Today’s HR Daily Advisor Tip from BLR details the 8 things that employees want, and money is not one of them. Aside from compensation, there are several things a company can do to retain its top performers. According to Walter Hall, a writer for ere.net, “a company’s organizational values, its core values, culture, and mutual expectations, are a company’s best recruiting and retention tool.”

The List

1. Appreciation - A sincere thank you or a short note can mean a great deal.
2. Respect - Respect plays out in letting people know that their work is appreciated, in treating them like adults, and in being fair in your dealings with them.
3. Trust - People need guidance, but they need to know that their boss trusts them to be able to get a job done on their own.
4. Individual Growth - Today’s workers—especially the Gen Y group—want training, want to take on new challenges, and want to advance based on their new abilities.
5. Good Boss - In a recent Robert Half survey, 1,000 Gen Y workers ranked “working with a manager I can respect and learn from” as the most important aspect of their work environment.
6. Compatible Co-Workers - Spending the day—every day—with people you don’t like does not make for a productive workplace.
7. Compatible Culture - Employees want a work environment that fits their needs. That could mean hard-driving, high paying, or it could mean high flexibility and significant attention to work/life balance.
8. A Sense of Purpose - People want to know that they are contributing to something worthwhile. They need to know what the organization’s core purpose is and what it is trying to achieve. And then they need to know how their particular job fits into the whole.

(”What 8 Things Do Employees Want? (Hint: Money’s Not on the List)”, June 30, 2008, Steve Bruce, HR Daily Advisor, hrdailyadvisor.blr.com)

Using What Employees Want As A Retention Tool

According to Hall, creating a culture of organizational values, including many of the ones on the list above, can be an effective recruiting and retention tool. He says, “The key to a company’s success is a reciprocal, balanced level of expectations between the organization and each of its employees.” Hall says that the primary retention motivator can be a company’s organization culture - more specifically an employee’s desire to come to work everyday. Building a workplace based on the principles from the list above can be a great step in retaining top talent and creating an excellent organizational culture.

Sources: “Organizational Values As Primary Recruiting, Retention Tools“, Walter Hall; “What 8 Things Do Employees Want? (Hint: Money’s Not on the List)”, Steve Bruce.

It’s hard to prove whether there’s more stress today than there was 30 years ago, but employers are certainly starting to respond to employees’ need for work/life balance today more than ever before. According to the American Institute of Stress, 75-90% of physician visits are related to stress. Recent studies by the National Institute for Occupational Health show that the workplace has become the single greatest source of stress. This might be true for some, but many employers are taking great strides to improve work/life balance and reduce workplace-related stress.

Is The Employer Responsible?

This question is highly subjective, however regardless of the answer, employers are taking responsibility. A study by the Kenexa Research Institute showed that employees who were more favorable toward their organization’s efforts to support work-life balance also indicated a much lower intent to leave the organization, greater pride in their organization, a willingness to recommend it as a place to work and higher overall job satisfaction.

Using Work/Life Balance as a Recruitment Tool

According to the Forbes article, “Balance: The New Workplace Perk,” 85% of recruiters have seen candidates reject a job offer because it didn’t include enough work-life balance. The article states that two-thirds of companies are developing programs to help their top performers spend more time with family. What might seem like a compromise for employers at first actually has proven to have positive results. Employees have testified that having a more flexible workplace makes them more productive.

Work/Life Balance Techniques That Really Work

One of the more popular approaches to work/life balance is flexibility. More and more employers are offering employees a flexible work week in terms of hours and days. This even extends to parents who are being offered half-days or a two-or-three-day work week. Employers are also offering a flexible work week to relieve employees of high gas prices (i.e. working 4 10-hour days per week). Job sharing is also becoming a popular option among employees who have children.

What is your company doing to provide its employees with a great work/life balance? Let us know by leaving a comment below!

Monday the Internal Revenue Service announced that they will increase the optional standard mileage rates for the final six months of 2008 from 50.5 cents a mile to 58.5 cents a mile. The new rates are effective from July 1, 2008 to December 31, 2008. The rate increase is directly due to the recent increase in gas prices. To view the full announcement and rates for business, medical and moving reimbursements, see Announcement 2008-63.

To learn how to claim business mileage deductions and travel expenses, visit the IRS website’s “The Cost of Doing Business: Organize Travel and Business Expense”. Are you self-employed? Visit My Money Blog for a great article on Maximizing Your Business Mileage Tax Deduction.

Flexibility

Top performers want the flexibility necessary to properly address concerns inside and outside the workplace. This might include flexible work schedules, liberal paid time-off policies, a nontraditional bereavement leave policy (take as much paid time off away from work to grieve for a loved one until the employee is ready to return to work), sabbaticals and employee benefits such as convenience services.

Opportunity

Top performers want the opportunity to advance within the organization and utilize their abilities to affect the organization and the community. They want challenging and interesting work and the opportunity to be engaged in the success of the organization. Examples include promotions from within, succession planning, suggestion systems, employee surveys and community service.

