MARKETING
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“To remain viable, employers have been forced to adopt extremely flexible and efficient staffing practices … employees have adjusted by adopting more aggressive attitudes, expectations, and behaviors.” —Bruce Tulgan |
Studies reveal marked changes in
younger employees’ attitudes;
successful agencies share their strategies
By Phil Zinkewicz
In the 1941 Hollywood classic “How Green Was My Valley,” a group of Welsh coal miners struggle for better working conditions for themselves and their families. But those better conditions are not easily attained, and tensions begin running high among the miners. Eventually there is a confrontation between the workers and their employers, leading to violence and then death.
Luckily, employee-employer disputes in this day and age don’t have such melodramatic results. Nevertheless, the struggle depicted in this film—in microcosm—reflects the never-ending effort by employees and employers to find a common ground where they can coexist to their mutual benefit. One might say that employers are continually trying to attract new talent and find ways to keep that talent happy, and that employees are looking for a sense of security as well as fair compensation. But it’s not that simple. The fact is that, in the past decade, employers and employees have undergone economic as well as psychological changes that some say are altering the workforce.
For example, a study of changes in the workforce conducted by RainmakerThinking, Inc., a New Haven, Connecticut-based management training firm, shows significant developments that have occurred over the last 10 years. According to the study’s author, Bruce Tulgan, between 1993 and 2003 a profound revolution was taking place in the values and norms of the American workplace, and the impact has been felt throughout the world.
“During this 10-year period, we at RainmakerThinking, Inc., have been conducting extensive research on the employer-employee relationship,” says Tulgan. “Our research is ongoing. As of September 17, 2003, we had identified six key findings:
• Work has become more demanding on employees.
• Employer-employee relationships have become less hierarchical and more transactional.
• Employers are moving away from long-term relationships.
• Employees have less confidence in long-term rewards and greater expectations for short-term rewards.
• Immediate supervisors are now the most important people in the workplace.
• Supervising employees now requires more time and skill on the part of managers.”
The “Generational Shift”
“Together, these findings and the trends they reflect amount to the most important change in the employer-employee relationship since the period immediately following World War II,” says Tulgan. “We call this change the ‘Generational Shift.’ In the early- and mid-1990s, we first observed these trends only among the youngest people in the workforce. Back then, these trends were decried as aberrations—-driven by the ‘free agent’ inclinations of Generation X (those born 1965-1977). Many analysts expected these trends to abate following the dot-com crash and the economic downturn that has persisted since early 2001. Instead, these trends have both intensified and also spread among workers of all ages,” says Tulgan.
Over the last 10 years, globalization and technology have created a business environment of high risk, erratic markets, and unpredictable resource needs, according to Tulgan. “To remain viable, employers have been forced to adopt extremely flexible and efficient staffing practices. In turn, employees have adjusted by adopting more aggressive attitudes, expectations, and behaviors. Average employees feel challenged to take care of themselves and their families; they struggle to balance desires for long-term security with short-term needs for opportunities, work conditions, recognition, and rewards.”
Tulgan says past downturns in the economy have intensified these responses, not weakened them. As a result, he says, the values and norms that first appeared among Generation X are steadily supplanting more traditional workplace values and norms.
“Now there are powerful demographic forces under way that will cement the Generational Shift. First, those of the Silent Generation (born before 1946) are gradually exiting the workforce. By 2006, two experienced workers will leave the workforce for every one who enters. Second, the Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964) are becoming the aging workforce. Third, the prime-age workforce will be made up increasingly of Generation X and Generation Y (born 1978-1986). As Generation X and Generation Y come to dominate the prime-age workforce, they will usher out the last vestiges of the old-fashioned workplace values and norms and finish the workplace revolution.”
Not a pretty picture
The Rainmaker Thinking study paints a less than attractive picture of the workplace of the future, where employers must be ruthless to survive and individuals must be very aggressive to succeed. Many of the study’s findings demonstrate that there is a growing tension, even frustration and distrust in the workplace on the part of both employers and employees.
“Individuals in the workforce no longer believe they can rely on institutions as they did in the past,” Tulgan remarks. “They have seen Enron and the other corporate scandals, mergers and acquisitions, liquidations, the migration of companies overseas to benefit from cheaper labor, and other developments. They are seeking short-term rewards rather than long-term promises that may never be fulfilled. And managers and immediate supervisors are now on the front line in terms of communicating with employees.”
Tulgan says the study shows clearly that employers will have to reevaluate how they select employees, how they train them, and how they motivate them. It is no longer business as usual, he says.
Motivation study
The question of employee motivation was addressed in another study, conducted by the Menlo Park, California-based Accountemps, a large, specialized staffing firm for temporary accounting, finance, and bookkeeping professionals. Titled “Creating Compensation and Benefits Packages for Today’s Businesses,” the study polled 1,400 chief financial officers of corporations with 20 or more employees to elicit their views on what employees want today. According to 30% of those polled, flexible schedules top the list. Retirement savings plans ranked second, cited by 17% of those surveyed, followed closely by extra time off with 16% of the response.
“Lean staffing levels mean many employees are working longer hours,” says Max Messmer, chairman of Accountemps. “At the same time, a growing number of professionals must meet mounting personal obligations, including caring for children and elderly relatives. For this ‘sandwich generation’ of employees, increased control of their time enables them to balance competing demands. Not all companies are able to provide flexible schedules. It depends on the nature of the business and the number of people employed. However, firms that can offer this benefit may have an advantage when recruiting and retaining staff.”
