Table Stakes of Professional Engagement

Financial performance of any professional service firm is predicated (in part) on employee satisfaction. Because professionals are part and parcel of service provision, their (dis)satisfaction impacts productivity which, in turn, contributes to economic success (or downturn) of the firm.

In other words, to make a blooming firm set fruit, someone has to get the worker bees excited with the business of pollination.

It is quite obvious that satisfied employees are typically self-motivated. However, what makes these worker bees buzz with excitement about working harder isn’t that self-evident.

Some managers believe higher pay motivates like nothing else. Some are convinced it’s a clever combination of good ol’ carrots and sticks. Others daydream the firm’s mission statement nailed in the lobby is an irresistible call to action. Such perspectives are incorrect. Just ask the bees.

Layers of professional engagement

There are layers (or tiers) of managerial interventions that may enhance professional engagement. In this article, I wanted to describe the base layer, namely the table stakes of professional engagement. Failure to provide these typically results in a less satisfied workforce as well as lower productivity and morale. Which of course leads to hiccups in financial performance — often unexpected and very annoying.

Unless these table stakes are sufficiently satisfied at the firm, tactical incentives such as pizza parties with extra cheddar cheese toppings are pretty much useless. Found themselves in a pizza-devouring bliss, professionals may indeed report feeling great then and there. (Of course, being hungry also helps.) However, there’s always a new day tomorrow, and what had felt satisfying yesterday, today is already a distant memory. Not very motivating one at that.

The following table stakes inventory is derived from several bodies of work: Ryan and Deci’s Self-Determination theory, Herzberg’s Two-factor theory, and Gallup’s research on employee engagement. All of these factors contribute to intrinsic motivation of doing better at one’s job.

Inventory of base-level factors of professional motivation

• fair pay
• safety
• direction
• basic tools, skills & information
• trust
• respect
• allies
• friends
• advanced tools & skills
• free thought
• feedback
• meaning

It may be challenging for a firm to ensure all of these at once. Therefore, let us review the sequence of implementation starting from most important table stakes.

Just as the inventory itself, the sequence isn’t arbitrary either.

Sequencing table stakes

The largest elephant in the room few wish to address is pay. It’s often an uncomfortable subject, too. But it shouldn’t be. The idea of fair pay is quite straightforward and should be confronted head on.

If for a comparable role (seniority, experience, skills) firms like yours currently pay more, it is because your firm’s leadership is either greedy, or needy, or point-blank incompetent.

Why should adept professionals tolerate such leadership? In everyone’s interest, the pay must be fair.

To test whether the pay is actually fair, you ought to answer the following question: “If Jennifer started working for our direct competitor tomorrow, what would they gladly pay her?”

Line managers should have voting rights in deciding who gets hired, trained, and subsequently thrust into their teams. Therefore, supervisors should have better understanding about direct reports’ current market value. Even if approximate. In other words, allow your managers to have a say in hiring and simultaneously demand monitoring talent market trends.

Safety is the next item on the list to look at. It is quite obvious that if employees don’t feel safe, they will become anxious. Negative emotions are very taxing, hence damaging to morale. This factor goes beyond physical safety, of course.

Following safety is clear direction. Professionals must be able to report without ambiguity or confusion what is expected of them at work. You can think of this as purpose, too.

“— Gump! What’s your sole purpose in this army?
— To do whatever you tell me, drill sergeant!
— Goddamn it Gump! You’re a goddamn genius! That’s the most outstanding answer I’ve ever heard. You must have a goddamn IQ of 160. You are goddamn gifted private Gump.”

Tools and information required to do the job well is the next table stakes’ item. If professional needs a PC with licensed software to do the job, management ought to deliver. I’ve witnessed company leadership penny-pinching this matter, effectively forcing their employees to spend their own money on tools they needed to perform well on the job. This is terribly wrong on multiple dimensions of analysis.

For leaders who genuinely don’t see an issue here, think for a second why wouldn’t Jennifer jump at the next opportunity to take off with your clients (her accounts) given that she already owns all the tools required to do the work? If you don’t see the moral side of the issue, think about this conundrum cynically for duck’s sake.

Of course, unambiguous and accessible information is akin to tools. Professionals don’t like reinventing the wheel especially when they know some of those wheels are locked up in a storage area that is hawkishly guarded by senior colleagues or top management. If top brass won’t provide professionals with necessary information, they can’t perform on the job in accord with expectations.

