March 9, 2001

Written by: Cynthia Leiser

Cole, Larry E., Cole, Michael S. (November, 2000) "Money isn't the Answer This Time," Supervision, Volume 61, Issue 11, p. 12.

The authors of this article ask "When is Corporate America going to learn throwing money at a problem is neither the best, nor most effective, solution?" With a national unemployment rate of 3 to 5 percent, the labor market has changed from a "buyer's market" (employers) to a "seller's market" (employees). To combat this problem, companies have adjusted their compensation packages, increased salaries, and offered a percentage of base salary as a "retention" bonus. These tactics increase costs, which lowers profit margins.

Another "strategy waiting on the sidelines to be called into play" is changing the workplace environment to improve the quality of life offered there. The authors provide two sample companies: the "Do It My Way Company" and the "I Care Company". The "Do It My Way Company" is autocratic, dictatorial, idiotic, meaningless, and bureaucratic. The toxic environment of this company destroys the self-esteem of its employees. Because avoiding discomfort is human nature, the authors opine, the employees look for opportunities to leave such an environment. A book by Judith Wyatt and Chauncy Hare called "Work Abuse" states that 95 percent of companies are "characterized by autocratic/ dictatorial workplace social skills." Approximately 75 percent of employees in these toxic work environments live in fear of expressing their opinions. The authors of this article liken this to "throwing money at employees to keep them with one hand while driving them away with their toxic environments with the other" (hand).

The "I Care Company" on the other hand, values employees and fosters respect, open communication, trust, and cooperation. Employees here set and work toward common goals. J.A. Riggs Tractor Company of Little Rock, AR, improved their teamwork skills and their work environment to increase employees' self -esteem. Their director of Employee Development, Bill Noland, says "employees have remained with us in spite of being enticed by our competitors with large salary increases."

Another interesting point the authors make in this article is that "less than 5 percent of the companies even try to implement practices that have been successful" for the most admired American companies. The authors suggest that just trying to be like the "I Care Company" can help distance companies from competitors. They then offer the following four steps that are required to become an "I Care Company":

1. Define your desired corporate culture (know where you want to go).
2. Define what is meant by each social skill (know how to get there). For example, if "respect" is part of your desired culture, then define what respect means: listen to input, use input, explain why input wasn't used, use employees' specialized knowledge.
3. Quantify the social skills (measure to find out where you are).
4. Use data to define strategies (measure use of these strategies). For example, an annual employee attitude survey can indicate how your culture is changing.

The authors conclude by asking another question: "Do you react by entering the bidding war to retain employees or become proactive to get ahead of the competition by implementing a workplace culture that is so desirable employees won't even entertain the thought of looking elsewhere?"