If you want to ignite commitment and retain staff, use employalty. Coined by author Joe Mull, “Employalty is a portmanteau of the words ’employer,’ ‘loyalty,’ and ‘humanity.’ Employalty is the commitment employers make to consistently deliver a humane, person-centered employee experience, because that’s what leads people to the highest levels of commitment at work” (Employalty, loc 182).
Employalty is the answer to the question, “‘What can I do so that these employees think, Man, they treat me so well here that I’d be a fool to go anywhere else?’” (Employalty, loc 123).
In Employalty: How to Ignite Commitment and Keep Top Talent in the New Age of Work, Mull uses engaging stories and intriguing research to help the reader understand that “[c]ommitment appears when employees get to do their Ideal Job, doing Meaningful Work, for a Great Boss” (loc 316). He defines Ideal Job, Meaningful Work and Great Boss as follows:
- Ideal Job means that employees experience effective compensation, a reasonable workload, and flexibility.
- Meaningful Job means employees experience purpose, using their strengths, and belonging.
- Great Boss means employees experience coaching, trust, and advocacy from their supervisor.
Mull begins by introducing the need for employalty and then systematically works through his definitions of Ideal Job, Meaningful Work, and Great Boss. To give you an idea of what he writes and why I found the book helpful, here are some quotations:
(1) Ideal Job:
(1.1) Compensation: “…executives must think of employees not as costs, but as assets” (loc 1229).
(1.2) Workload: “Too little work, and people lack challenge…. Too much work, which has been the case for so many for so long, and people become threadbare. A manageable workload is about striking a balance. Think Goldilocks: not too much, and not too little, but just right” (loc 1530).
(1.3) Flexibility: “…you can no longer focus on hiring the best person for the job. To attract talent and inspire commitment, you must create the best job for the person. One of the most powerful ways to do this in your organization is to prioritize flexibility for employees” (loc 1663).
(2) Meaningful Work:
(2.1) Purpose: “Your organization’s mission must be specific, transformational, and rooted in emotion” (loc 1900).
(2.2) Strengths: “The more hours a day adults believe they use their strengths, the more they report having ample energy, feeling well-rested, being happy, smiling or laughing a lot, learning something interesting, and being treated with respect” (loc 2137).
(2.3) Belonging: “What’s clear is that employees are abandoning noxious cultures of competition, exclusion, gossip, infighting, and tribalism” (loc 2443).
(3) Great Boss:
(3.1) Coaching: “Coaching draws out employees’ strengths, gives them purpose, accelerates belonging, develops trust” (loc 2687).
(3.2) Trust: “In organizations where employees enjoy high amounts of trust from their leaders, workers report 74 percent less stress, 106 percent more energy at work, 50 percent higher productivity, 13 percent fewer sick days, 76 percent more engagement, 29 percent more satisfaction with their lives, and 40 percent less burnout” (loc 2817).
(3.3) Advocacy: “Great Bosses do what it takes to give people what they need to thrive in their role” (loc 2975).
Mull concludes with a challenge: “How many people truly love what they do or where they work? How many people dread going to work each day, return home miserable, and suffer that experience again and again? Imagine the incredible social, physical, and mental health improvements that would take place across society if we made work work for more people. You have that power. And now you have the instruction manual. It’s time to get to work” (loc 3413).
Employalty reminds leaders to provide the work conditions staff need to flourish, to focus on getting staff flourishing. Mull’s model provides a useful diagnostic tool for identifying how to improve work conditions. Try it—what could you do to improve your staff’s daily experience, to help your staff flourish?
- Ideal Job: compensation, workload, flexibility
- Meaningful Work: purpose, strength, belonging
- Great Boss: coaching, trust, advocacy
What about you? To what extent do you want to ignite commitment and retain staff? How do you feel about employalty? What could you do to improve your staff’s daily experience, to help your staff flourish?
Get flourishing!
Michael
P.S. To learn about other frameworks that can help you get others flourishing, read this.
Get Flourishing 