Not all managers are created equal. Educated and experienced managers understand the importance of uncovering and mitigating the intangible needs of direct line employees. Just in case you don’t know what a Jedi is – The Jedi is a member of the mystical knightly order in the Star Wars films, trained to guard peace and justice in the Universe. So, you’re good at what you do. And being good with people means you understand that there are always at least two dimensions in play regarding employee needs.
Dimension #1 – External needs are simple to identify; pay, benefits, hours, tools, and training.
Dimension #2 – Intangible needs are more difficult to identify and include things like; satisfaction, meaning, purpose, engagement, and anything that leads to a state of being motivated within this dimension of the employee experience.
Identifying and meeting intangible needs requires a different kind of skill set. These skills include empathetic listening, personal self-awareness, timing, authenticity, objectivity, and the courage to take appropriate action. Most of these skills are examples of intangibles in and of themselves. These management skills need to be refined and sharpened by experience and to see beneath the surface and apply a kind of understanding that helps an employee feel heard and understood.
Meeting the intangible needs of employees is where real engagement and devotion is found. What does this look like in real time? Example: Ryan is a talented employee with high potential and aspirations to be a manager. He wants to stay with his company but is concerned the leaders do not understand what is truly important to him. The chronic lack of planning and over-extension of human resources has frustrated Adam to his breaking point. Adam occasionally complains to the leadership team, and they respond by giving him more money which only serves to justify additional responsibilities. Adam feels his compensation is more than fair and would much prefer the leadership team stop overcommitting resources and stretching his division out so far.
In this example, the leadership team has failed to understand that one of Adam’s primary intangible priorities is to leave work daily with a sense of accomplishment. “Doing a good job” is often at the core of feeling satisfied in a job for most employees. Being overcommitted causes Adam to sacrifice quality for quantity. He leaves work unfilled, which negatively affects his marriage and his ability to sleep at night.
The most prevalent indicator of a company’s failure to acknowledge and satisfy the intangible needs of their employees is unexplainable attrition. If exit interviews reveal surprising revelations or leave you in a state of confusion, it is quite possible you have failed to carefully consider the 2nd dimension of employee satisfaction – intangible needs.