Recognition

Top performers want to feel appreciated. They want to be adequately compensated and rewarded for their efforts and their accomplishments. Examples include pay-for-performance programs, bonus plans, incentive pay, internal and external equity, ad-hoc cash and noncash rewards, a well-aligned compensation philosophy and public- and peer-recognition programs.

Development

Top performers want opportunities to further their professional and personal development. They want feedback about their performance and about how they can improve. Examples include training and development programs, training needs assessments, nontraditional performance appraisals, tuition reimbursement, and career coaching.

Security

Top performers want to work in a healthful and safe environment free from accidents, violence, harassment, layoffs and discrimination. Organizations that support a safe, secure and healthful workplace focus on emergency and safety training, wellness programs, workplace-violence prevention, disaster recovery programs, harassment training and policies, and cultural awareness training.

Support

Top performers want benefits that help support their physical and mental health and help them address other issues in their lives outside the workplace. Examples include medical, dental and vision insurance; short-term and long-term care; adoption assistance; child and elder care; wellness programs and convenience services.

Talent integrity

Top performers want to work in an environment where they can relate to, get along with and be challenged by  their co-workers. They want to be surrounded by other top performers. Organizations working toward hiring and retaining top performers utilize hiring assessments, behavioral interviewing, exit interviews, succession planning, nontraditional recruiting methods and mentoring programs.

If you want to expedite developing your workplace to attract and keep the best, there is an easy way to start. Just ask your top people how to proceed. Now, those will be the most important answers.

It’s sometimes hard to find ways to hop on the green bandwagon without making drastic changes in your lifestyle. There are several easy ways that you can help the environment and your workplace right from your desk! Here are three easy steps to take to make your personal workspace more environmentally-friendly:

Adding plants to your workspace adds a beautiful green color as well as oxygen to the air around you. And according to a study in facilities design and management, plants have been shown to increase productivity by creating a less stressful environment, which in turn leads to a more satisfied and productive workforce. (Facilities Design & Management, 8-1-02)
Where to start: Head over to your local home and garden store and find the right plant for your workspace!

Instead of grabbing a new cup each time you go to the water cooler or coffee pot, use a mug. This is an easy way to reduce the waste and save your company a few bucks. Take it one step further and hand-wash your cup at the end of the day - it uses less water than a dishwasher does. And speaking of the office coffee pot, try switching to a reusable coffee filter to reduce waste even more!
Where to start: Grab a mug from home and you’re all set! Then shop online at a store like Amazon for a reusable coffee filter.

It’s easy to open that office memo, print it out, and walk over to the printer and read it. It’s even easier to have a notepad on your desk to take down the important information.  Having a notepad made of recycled paper is an easy way to cut down on unnecessary print jobs. Like this idea? Spread the word - include in your e-mail signature a reminder to “consider the environment before printing this e-mail”.
Where to start: Check out Staples for 100% Recycled Notepads.

When it comes to being green in the workplace, it helps to lead by example. A recent survey of 1000 employees showed that 57% were looking to be led by example. (Guardian) Start with these small steps and you’ll soon notice your co-workers hopping on the bandwagon!

Time for another week of great HR-related links to some of the best blog posts from the past week. This week we’ll focus on articles related to management and superviors. Don’t forget to check back each week for new blog posts about current HR news, trends, ideas, and information!

• “How to be a good manager: Be generous” on the Brazen Careerist - Great article, but particularly a good read for new supervisors. If you like this, be sure to check out ERC’s Supervisory Series.
• “6 Ways to Be a Great Listener” on the U.S. News blog On Careers - Great follow up to the above blog post. Communication is one of the keys to a successful workplace.
• “9 Things Every Manager Should Learn from American Idol” on the HR Capitalist - Staying with the theme of managers, this article takes a lighthearted look at managerial styles.
• “How to Deal With Micromanagers” on Newly Corporate - How can you learn to turn some of the negative aspects of micromanaging into positive traits? Find out here…

As fuel prices continue to climb, organizations in Northeast Ohio are providing aid to their employees. According to a recent survey released by ERC (Employers Resource Council) on practices organizations are utilizing to provide gas relief to their employees, the most common form of relief offered were gas gift cards. Among the other most common practices were offering flexible scheduling opportunities for employees including compressed work weeks and telecommuting options to decrease time spent commuting. Some organizations are even providing their employees with educational resources on topics such as how to increase gas mileage.

Most Common Forms of Gas Relief Provided by Local Organizations

Among the least used forms of gas relief were increasing wages and salaries, offering incentives to use public transportation, providing cash, rewards, or bonuses towards alternative means of transportation, and organizing formal carpools, though some organizations are using these forms as well.

According to the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM), rising fuel costs certainly do not help with the retention of employees, particularly talented and skilled employees who commute long distances. Employers, nonetheless, can use gas relief in its many forms as a competitive advantage to assist their employees. Transportation benefits are among the lowest-cost benefits an employer can provide and may lead to significant tax savings in cases of providing mass transit options via pre-tax dollars .

