Re:The Psychology of Employee Retention
by yannickt on Tuesday August 07, 2012 @06:56AM
(#4349496)
Your post reminded me of an article Steve McConnell wrote in 1996 about consulting at Microsoft.
"While Microsoft was still involved with OS/2, the OS/2 development group requested that the company install a washer and dryer in their building so that they wouldn't have to go home to do their laundry. Although the group never got its washer and dryer, the message was clear: this team wanted to work. It didn't ask for promotions, more money, bigger offices, or fancy carpet; it asked for management to remove every conceivable roadblock so that it could concentrate on shipping a product."
Perks are an effective retention strategy only if they enable an already motivated employee to get more work done. And for the employee to be motivated, the work has to be rewarding.
"While Microsoft was still involved with OS/2, the OS/2 development group requested that the company install a washer and dryer in their building so that they wouldn't have to go home to do their laundry. Although the group never got its washer and dryer, the message was clear: this team wanted to work. It didn't ask for promotions, more money, bigger offices, or fancy carpet; it asked for management to remove every conceivable roadblock so that it could concentrate on shipping a product."
Source: http://www.stevemcconnell.com/articles/art05.htm
Perks are an effective retention strategy only if they enable an already motivated employee to get more work done. And for the employee to be motivated, the work has to be rewarding.