Messmer advises managers who are considering offering flexible work arrangements to ask themselves the following questions:
• How will it affect customer service? Staggering work hours might allow a manager to accommodate employee schedules while being more available to customers. However, if the business has certain peak periods, managers may want to have all personnel available during those times.
• How strong is the employee work ethic? Flexible schedules work best for self-motivated professionals, particularly if they’ll be doing their jobs when no one else is around.
• How dependent on teamwork is the organization? If impromptu meetings are where the best ideas are born, managers may want to ensure significant overlap in employee schedules.
The Accountemps study concludes: “To develop a loyal and motivated workforce, companies of all sizes must create competitive compensation and benefits packages. In recent years, rising health care costs, proposed rulings concerning the expensing of stock options, and shifting employee values have prompted many businesses to reexamine their compensation programs and make adjustments designed to maximize their value, while minimizing their costs. By monitoring emerging developments affecting pay and incentive programs and responding accordingly, these firms have increased their ability to recruit and retain the most talented professionals.”
What agencies are doing
“We have not found that perks such as flexible work schedules or more time off are what drives them [employees]. We have found that new young producers and more seasoned account managers as well are looking for a recipe for success … a place where they can control their own destinies.” —Lynne Wallace, President |
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Studies aside, it might be productive to look at those who are on the front lines—Main Street businesses and particularly insurance agencies—and see how they deal with their employees.
Lynne Wallace, president of the Santa Rosa, California-based Matsen Insurance Brokers, takes an esoteric approach toward recruiting, hiring, and working with employees. “We are interested in what drives employees.
We have not found that perks such as flexible work schedules or more time off are what drives them,” she says. “We have found that new young producers and more seasoned account managers as well are looking for a recipe for success. This is especially true of those just out of college. They’re not looking to sell insurance, but rather for a place to be successful, a place where they can control their own destinies.”
Wallace says that she and her partners look for just those qualities during the hiring stage. “We want to hire people who are focused on the future. We do intense interviews and personality testing and keep an eye out for those who are self-motivated. If we find someone who is success oriented, we know he or she will fit within our organization.”
A similar approach is used when dealing with potential clients, according to Wallace. “We don’t quote business,” she says. “We want people to hire us for who we are, not because we can give them the best price. We are a team of people who are enthusiastic about our work and who are success driven. We have a WOW program for our employees. Whenever a client writes to thank us for a job well done, the employee who handled that account receives a WOW certificate, which is accompanied by a $50 reward.”
Wallace says Matsen also encourages “partnering” among producers, which she calls “joint case agreements.” Says Wallace: “Sometimes a new producer may be very good at opening doors, but not yet know all that much about insurance. That producer can work with a more experienced producer or an account manager to complete the deal with the client, and then the commission is split. The point is to serve the client as best we can, not just sell insurance.”
There’s no question that some people want flexible hours or more time off as the studies suggest, says Wallace. “But we’re looking for people who are focused on success with a passion.”
Wallace’s approach seems to be working. She says that some of her clients have approached Matsen for guidance on how to run their organizations. “You’d be surprised,” she says. “When people are excited about their work and looking forward to the next day rather than dreading it, workers compensation claims begin to decrease.”
We’re problem solvers
Jack Allen, CEO of the Tulsa, Oklahoma-based CFR, Inc., also is not overly impressed with studies that talk about specific perks for employees or that analyze overall shifts in the workforce. His philosophy is simple. Says Allen: “CFR is not in business to sell insurance. We’re here to solve very specific problems for our clients. We realize that most people really don’t want to buy insurance products. What they really want are business partners who can help them keep their ultimate costs at a minimum. This bottom-line goal is not always achieved through the lowest available insurance premium, or even an insurance product. We believe that knowledge is the key ingredient in all of our relationships. We certainly must maintain a detailed, up-to-the-minute understanding of products and services in our own industry. It is also critical that we gain as much insight as possible into our clients’ business. Our practice of adding many of our agents from other industries has given CFR a broad base of expertise in a variety of professions and industries. In some situations, we have recommended better employer hiring, training, and management programs to avoid a loss in the first place.”
CFR’s own hiring practices center on a personality testing system developed by Kathy Kolbe of Kolbe International. Kolbe’s system features sets of questions whose answers can indicate how respondents instinctively take action. Many employee-testing programs measure learned behavior, intelligence, and personality. Kolbe’s system attempts to measure a person’s problem-solving instincts.
“When a person is given an opportunity to use his or her natural talents, that person is energized,” says Allen. “That’s good for business. When a person is dissatisfied with his or her job, that’s bad for business. Let’s face it: there are a great many insurance agencies out there that offer the same or similar insurance products as we do. What gives us a competitive advantage is our corporate culture. Employees want to know what is expected of them, be given to tools to meet those expectations, know that there are people who care, and be allowed to use their own unique talents.”
Allen insists that those are the things that keep employees motivated and create a corporate culture that clients appreciate. “We had a large account come visit us,” says Allen. “The account was dissatisfied with its broker and was looking for a new one. The account was considering us and two other brokers. This account was looking to buy more than a million dollars’ worth of insurance. We spent hours with this account and never once mentioned the word ‘insurance.’ When we were finished, all the account could do was rave about our organizational structure. We landed the account.”
For Wallace and Allen, then, fitting the right person into the right job is essential for a good employee-employer relationship. Not only does it make for more pleasant working conditions, but also clients recognize the worth of satisfied employees when they come to do business. *