At Best Places to Work, Trust, Pride, and Camaraderie Overshadow Pay?

The Great Place to Work Institute just released their list of the 25 Best Multinational Workplaces. And once again, critics and believers are out in full force touting these 'great news' or denouncing such 'corporate propaganda.'

According to the article in the USA Today, "Firms that rank high on the consulting and research group's lists of great employers have three traits in common, he says: employee trust in management, pride in the company and camaraderie with colleagues."
"At the best companies, even the lowest-level employees know they are part of the team," Tolovi says. "They know that they have a common goal."

Fact or fiction? It depends on the eye of the beholder. Most of the comments posted in response to the article are critical and discount the research as naive, one-sided, and as one more piece of evidence that rich corporate fat cats are out of touch with reality. And who can blame critics? In the current economy, saying that "pay really hasn't been a big driver of employee motivation" and that "non-financial factors usual play a more prominent role in influencing employee motivation and engagement" sounds, well ridiculous! Unless, that is, you keep in mind two simple considerations

First, if Maslow is correct, once a lower level need is satisfied, that need ceases to be a motivator. For most people, pay is a need that once satisfied, no longer motivates the same way it once did. It still is important, but in relation to other factors, it may not motivate as much as it once did.

Second, the study uses a population sample that excludes those who are unemployed, or underemployed in the largest sector of the economy, the smaller businesses who do not qualify to participate in this study. For these people pay is a basic need not being satisfied. Keep in mind that, the key finding in question is based on the 'consulting and research' group of participants. This group is most likely made up of highly compensated individuals. Naturally, for the unemployed and underemployed, pay trumps trust, pride, or camaraderie any day. But the study makes the assumption that pay as a basic need has already been satisfied. This would explain why people who participated in the study would rank other factors as more important.

To me, the practical take away for all employers is this. Employers need to be fair about pay and wages, no question about that! But for employers to be truly competitive over the long term, they must institute practices that promote employee well-being, satisfaction, and engagement. And those factors have less to do with money and a lot more to do with the intangibles.

Of course, this is no guarantee and yes, there are exceptions. Yes, good pay will get you an employee who does the work, and probably well. But a great place to work where intangibles abound, will get you employees who create, innovate, improve, collaborate, and take care of your business. And that's worth striving for.

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