Compensation, status, supervision and company policy are all causes of job dissatisfaction according to Fredrick Herzberg.  However, employees and workers usually don't have any control over these issues and will be more likely to leave rather than put up with them or try to get them changed. 

Of the two human motivators, avoiding pain or gaining pleasure, we pay attention to the pain first.  So from a management perspective, we need to focus on eliminating the pain points before we focus on job satisfaction opportunities.  Not everyone can be perfectly suited for their jobs but if you work on eliminating the reasons for people to be dissatisfied and quit, sometimes they can find ways to develop some part of their lives and professional skills on their own.  However, if people love what they do, are fascinated with it and well suited for it, they are still looking for the best company policies to work under since they can do it anywhere and if your company policies cause pain you can't keep them from leaving.  What really matters most  whether workers get to do what they love or not is if the work is in an environment of support, fairness and opportunity.  

So, how do you know if your company policies are not working?  Honest feedback can be hard to get from workers.  Depending on your culture and management style, employees may be reluctant to express the negative for fear of some form of reprisal.  If we are really honest with ourselves most of us would have to admit that we don't always like to hear negative things about procedures and policies we helped create.  However, on that same score when we include workers in the design and or tweaking of company policy it makes the buy in, much stronger.  (We like to feel our voice is heard before we will listen and comply.) The best policy applies to everyone, it is pretty hard for workers to believe in fairness when they have to swallow a policy that excludes senior management or other select groups.  Remember how distasteful the affordable care act was to much of the population when the senate and congress excluded themselves from the mandate.  And one last thing, policy shouldn’t have to be set in stone, there are always better ways for doing things and “that is the way we’ve always done it” isn’t an excuse for not changing.

What does it really mean to be engaged?  Well, the dictionary says it just means busy, occupied or unavailable but then again when it comes to marriage it has another meaning altogether, it means both an agreement and a commitment.  It also ties engage to holding someones interest and attention.  So what are we looking for when we are trying to increase worker engagement?  We are not just wanting them to be occupied or busy, we want them to find their work interesting and also our company goals, values, efficiencies, reputation and profitability.  We want our workers to find all of this so very interesting and even fascinating!  Now, in truth maybe some of our company policies and products are not all that riveting.  But we still expect our workers to be interested because we are paying them.  But once again that pay thing is not the end all, we can’t just buy interest.  However, there are some things we can do to become interesting, like the saying goes, “the best way to be interesting is to be interested.”  Like the late Steven Covey says in his 7 habits book, “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.”  So spending the time to be interested in our workers needs is the path to the kind of worker engagement and possibly even fascination we would like to have!  

If you want to engage your workers, whether they are contract or on the payroll, you have to figure out ways to get them to want to work not have to work.  Easier said than done right?

Well, not necessarily if you have a formula to help you constantly move their work and responsibilities in the “want to” direction.  Many of us don't even have a theory or a formula to work with and that makes it hard to track and learn.  (Even an inaccurate theory is better than none because it enables us to measure and track learning.)  We usually just try a few things and if they don't seem to work we either blame it on the worker or we just declare it too complex a problem to work on and we go back to doing what we've always done.  However, if we use a simple model, like Maslow's human needs hierarchy, with survival and safety at the bottom of the pyramid and social, discovery, self esteem and achievement needs further up you can begin to see what part of our needs are "have to" and what part are "want to."  It is a simple model and has it's flaws but it helps us focus and evaluate what part of our jobs and work scope will engage the "want to."  

For instance, if we frame our work as a sales consultant with a "have to" it will look like this; "I have to sell 10 water filtration devices every month just to pay for food and rent."  The food and rent motivation are on the bottom of Maslow's pyramid and we “have to” sell in order to live.  It's just survival and it's all about me.  But if we frame that same sales consultant work as a "want to" it looks like this and it stops being about me and becomes we; "I want to help save the lives of 30 children a year in Uganda Africa by facilitating the installation of water filtration devices in 50 villages."  You can see from this example that just reframing the work enables the fulfillment of many of the upper levels of the pyramid such as love and social connections (by helping others), self esteem (through achievement of a noble work) and the very peak of self accomplishment and discovery (because you get to create and discover what else you can do and be). 

