by: Diane Benjamin
The INTERNATIONAL City Managers Association sends an email every day with links to stories they find interesting. I’m sure Mayor Renner and David Hales are on the email list. There is no need to hire an outside firm to do the study, just read your email.
Today they have this story:
The 4 Biggest Employee Deal-Breakers
http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/6798-employee-deal-breakers.html
Excerpts:
While most workers reported career
advancement as the No. 1 reason for leaving their job, the biggest deal-breakers were related to work-life balance.
David Hales has mentioned this before, but he may not have understood what it meant. According to the article:
The biggest employee deal-breaker is having a boss that doesn’t trust or empower employees, followed by being expected to work or answer emails on sick days, on vacations or after work hours. Management “passing the buck” when things don’t go as planned is third, and fourth is when work isn’t flexible with regard to an employee’s family responsibilities.
Sounds like a management problem David. That would be you!
Summary:
So what does this mean for employers? While compensation is important to employees, the key to retaining employees is less about money and more about giving employees the opportunity to grow in their career, as well as respecting them and their need to enjoy their personal lives.
I posted a story back in June with comments about Hales performance from Council members: http://blnnews.com/2014/06/13/renners-summary-of-council-comments/
Many Council comments were about Hales needing to delegate more. Is Hales micromanaging the City instead of trusting employees? Is Hales respecting the employees?
Watch some Council meetings and see how he cuts off Council members when he doesn’t like the discussion. Does he do the same thing to employees?
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I surely don’t have the inside story but maybe the addition of the pink flamingos is meant as a quality of life enhancement of which city employees can visit when they’re feeling down. Maybe Hales will encourage city employees a work-life-balance activity of visiting these long lagged pink creatures visioning that they’re on some desert island with nary a care in the world. No cell phones, no emails, no Hales, no Renner, (geesh I feel good already) no pressure. Freedom, fresh air, and skinny pink birds. Lots of money on pink birds skinny enough to run from rain filled pot hole to rain filled pot hole. Glorious absolutely glorious! Pink flamingos and life-balance,,,so who needs a survey?