Top Ten Ideas About What Employees Want From Work

Friday May 4, 2007

I have a young colleague whose energy amazes me. She's the mom of a three year old, works full time, and attends classes for her HR Masters degree in the evening. (Maybe young is the operative word here.) The other day, she asked me whether I thought she should go on to earn a law degree. From earlier conversations, this didn't sound quite right, so I asked her what part of HR she dislikes the most. Employment law, she responded. I asked her what would most likely cause her to get burned out in our field. Employment law and deadbeat employees gaming the laws, she responded.

Hmmm, I said. Have you considered going back to school for your MBA when you finish the HR degree? The MBA would give you broader options in the business. If you stay in HR, the MBA would provide foundation knowledge about the rest of the business including finance. Well, yes, that was her other consideration. I'm glad since the U.S. really doesn't need any more lawyers.

We then moved into a discussion about motivation. She is still truly motivated by HR and her interaction with employees, but admits that, after a few years, this work could become old very quickly. How about you? Are you still happy working in your career field, or is it time for a change? Here are the top ten reasons to quit your job.

Every person has different reasons for working. The reasons for working are as individual as the person. But, we all work because we obtain something that we need from work. The something obtained from work impacts morale, employee motivation, and the quality of life.

My young colleague is still motivated and that is grand. She also works for a company in which employees really matter. To create positive employee motivation, you need to treat employees as if they matter - because employees matter. These ideas will help you fulfill what people want from work and create employee motivation: Top Ten Ideas About What Employees Want From Work.