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No 28                                                                                    August 2004

New Survey shows Kiwi worker view a Good relationship with co-workers as more important that salary

The following article was printed in "Wellington Today" May-June 2004. While the article is based on the Employer/Employee relationships and how all within a business relate together, the same applies to the relationship that a Portfolio Worker may have with their principal and the staff.

"Friends, not money is the key motivating factor in the work place according to findings Robert Half Finance and Accounting survey.

Well over a third (40%) of New Zealand employees surveyed said a good relationship with managers and co-workers is their prime motivating factor at work.

Only 17% of New Zealand workers rated salary as their main motivator, along with the type of work (17%) and flexible hours (13%) being next on their list.

Kiwi women are twice as likely to be motivated by salary as men - with 23% of women stating salary as their key motivator, compared to 10% of men. Almost half (42%) of the sample surveyed said people are more competitive in the workplace than they used to be. The biggest reasons sited for increasing competitiveness were a slowing economy, fear of job loss and re-organisation within a company.

Robert Half Finance and Accounting New Zealand manager Kim Smith says this is further proof to managers that effort needs to go into nurturing happy employee relationships. "This is hard evidence on the much debated issue of good working environments being key to job satisfaction. High salaries and lucrative perks are not necessarily the best ways to keep Kiwis happy in their work". Ms Smith offers a number of guidelines to help managers promote good working relations, encourage diplomacy among colleagues and ultimately achieve a productive work environment:

1. Encourage employees to get to know one another through working together
To help employees get to know one another, give them opportunities for interaction, for example, ask employees to cross-train one another or assign mentors. These kinds of "buddy" systems encourage cohesion and help optimise productivity within teams.

2. Spell out preferred protocols
Protocol is the accepted way to behave in a certain situation. By openly communicating protocols, you leave little room for misunderstandings and insecurities.

3. Advise employees to communicate online with courtesy
Encourage employees to respect one another no matter how they are communicating, even via email. Advise them to be discreet and only say what they would say to someone's face. Suggest face-to-face and voice-to-voice interaction as much as possible.

4. Be a model of consistency
Everything you do sends a message to your staff. So it is important to remember that if you act out of character your actions may be misconstrued.

5. Remind employees to protect their credibility
Nothing has more bearing on employee's stature or influence within your company than reputation for integrity and honesty. Encourage staff to be open and honest, for example, keeping their word to honour deadlines or admitting when they are wrong.

6. Request that all employees share the credit
It is important to ensure that your team always shares credit. Always mention specific contributions made by various members of the team, but make sure that certain employees don't monopolise the spotlight.

7. If two employees are having a conflict, encourage them to work things out but do your best to stay out of the middle, wherever situations can be resolved without you."

Boomers! Forget Retirement. Big Business Wants You

Sun Jun 13, 2004 07:06 AM ET
By Ritu Kalra

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Yo! Baby boomers! Thinking about retirement? You may want to shift gears and start thinking about your next career move. U.S. retailers are taking notice of your work ethics and experience, and they want YOU.

The people hammering home your worth are at AARP, the country's largest association for Americans 50 and older.

AARP teamed up with the Home Depot chain in February to recruit older workers. It was the first national hiring partnership that AARP had established with any company.

Now, the 35-million-member organization is joining forces with Toys R Us Inc. and drug store chain CVS Corp. to promote seasoned workers.

"It just became evident that there was real interest from companies that wanted to connect with mature workers," said Emily Allen, AARP's assistant national director of the Senior Community Service Employment Program.

International staffing agency Adecco SA is on the brink of joining the program, and book seller Barnes & Noble

Under the partnership, AARP assesses skills of potential applicants, then refers them to participating companies.

"Managers respect the experience that mature workers bring to the job," Allen said.

That level of experience could soon become a rare commodity: The first of America's 78 million baby boomers -- born between 1946 and 1964 -- reach full retirement age in 2011. And the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that the number of U.S. workers between the ages of 25 and 44 will not increase at a fast enough rate to replace them.

And as boomers become a larger percentage of the work force, recruiting and retaining them will have strategic implications.

"The aging work force is a growing demographic," said Jim Gorenc, U.S. staffing director for Toys R Us. About 10 percent of the toy retailer's 65,000 employees are already over 50. But during the holiday season, when its work force can swell to 125,000 people, the partnership with AARP will help the company recruit more boomers.

We want to tap into them," said Gorenc. "Their reliability and work ethic are tremendous."

Cindy Milburn, senior director of staffing at Home Depot Inc., agreed. "We have better attendance with older workers," she said, and older workers stay with the company three times longer than their younger co-workers.

Roughly 17 percent of Home Depot's 299,000 worldwide employees are over 50. Milburn said their longer tenures and good attendance help keep turnover low and recruitment costs down.

The thrust by large companies to hire more boomers comes at financial crunch time.

Boston College economist Alicia Munnell has calculated that the typical American household approaching retirement has $50,000 put aside for "the golden years" -- a much smaller nest egg than they had hoped for.

And although longer life spans mean more time to enjoy retirement, shrinking pension accounts demand that many boomers keep working.

The average worker placed in jobs at government agencies by the National Older Worker Career Center, a nonprofit organization based in Arlington, Virginia, is 68.

Most experienced employees, including economists and chemists, who get jobs through that program make a fraction of their market-based salaries. But their $16.87 maximum hourly pay comes with full health benefits, important for those who have retired but are not yet eligible for Medicare, said Joel Reaser, senior vice president of NOWCC.

Joanna Gibson, who taught English to junior high students in Washington for 30 years, applied to the program because her $20,000 annual pension was not enough to support her retirement. The 68-year-old has worked for the EPA's Superfund documents program for 13 years and has no plans to leave.

"I like to be active," she said. "And as long as I have the health, I intend to use my mind."

© Reuters 2004. All Rights Reserved.

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