“Employers don’t need to spend a large amount of money to help provide relief to their employees,” says Marty Mordarski, Director of Research and Membership. “Helping employees find a carpool partner within the organization that lives close to them, providing bike storage for employees, offering information on how to increase gas mileage, or instituting a compressed work-week option to eliminate at least one day of commuting are just a few inexpensive ways employers can help employees cope with rising fuel costs.”

Source: ERC

Related Articles:

• “Companies Help Employees Deal With Fuel Costs” on the Wall Street Journal Online
• Would you drive a car around with your company’s logo for some extra gas money?

“We want interns to be future employees, and if we don’t hire the right culture now, we are not going to have it in six months,” says David Barnes, a Houston-based HR manager. According to Human Resource Executive, demographic signs are pointing to a shortage of workers in the near future, and a growing number of organizations are starting to view their internship programs as more crucial opportunities to recruit potential future employees.

The Facts and Figures

According to Inc. Magazine, a National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) survey of 276 U.S. employers showed that nearly 90% had an internship program in place - and it’s not just large employers any more. “In recent years, fast growing businesses have begun tapping into a student internship market once dominated by big corporations,” according to Inc. Magazine. From the same NACE survey, employers reported that 30.7% of their new college hires came from an internship program. At GE, more than 600 interns are hired into full-time employement every year - and of the interns offered jobs, 90% accept the invitation. (Human Resource Executive) That’s a pretty high retention rate.

Keeping Interns Engaged

One of the keys to developing talented interns into full-time employees is engagement. Gone are the days of having interns make coffee or act as a gofer. Companies that keep great interns are offering them real experience. According to Lore Postman, a Charlotte-based business writer, companies should avoid using interns for such things as a quick fix for clerical shorthandedness. Interns that stay with organizations are getting more challenging assignments like designing pages on company websites or conducting research on the floor of a chemical lab, according to Postman.

Going the extra mile…

Besides offering competitive pay rates and engaging work, some employers are offering special benefits to interns. Charles Schwab offers interns stock options on top of a weekly paycheck. Fed Ex offers interns corporate housing and paid travel expenses. According to Barnes, spending that extra bit of time and money is worth it - “Our philosophy is that we are making an investment in the future of the company…”

To read the previous two posts in this series, click below:
Internship Program 201: How to Recruit Tomorrow’s Top Talent
Internship Program 101: Building an Effective Internship Program

Sources: “Intern-al Affairs”, Julie Cook Ramirez, Human Resource Executive; “Why Interns Are Good for Business”, Angus Loten, Inc.com Feb 2008; “Turn Interns Into Employees”, Lore Postman, WetFeet.com

Here is this week’s collection of great HR links from around the HR blogosphere:

• “Engaging Hourly Employees” on CollegeRecruiter.com - A review of a study that identifies six essential workplace dimensions to employee engagement and customer satisfaction.
• “4 Generations of Workers - Can You Relate?” on Business Pundit - Another great post on the generational gap. This blog post analyzes each of the four current working generations in terms of their character traits and how they work together.
• “Career Women Share Work/Life Balance Tips” on Career News - The top 5 strategies that women have identified regarding work/life balance from CareerWomen.com.
• “From Intern to Employee” on Forbes Career News - How a summer internship can turn into a 10-to-12 week interview for a student’s next job…
• “Benefit of Internships” on Career News - Simple list of six reasons internships are beneficial.
• “Debunking the Myths about Doing Business in China” on the China Business Law Blog - a review of the Business Week story, “China: Debunking the Myths”…a great primer to ERC’s upcoming workshop on Doing Business in China.

It’s a nice feeling waking up in the morning, walking out the front door and knowing your newspaper will be right there waiting for you. If you’re like most people, you’ll sit down and skim through one or two parts of it for the latest sports scores, business headlines, or local news. Your paper isn’t written just for you, so it doesn’t have all of the news and information you want to read about. However you can get a customized news report each day using an RSS reader.

Also called feed readers or aggregators, RSS readers allow you to subscribe to the news sources, blogs, and podcasts you want to receive updates from and collect them all in one place. Imagine a newspaper with all of the sections written just for you! No more e-mails coming to you every 10 minutes, no more hunting for the news you want.

Which RSS Reader Should You Use?

There are a lot of RSS readers that you can use, however some of the more popular ones include Google Reader, My Yahoo, Bloglines, NewsGator, and Technorati. Each of these web-based services allow you to sign up for a free account and subscribe to the feeds you want.

How Do You Subscribe To “Feeds”?

Most websites or blogs will have a subscribe button, an RSS button, or something that lets you know you can subscribe to the content. Let’s take an easy example - the Where Great Workplaces Start blog. If you wish to subscribe to the content on this blog, simply click the “Subscribe” button on the left and select your RSS reader.

Other examples of RSS subscribe buttons:

Now that you know how to get your news the way you want it, go sign up now! It’s easy - sign up for a free RSS Reader account, find the news that you want to subscribe to, and you’re all set! And don’t forget to subscribe to the Where Great Workplaces Start RSS feed.