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holding on to the best


Where have all the people gone?  Seems as though some carbon shaping anomaly stripped our workforce of skilled individuals. When you take into account service is not young workers "first choice", single digit unemployment, and a significant number of retiring workers, we have a trifecta of challenges facing our labor businesses.  Not to mention many of our workers seen to be progressively ratcheting up "over scale" pay.  We are between a rock and a hard place proclaims Overwhelmed Oscar, what should we do?



Many may be comfortable with contingent motivators, those narrowly designed areas of focus for employees.  While focus is good, when used to motivate it inhibits the power of the right side of your brain.  If you are motivating service personnel, responsible for creatively solving problems, you may consider switching to intrinsic motivation.  Focusing on this practice is straightforward, it requires effort towards; autonomy, mastery and purpose.



  • Autonomy | the urge to direct our own output
  • Mastery | consistently executing expertise
  • Purpose | the yearning to do what we do in the service of something larger than ourselves



Remaining competitive with escalating labor costs will continue to challenge organizations in the future. Aligning your worker compensation with your markets is essential; however, creating opportunities for individuals and teams to succeed will make you an employer of choice.



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Next post:  from the field to the office

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