Unfortunately, very few workers are going to take the time to create their own vision and reframe their work to make it a "want to" job.  That is why creating a vision and purpose that resonates with your entire team is so critical and productive.  The other lesson we learn from this model is that there needs to be more than just, following instructions, in the work scope.  There needs to be opportunity for input and growth in order to engage the "want to" in your workforce. 

There are so many benefits to being small in business.  You can respond faster, change faster, less overhead, more personal so that workers feel needed, You are closer to the customer and the list goes on and on.  However, the down side can be that small businesses are less likely to innovate and here are some of the reasons why:  

1. Small  business owners are notorious for being so busy and focused on production that they don’t have time or inclination to innovate.  It’s hard to break away from production to focus on innovation especially when you are a team of one or two.  

2. Innovation works best when there is lots of input from many diverse perspectives.  Most small business owners only see those on their payroll as possible sources of innovative input rather than including business partners and customers in the mix. 

3. Innovation is not a direct path to cash.  It takes vision, intuition,  patience and discipline to take time away from what is currently paying the bills and give it to a “maybe” in the future.  This is especially true if there isn’t much extra cash available for that kind of investment.  However, even great cash rich companies like General Electric don’t just plunk down the cash for investing in innovation first and ask questions later.  The current head of General Electric Jeff Immelt worked very hard to streamline company operations and simplify back office processes so that he would have cash available for “Imagination Break Throughs” (his term for innovation focus).  

So, there is certainly an order to being able to create break through innovation in a business.  It starts with scheduling time to get innovative input from your now enlarged team and being specific about where you are looking for improvement ideas.  Again, a great area to start zeroing in your teams innovative input is greater simplicity of operations so that time and mental capacity is freed up for bigger innovation.  Once you begin to focus on the goal of making innovation a consistent source of products and profits your process will become normal and even habit forming.  So, for you reluctant small business owners, think like a big company and remember innovation can improve production.

Employers often think that the most important aspect of the job for employees is the paycheck.  That is also what estimating companies like RS Means spend their time researching and publishing.  They want to determine the average hourly rate for this or that type of labor, so that employers can be sure they are average. Don't get me wrong, estimating publications can be very helpful when you are starting out or unfamiliar with some area of work. However, every worker is not average and it is not the wage you pay that determines the productivity you get!  I have a painting contractor friend in Florida that pays his workers much more than the going rate for painters and his peers tell him he is paying too much.  In spite of that wage difference he keeps winning bids and making a profit.  So, the productivity per employee must be much higher that the average worker in the industry, that is why he can pay more and still come out ahead.  Yes, employers do need to determine some averages for budget and estimating purposes.  However, contrary to the popular employers belief that the paycheck is sooo important, it really is only important to the worker for the first few paychecks and then quickly quickly ceases to be a motivator or to contribute to job satisfaction.  It is like oxygen, you only notice when you need it and forget all about it when you don't.  So, what is it that workers and employees consider to be the most important aspect of their jobs if it isn’t the paycheck?  The following is a short list of what the majority of workers will consider the most important aspect of their jobs.  Just remember, the emphasis will be different for each employee so there is no blanket solution for everyone.  Workers are looking for:

• Opportunity to influence the decisions and direction of the company.
• The ability to create something lasting and be recognized for doing so.
• Opportunity for personal development through greater work responsibilities and challenges.
• A work environment of trust, respect and celebration.
• Work that brings meaning and purpose to life.

If employers will get away from paycheck and hourly rate focus and begin creating a work environment that offers opportunities in these areas for each worker it will go a long way toward fulfilling the most important requirements that workers are looking to gain from their work life.  And the wonderful byproduct for employers is that it will dramatically improve your productivity per worker hour and inspire innovative input!