Your Employees Want Much More Than a Paycheck

Cathie Leimbach • September 21, 2021

Most managers are facing similar challenges in the workplace. These include:

  • Increased absenteeism
  • Lower productivity
  • High turnover
  • Unresolved conflicts among team members
  • Unproductive meetings
  • Unmet deadlines
  • Decreased quality and customer service

 

Research shows that these issues are costing organizations between 450 Billion and 500 Billion Dollars annually. These patterns occur because 65% of employees are disengaged, showing up (or not), uninvested in their job, their team, or the company that employees them. 

 

If it feels discouraging, you are not alone. The way to turn these negative trends around is found in another interesting statistic. 70% of the variance in the overall employee engagement score is because of their manager. 

 

Your employees want much more than a paycheck. They want their job to have an impact, connect to a purpose in their work beyond just the job, and feel that they are providing value. A survey by the Energy Project reaching more than 12,000 employees from various industries found that 50% lack a level of meaning and significance at work. 

 

Your employees also want to understand how their job connects to their purpose and mission. If members of your team feel recognized and appreciated, they will open up about what they want from their work. Their manager is the one person who can connect their purpose to its goals and objectives.  And then support them, so they bring their best selves to work every day.

 

Effective management increases employee engagement. It starts with ensuring that every person the manager supervises understands why and how their job is vital to the organization.

 

Managers are one of the most important assets a company has in reaching its goals and fulfilling its mission.  Here are the actions each manager can learn to implement consistently to make a difference with engagement and productivity:

  • Understand and explain how each employee's job:

- is essential to the organization

- contributes to the work group's success

- connects to the organization's mission

  • Schedule routine conversations with each employee to discuss job importance
  • Explain job importance with new full time and temporary hires
  • Take the time to understand each employee's work and integrate their input into decisions that will impact their job – they know their job and how to do it efficiently and better than anyone else
  • Spend one-on-one time with each direct report to understand their personal goals and mission. Support them to link these to their job responsibilities and the organizational mission
  • Explain the reasons why changes are being made to processes or procedures
  • Express appreciation for good work and continue to keep the company's mission front and center for each employee

 

When managers are trained in these management practices and implement them, the employees they lead are more engaged, clear about how they are contributing to the company, and enthusiastic because they can see the connection between their values and personal mission and the work they are doing.

 

This win-win scenario is worth the investment of time and resources for additional management training.  It will lead to more productivity, decreased turnover and absenteeism, better morale, improved quality work, happier customers, and increased profit.

Build Thinkers, Not Followers

By Cathie Leimbach • September 2, 2026
Many leaders don't set out to become the answer to every question. It happens gradually. Someone asks their leader how to do it because it's faster than figuring it out. Another employee waits because they don't want to make the wrong decision. Before long, you're answering questions your team should be able to answer on their own. The good news is that you don't have to be the answer to every question. You can build a team that thinks, solves problems, and takes ownership without you giving up appropriate control. Here are a few places to start: Ask Before You Answer When someone brings you a problem, don't start by giving them the solution. Instead, ask:  What do you think? What options have you considered? What would you do if I wasn't here? People grow when they think through problems—not when someone else thinks for them. Let Small Decisions Stay Small. Not every decision needs your approval. Look for low-risk opportunities where employees or supervisors can tell the employee to make the call themselves. Confidence grows with experience. Praise Initiative, Even When It's Imperfect. If people believe they'll be criticized every time they make a decision, they'll stop making them. When someone takes ownership, recognize their initiative. Coaching them to make a better decision is easier in the long run than making every decision yourself. Notice the Questions That Keep Coming Back. If you're answering the same questions week after week, don't just answer them faster. Ask why they're still being asked. The issue may not be your people. It may be an unclear expectation, an inconsistent process, lack of training, or a conversation that never happened. Helping people think for themselves doesn't happen in one meeting. It happens through dozens of everyday collaborative conversations that gradually build confidence, judgment, and ownership. Conversation is Where Leadership Happens™ You don't have to figure it all out alone. Bring your workplace people challenges to the FREE Workplace Conversations Clinic September 21. Join Cathie Leimbach and other leaders for a practical conversation about the people challenges you're facing—and leave with fresh perspectives you can put to work. Register HERE

When the Boss "Bosses People Around"

By Cathie Leimbach • August 25, 2026
This probably isn't the company you imagined building. You wanted a team that solved problems, took ownership, and helped move the business forward. Instead, somewhere along the way, you became the person who answers every question, makes every decision, and tells everyone what to do. The interruptions never end. Every day starts with a plan and ends with another list of problems that somehow became yours to solve. You work harder than ever yet still feel like you're falling behind. Another good employee resigns. Another supervisor struggles. Another improvement initiative loses momentum. You leave work mentally exhausted, wondering why everyone seems busy—but so little actually changes. Your employees feel it, too. When people learn that every decision runs through the boss, they eventually stop making decisions of their own. When leaders spend most of their time directing every task, correcting every mistake, and solving every problem, people gradually stop thinking for themselves. They become cautious instead of confident. They stop offering ideas because they're not sure anyone wants to hear them. Ownership fades. Enthusiasm disappears. The culture slowly shifts from people wanting to contribute to people simply trying to get through the day. Ironically, the more a boss has to boss people around, the less ownership employees take. Before long, leaders become firefighters instead of business builders. Instead of building the company they envisioned, they're simply trying to survive another week. The surprising news is that this cycle usually isn't caused by a lack of effort. The frustrating part is that working harder rarely fixes it. In fact, the harder many leaders push, the more dependent their people become. What feels like the solution often becomes part of the problem. Talking through your leadership challenges with others can be helpful. Ask questions of your network. Get some ideas online. Sometimes another perspective helps you see what your organizational chart or production reports don't. Conversation is Where Leadership Happens™ You don't have to figure it all out alone. Bring your workplace people challenges to the FREE Workplace Conversations Clinic September 21. Join Cathie Leimbach and other leaders for a practical conversation about the people challenges you're facing—and leave with fresh perspectives you can put to work. Register Here