| | SEPTEMBER - 2023MANAGEHRMAGAZINE.COM19CXO InsightsBy Dan Wales, VP, People & Culture, Wildpack BeverageQuiet Quitting is the Hallmark Cards description of 2022 work environments to create clickbait not solve a problem. Yet the "Quiet Quitter now makes up at least 50% of the US workforce according to Gallup. Prevalence, in my view, does not equal relevance as the concept of `mailing it in' has been with us for years. I believe what we are doing is focusing on a symptom of a loss of connection and the root of the cause lies further back in the employee experience and is something we can and should act to change. What do you feel when you see that resignation letter come through? Or the note laden with frustration from a senior leader about another underperformer? Maybe your company is flying and performance is high, your leader or team member might not be underperforming but instead, the lack of understanding comes from where is the next opportunity, or why is this person not fulfilling their potential? As Leaders, particularly those of us that exist in the People space we should be asking how can that be so? People departments exist to facilitate employee engagement, to help maximize potential, and to partner with leaders to create career pathways. So why do we keep getting the same messages? Well, let's start with the way I phrased the question, for as anyone I have worked with and a large proportion of those that I have interviewed can attest, I use the word "feel' consciously. After all, is this not our purpose as People professionals? To read, understand and build to the feelings, popularized nomenclature here being engagement scores, of our companies? I believe the answer lies in questions, not statements. Too often in times of challenge an enthusiastic leader (insert misguided if your company needs it) takes to their preferred platforms and tells the company how the future is bright, their future is hopeful and that they just need to follow the process. I find an issue with this in the same way a writer finds challenge in people taking from their art what they meant by it. Roland Barthes in his 1967 essay described the Death of the Author and nowhere has this been more relevant than in the workforce. I would suggest a read of this may be a great start to positioning your leaders and what they share with our people. For what you meant is nowhere near as important as how it is received or what your team heard. With this in mind, we need to capture the imagination of our people. In my experience, the answer you need when looking at how to help someone feel connected is something they hold, not you. I believe it is something the Japanese have espoused for years in their theory of Ikigai and as this defines the answer lies in purpose.With my assertion, therefore, lies in connecting or identifying purpose to the rewards system within a company we need to establish where rewards are grounded in the past. This takes us to the traditional basis of rewards; the salary. When we explore the origins of a "salary" the example I will focus on means we find ourselves in the Roman period and the word "salarium". Before you think I have gone on a tangent hear me out on this! Salarium refers to the exchange of a soldier's time for salt, the soldier then had a currency to barter with and was able to exchange this payment for food or whatever other soldier's need had to be addressed in their time away from training and campaigns. Fast forward to 2022 and the question I want you to PRODUCTIVITY PURPOSE EXCHANGEDan Wales
< Page 9 | Page 11 >