4. *
*Original Question “How do we increase
Employee Loyalty, Stability and Performance”
*The Correct Question - “Loyalty and Stability
are Manufacturing concepts brought into the
Gold Worker Organizations. In knowledge work
Performance is not a function of Loyalty or
Stability but mostly rather an inverse function
of Loyalty and Stability and a direct function of
Idea’s and Innovation. Allow me to elaborate?”
6. *
* Today, people in their 20s change jobs every two years. This
frustrates employers, who say, “Why should I hire someone who is
going to leave? I need someone who is loyal.”
* At the same time, employees look at the work they are given and say,
“How can I spend my days doing work that doesn’t mean anything to
me?”
* Today - “Loyalty as a function of time is a dated idea”
* It is said – “Today employees are more Loyal to their Profession than
to their Employers”
* Unemployment rate amongst College Grads was 2% in 2007. They are
looking for meaningful work, and ways to express their passion
* The result of employee loyalty for the organization is reduced staff
turnover, fewer hours spent on training new staff, and a stable
workplace where relationships are forged over time. (Which is a
Legacy Manager’s Cost Perspective to the whole issue)
7. *
* The Entire Concept of Loyalty and Stability has been taken from
White Collar Workers Managing Blue Collar Workers in Manufacturing
* The entire concept is Fallacious when applied to Gold Collar Workers
* Gold Collar workers Control the source of production and Contain it
Entirely Inside Their Heads
* The Concept of Stability and Loyalty needs to be Shot Down which is
exactly what we will do in a bit
* You can try to resist it but you will never ever succeed. Its best you
look at the right way of doing things, which also benefit your
organization tremendously and should have been done in the first
place.
* But before that Some Lessons From History
8. *
* The Silicon Valley is known as an Economic Hub of Innovation
* How did it get there?
* Rampant Mobility of Employees across Companies
* Employees worked in Organizations to build pathbreaking products and services and then moved
somewhere else and did that over and over again. And they were very highly motivated, they lived their
passion and enjoyed their work and delivered their best which in most cases was way better than
anyone anywhere in the world could probably hope for.
* There were little of no Restrictive Clauses on the Contracts on almost every company in the Silicon
Valley.
* When Organizations contributed to the Innovation Ecosystem they were in they benefitted 10x more in
return from the Ecosystem in terms of Innovation. Organizations in the other parts of the world Play Us
against everyone else which Includes Other Companies, Employees and the Entire Ecosystem in General.
* Today companies are more concerned about locking in Employees with all sorts of restrictive clauses in
the contract
* Which leads to all companies trying everything to retain their best talent (which obviously never works)
and letting the trash (???) get out to other companies
* Rule: In the game of Innovation the Ecosystem matters the most. The ground rules in the Ecosystems
matter even more.
9. *
* The Academia has no concept of Loyalty
* Rather it’s the perfect example of Innovation based on Rapid Mobility
(aka Attrition)
* Bachelor’s move out in 4 years. Masters Students in 2 and Ph.D.’s in
4-5
* Rule: Not Everyone leaves at the same time. People who stay when
someone else moves out act as Anchors
* And yet our Universities beat almost any Corporate R&D Division in
terms of Innovation
* Rule: The Foundation of Innovation is Idea’s. When people come in
they bring their best idea’s and when they move out they leave those
idea’s behind
* Dormant Ideas Surface up in new contexts and when bounced off new
people
10. *
* The Manager’s perspective of [Training] Cost due to Attrition is the worst perspective to have in a Gold Collar Organization
* Rule: You don’t train humans you train dogs.
* We should be abolishing all training departments in Knowledge Work anyway and concentrating on Mentoring and Coaching and
Collaborative Decision Making and Learning.
* We should focus almost completely on Collaboration and Learning
* R’ber Prof Marvin Minsky @ Geniuses? Our geniuses are those people who learnt the best ways to learn and not who were spoon
fed with Training. (Educated and not Trained)
* Attrition costs an organization only if the Organization doesn’t have a Knowledge Sharing Ecosystem and Tools to capture, search
and share knowledge
* Relationships don’t form over time if you are loyal. Relationships are everywhere, inside and outside the organization. Before you
join, while you stay and after you leave. The argument of Relationships needing time to form in an organization is a Fallacy
* The other cost of Attrition is when your Specialists leave and there is no replacement. Minimize all specializations and hire
generalists except for the exact number and kind of Ph.D’s you need.
* If your Organization thinks they are being very Smart by doing everything to prevent people from leaving. R’ber other
organizations are doing exactly the same. The Ecosystem is suffering… The Systemic Innovation Level in the Ecosystem matters for
everyone’s success.
* The issue of Passion and Meaningful work is addressed by Concepts of Management Minimalism and things mentioned in line #3
above. And by not making an organization of Slaves building The Pyramid’s.
* If your Organization cannot handle mobility it is reflection of its fragility and the amount of wrongs that exist and need to be
fixed.
* Instead of spending an enormous time and effort in resisting mobility, organizations should spend time fixing things and
capitalizing on mobility
11. *
* You don’t have to make any false promises to anyone, which you can’t keep. People don’t feel
betrayed. Honesty becomes possible in the Organization and Culture when the Organizational Functions
and Managers don’t have to lie all the time.
* You have to minimize Specialization, which causes setbacks to the Organization when such people leave
suddenly.
* Managers don’t spend all their time managing possible HR Contingencies and concentrate on Business
(Hello!!! That’s what they should be doing)
* You will need to enable Collaborative Decision Making and Learning.
* You will probably abolish Training and Spoon Feeding in favour of Coaching and Mentoring
* You will need to create Knowledge Sharing systems and Collaborative Tools and Systems.
* Openness and Transparency will increase, breaking Silo’s
* You will get motivated employees.
* You will get ideas from everyone coming in and leaving it behind when they leave
* Ideation, Cross Pollination will increase. Boosting Innovation tremendously.
* And trust me all of that can only be Good for your Organization.
* The reality is Motion and Mobility, Don’t Resist it. Accept it. Or else your organization is doomed.