Truth 38. High performers are motivated by a piece of the action
Sometimes you have a star employee who has nowhere else to grow in your organization. Maybe this person is the member of a one-member team of uniquely needed skills. Maybe this person is next in line for your job, but you’re not going anywhere.
Regardless of the reason behind this person’s short dead end, you still want to hang on to this talent. Your star is beloved by your customers. Or there’s deep organizational knowledge there that shouldn’t be allowed to walk out the door. Whatever that star talent represents to you, you know that great opportunities lie for this person far beyond your organization. And you just don’t want him to go.
Whatever that star talent represents to you, you know that great opportunities lie for this person far beyond your organization.
What do you do? Here’s what Brenda Helps did. As senior vice president of HR for Tucson’s Miraval Arizona Resort and Spa, she has created what she calls an outcome-oriented workforce. Her solution is to retain extraordinary employees by linking additional employee effort with bottom-line results. For the employees, that translates into added incentive and rewards for improving their own value to the company. And they don’t have to leave a great employer just for the sake of growing their careers. Here are two examples:
• Bringing real estate sales in-house
A portion of Miraval’s property is dedicated to privately owned villas. A full-time concierge gives the residents the same high service standards that the resort guests expect. She knows their needs, tastes, and preferences. She prepares the villas for them in anticipation of their arrival. She loves her work, but she is ready to grow to the next step. Miraval wants to keep her, naturally. But there was no natural next step up within the established organization. So this is what Miraval did for her: Miraval sent her to real estate school. Consequently, she was licensed to sell Miraval’s two remaining available properties. And she sold both of them within 4 months. Who better to sell those properties than someone who knows and loves the program? And someone who will say to the buyer, “And, guess what! I’ll be here to take care of you when you move in!”
Advantages: Instead of the real estate commissions going to an external agency, she was able to make those commissions herself—enjoying the direct rewards of her additional value as a licensed real estate agent. For Miraval, no one knows the villa program or is as personally passionate about the program as she is. So Miraval’s interests were represented by someone authentically enthusiastic about the product and deeply committed to delivering the level of service Miraval’s guests would expect.
She has also started a waiting list for potential buyers. (As the concierge for the villa program, she’s perfectly positioned to know who had such a wonderful time as a villa guest that they would aspire to be an owner.) As a result, she’s tracking the market demand for the villas and helping Miraval determine when the best time will come to build additional units.
• Sharing the savings on a reengineered telecommunications contract
Miraval’s director of finance has potential to spare well beyond his formally described job. Miraval recognized this, and he knew it too. Instead of passively hoping that he wouldn’t start looking for a more challenging position elsewhere, Miraval looked for ways that he could earn more through additional revenue-building projects. First up: Reduce their telecommunications cost. The deal: If he achieved a goal savings, he would receive a commission. Success!
Employers have had to take truly rigorous steps to make sure that each position directly serves the vitality of the enterprise. At the same time, individuals have to take a hard look at how what they do more than just meets a job description—how they might actually add to the business strength of the enterprise. The high-value employees (the ones you want to keep, in other words) have had to take on the mindset of an entrepreneur to some extent. They know their value like never before, and they want to be rewarded for it in some way.
Think of these people as micro-entrepreneurs, and find ways that they can directly serve the bottom line above and beyond the call of their formal job description. Reward them for that extra effort and result. Think of yourself as a kind of talent broker—creatively combining micro-entrepreneur with a rewarding business opportunity. You’ll be using your own value-add, entrepreneurial talents and energies to benefit your business’s interests. Who knows? You might find yourself with a reengaged passion for the work you do. And your company will benefit from keeping you as well.