And this brings skills to the surface. If service provision at your firm requires utilization of specific tools, professionals ought to have the appropriate skills to use the tools.

This is common sense stuff. But it’s useful to know this actually impacts motivation and performance.

Next one is trust, and this factor is of particular importance to collaborative environments. If your service provision requires collaboration and work is interdependent, there will be none of that if colleagues can’t trust one another.

Apart from that, it is imperative for employees to possess high levels of trust in their direct supervisor’s integrity and fairness toward themselves and their peers, as well as trust in fair application of procedures, rules and norms during managerial decisions, disputes or conflicts.

You can measure trust through employee surveys and interviews. If trust levels are low, always start your investigations sniffing about the fish’s head. As a manager or practice head, ask yourself, “What is my personal contribution to the undermining of trust at our firm?”

The following item is respect. It is crucial to ensure there is no disrespect at the firm. In many cases, the work may proceed well and professionals will be able to find sources of self-motivation even without explicit respect on display. In other words, avoid shallow proclamations, and just encourage everyone to act in a respectful manner toward fellow human beings, their work, and their ideas and feelings; towards clients and suppliers, too.

The next item in our sequence is allies and friends. Professionals want to be sure they have someone on their side. Someone who will support them. Usually this ought to be their direct supervisors and colleagues.

In addition, professionals seek opportunities for friendships. Not friendly interactions but friendship with a colleague. I’m not suggesting being best friends with someone at work. Rather, a person who Jennifer can share a laugh with, have some fun, maybe carry out an occasional clandestine mischief operation.

After allies & friends comes the next swirl of tools & skills. Here, management ought to think of new skills and advanced tools that will allow professionals to facilitate attainment of their motivational drive for Mastery. Most professionals want to demonstrate and improve their competence, and attain more autonomy. Training, coaching and learning activities as well provisions of novel high-tech, advanced tools tap into these needs.

Freedom to think comes next. The ability (and perhaps encouragement) to think for themselves taps into the need for autonomy and pursuit of knowledge. For each to their own degree, professionals seek opportunities to think freely, formulate hypotheses, make statements, judgments, and decisions — yes, sometimes getting it wrong — but never getting punished for daring.

After independent thinking comes expectation of constructive feedback:

• how did I do on this assignment?
• how am I doing in my role?
• what areas do I need to focus on to grow?
• am I on the right track in the organization?

Oftentimes, the role of a manager is that of a guide who acts as a catalyst for change. Managers can assist with changing professionals’ goals, help clarify the overall aim, provide an ingenious solution tailored specifically to the professional’s career, or offer a different perspective.

Feedback isn't only about minimization of ambiguity. It is supposed to help with course correction and future orientation.

Finally, the last on the list of table stakes of professional engagement is a sense of meaning. This is always tough to crack. However, there are goal facilitators that can help with experiencing the sense of meaning which is, in part, derived from pursuit of valuable goals.

There are also leadership’s ceremonial activities that serve as artifacts — fruits of labor — which provide meaning. And simple conversations like these serve the purpose, too: “Jennifer, I wanted to recognize how much effort you’re putting into this work. And the results speak for themselves. Because of your input, we all get to come to the office tomorrow, the lights will be on, the food’s going to be on the table. Thanks to you, our future looks bright and exciting. Major kudos to you.”

Of course, all of the above table stakes can be manufactured and then prioritized as suggested here. In other words, management can intentionally create conditions under which these factors are more likely to emerge. Obviously, some table stakes ought to be provided; don’t expect fair pay to emerge of its own accord.

How to boost professional engagement

Should the management go through all this trouble in the first place? Perhaps we’re already providing all of the table stakes? To know for sure, conduct a Professional Engagement Survey, thus taking the temperature of the firm. Make it a practice to conduct such research twice a year annually, juxtaposing the accumulated data with financial performance, voluntary turnover rates, and client satisfaction (also a survey).

Each of the table stakes factors that will show low (say, below 3 out of 5 points) or show signs of decline ought to be addressed ASAP. Once you get to solid 4 points and above, there is a next tier of professional engagement that will require your attention. The second tier has ten additional factors that contribute to professional engagement.

If you would like us to work on matters of professional engagement, consider two service offerings which address this: Talent Magnet Firm package and Talent Management suite. Or reach out for custom-made approach most appropriate given your special situation.