top performers and to build for the upcoming year. Above all else, make sure that these employees do not feel neglected or under appreciated. That ambivalence on the employer’s part is the primary factor leading to employee turnover.

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A quote from my post on Tuesday:

And don’t assume its about money. When someone quits her job, 89 percent of managers assume it was over money, whereas 91 percent of the workers who quit say it was anything but, Murphy said.

From a CareerJournal article titled Opportunity Knocks, And It Pays a Lot Better:

Managers like to say employees leave companies because of bad bosses or lack of career growth. A new report suggests a more straightforward reason: money.In a survey of about 1,100 U.S. employees, 71% of top performers listed pay among the top three reasons they would consider leaving their employer. Yet in a sister survey of 262 large employers, 45% of employers cited pay as a top-three reason workers leave.

Dueling surveys. So which survey is accurate? I’m not sure. One thing is certain, turnover is an issue in today’s market:

Nationally, the annual rate at which workers quit their jobs was the highest last year since 2001, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Here is the stat that I think drives the pay discussion:

The average employee is forecast to pay $3,305 next year in premiums and out-of-pocket costs for health care, a 7.8% increase over this year and more than double the $1,640 paid in 2002, according to human-resources consultant Hewitt Associates Inc.

Benefits are becoming a much larger piece of the compensation puzzle and if not properly managed (see General Motors), they can become an anchor around a company’s neck. Some where in the past, employees forgot that businesses to not have to offer insurance and retirement – it is simply a “benefit.”

I think this person has the best grip on the rationale behind the responses:

Some career experts question whether pay is pre-eminent. They assert that pay often isn’t the root of employee dissatisfaction, even when employees say it is. Meg Montford, an executive-career coach in Kansas City, Mo., says clients who blame pay often have a deeper problem such as career stagnation, boredom, or feeling unappreciated. “They may come to me with the idea that it’s pay, but usually that’s a camouflage for something else,” she says.

My experience is heavily slanted towards sales positions where compensation is king. Salespeople will leave if they are battling against an unreachable commission goal. Yet, that situation is rarely the reason. Most of the candidates we talk to are actually looking for a different challenge to their skills. Often this challenge involves more responsibility within the company, especially the opportunity to substantially contribute to the overall direction of the company.

I believe “feeling unappreciated” is probably the top reason for an employee to leave their current employee.

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Speaking Up Helps Keep Star Workers appears in one of our local papers – the Pioneer Press. The article discusses a topic we have addressed before that many employers assume is not active in their company – job hunting.

In case you were in doubt, some stats from the article:

A recent workplace survey of 16,237 workers by Leadership IQ, a leadership training and research firm in Washington, D.C., found that nearly half the people regarded as stellar performers were actively trying to leave their current employers.

That should grab every managers’ attention. 16,237 is a large sample size and 47% are actively looking to leave.

Forty-seven percent of your most productive, most creative, most valuable workers are mailing out résumés, going on job interviews, even contemplating other offers.

We see this fact every day. We source for positions beyond just salespeople and we incorporate many traditional and non-traditional channels to locate top performers. Invariably, we do kick up some lackluster candidates and we quickly screen them out of the process. Yet, it is surprising how many strong candidates we find. As you read further into the article, an interesting trend is noted:

Only 18 percent of “slackers,” the people who spend more time trying to avoid work than actually doing any, are looking around.

The stiffs have landed on your payroll and they know they have a good thing going. In sales, these employees are easier to spot since their sales numbers are simply not there. The survival method they use is to inflate their pipeline with ghost deals that always seem to be 3 months out. Managers and owners have been known to be entranced by the huge opportunities that appear to be just around the corner for this underperforming salesperson. They stretch out the paychecks as long as possible and then land on someone else’s payroll.

We see it every day. Be wary of a salesperson with 2 year employment stints on their resume. That time period is usually the amount of time needed to smoke out a pretender who made it on to the payroll.

Back to the article with an absolute necessity for successful management:

“Fewer than 25 percent of managers actually go out and talk to their employees about what motivates them and what demotivates them,” Murphy said. “This is just a fundamental aspect of being a manager: Figure out who your best people are and what motivates them.”

We can provide managers with their employee’s motivational pattern and reward structure. That provides a manager with a tremendous headstart. In the end, the author is correct – it takes communication to maintain a strong employee.

And don’t assume it’s about money. When someone quits her job, 89 percent of managers assume it was over money, whereas 91 percent of the workers who quit say it was anything but, Murphy said.

Please check out the Rewards section on our website for more information about motivational factors and rewards for employees. You may just save your superstar.

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