What motivates employees?
Does money really make a difference?
Our friends at Way Solutions would certainly disagree when talking about generational interaction in the workforce and attracting and developing talent. Entrepreneur Magazine had an excellent Infographic that says definitively NO, the path to employee happiness is not paved with $100 bills.
In fact, we've had many a conversation about this.
Retirement Plans used to be the generous and polite golden handcuffs that would keep employees around for a long time. Flash forward to today with a highly mobile workforce, pensions going the way of the dinosaur, and a bunch of millennials coming up through the ranks and you quickly see it's not about the - money money money we don't need your money money money - especially tied up in a retirement plan.
So... where exactly does your retirement plan fit in? That's at the heart of our consulting practice. Is the plan doing what it's designed to do for you -- or, back up one step -- what's it supposed to do??
Ever given it thought? Here's what we've heard in our consulting:
It's an extension of our company culture
It's a way of giving back to employees to make sure they have a paycheck now and in the future
It's a way to let our employees take ownership and have a stake in our success
It's a plate of vegetables -- a benefit they'll thank us for later!
It's a way to take care of our people and reward our key employees
After you're done studying the Infographic on entrepreneur.com and finding out what the studies say IS the answer to motivating employees, in your next planning and forecasting session, spend some time talking about your retirement plan's purpose. The sample bullets above (and there are many more purposes of a retirement plan not listed) all require different measurements of success, vendors, and strategy to fulfill that purpose.
Then you'll have your answer of what you should be doing to motivate your employees and what the dollars reserved for your retirement plan should be doing to be effective!
Unsure? We can shed some light. Contact us here.
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