A Quick Study | by Dr. Jerry Newman
I’m sure some of you are frustrated at times by the lack of control you have over rewards, a vital source of crew motivation. If only you could pay higher wages, maybe it would be easier to attract great crew members. But labor costs have to be managed, and wages have to be competitive. And at the store level, benefits aren’t under your control either—the market and top management make those decisions.
If a reward is important to crew members, and they perceive you have control over who gets how much, that’s a powerful source of motivation. Do a good job with that reward and it’s likely to bring powerful positive results. But if you’re perceived to be the source of a reward, and you don’t dole it out, beware the angry mobs. When we asked employees which of the 13 rewards they thought the average supervisor controls, we got some interesting results. Employees think supervisors control two rewards almost completely: recognition and feedback. And a third reward, the social environment of the store, is seen as split between the store manager and the crew. What exactly does this mean?
For starters, let me put my 3.5 cents worth in (inflation, you know). In the seven stores I worked over a 14-month period, I found bosses to be horrible at giving recognition. Yet in almost every survey we’ve done, recognition ranks in the top half of rewards for importance. This isn’t a good combination. Recognition is important. It doesn’t cost much, yet managers tend to underuse it. Maybe someone can explain this disconnect to me. Sure, I understand that if you tell Samantha too often that she’s doing a great job, the “currency” might become devalued. But c’mon, there is a huge world of difference between too often and what I experienced in stores.
Yeah, I know what you’re thinking: “Well, maybe Jerry isn’t all that great as a crew member and didn’t deserve recognition.” You got me too true. But I also saw some pretty great crew members doing some awesome things for their stores without ever hearing any words of encouragement.
I’m probably not telling any of you anything new, but it’s time to take a stand. Not only do we need formal recognition programs—and some of the major brands have done an amazing job of developing these—but we also need to instill in store managers an understanding that this is simply too important a reward to hoard. For goodness sake, what bank are we using to store this stuff? Because it sure doesn’t draw nearly enough interest.
Perhaps surprising to some, feedback is also highly rated as a reward by employees. Oh, I’m not talking about the usual kind of feedback in stores, the stuff dripping of sarcasm, or the feedback held back until an eruption of pure anger occurs. I’m talking about feedback that is constructive, feedback that tells crew members what behaviors need to be changed, why they are hurting the store and its customers, and how continued bad performance will affect the crew member in a very specific way. Personally, I like feedback, and I like folks who seek information on how they’re doing. In the seven stores I worked, only two of the managers corrected my behavior in a timely and constructive way. Kudos to those who know how to use this reward.
Finally, think about the power of social rewards. Do your crew members wake up in the morning looking forward to work? Maybe they don’t look forward to lunch rush and the noise and heat and grease, but they look forward to seeing their friends. Good bosses know how to encourage and nurture these interactions.
In my field of research, scientists are looking at social networks, especially as they help improve productivity in the workplace. We know that stores with positive vibes among crew members usually have someone at the hub of this social network.
In my book (My Secret Life on the McJob) and in an earlier column, I talked in detail about Daniel, the Social Sensei at Burger King. I also worked at a Krystal where the social hub was the store manager. James was amazingly good at befriending both crew members and customers alike. He set up Bingo Tuesdays for customers. He organized after-hours social events for employees and made sure work schedules didn’t conflict with these events, even at the cost of penciling himself in for double or sometimes triple shifts. Every afternoon after lunch rush you could see a group of employees outside, enjoying a break together, with James as a central player.
When I asked James about his turnover level, he proudly noted that most of his turnover, at a level below 75 percent, was involuntary. People liked James, and for the most part, as long as they met his exacting expectations, they stayed around.
So my advice to you is: Understand what rewards you control and use them to create a great place to work.
If you’re interested in ranking the 13 rewards yourself, please visit my Web site, www.jerrynewman.net, to take the rewards survey.