WE ARE STANDING IN THE RUINS OF A PREVIOUS ERA. The ruins aren’t decaying buildings or shelled-out homes, but of a psychological nature. The pursuit of fortune and success has been a Holy Grail for generations of Americans. Every generation of immigrants who traveled to this land came to prosper, and millions have. Their children grew up with the American pursuit ingrained within them. For many, the American pursuit was primarily one of financial freedom and wealth.

The Industrial and Technological ages brought efficiencies and a new level of financial possibility to those with an entrepreneurial spirit. A new middle class arose with a comfortable standard of living and greater time to pursue leisure activities. From the 1950’s through today, the spirit of pursuit allowed this country to create one of the highest standards of living in the world. It was in this same spirit that we as a nation turned to new, increasingly complex financial instruments to build massive fortunes on unstable ground.

The ground gave way in 2008, taking with it trust in the financial system, blind optimism, and the belief that large sums of money are at the root of a satisfying life.

MILLENNIALS, BOOMERS, ANDEVERYONE IN BETWEENMarble Arch often leads dialogues around what we call “The Generation Next Workplace.” During these dialogues, the conversation invariably turns to Millennials. It is often

assumed that the discussion will center around how to best manage this curious new group climbing the professional ladders. Generation Next is a new generation of employee, but not just Millennials.

Every generation was changed by the financial crisis. Baby Boomers watched as the value of their retirement funds plummeted and dreams of ever living life on their own terms disappeared. Gen X stayed awake at night, wondering whether the concept of retirement was any longer a possibility. Gen Y and Mill-ennials watched as everyone around them lost the very “security” and “freedom” they had striven toward for decades. For each respective generation, the trust in money to create asatisfying and purposeful life diminished.

At about this same time, new research revealed what actually motivates employees to higher performance. Shockingly, it wasn’t enormous sums of money. Sure, in the short-term, bonuses create a temporary increase of desired behavior.

But over time, money has a tendency to twist an employee’s motivation until all of one’s focus is on how to reap the largest bonus possible.

As Daniel Pink stated in his groundbreaking book Drive, “instead of restraining negative behavior, rewards and punishments can often set it loose—and give rise to the

cheating, addiction and dangerously myopic thinking.”1

The focus on bonuses over the last 40 years has led millions of people to trade life satisfaction for growing bank accounts and dreams of securing a high standard of living.

The height of the financial crisis passed, and many were left wondering if the money now gone from their accounts was worth the hours of work it had cost them to earn it. Suddenly, an awakening began to ripple through the country that we are only now beginning to understand. This awakening, for all generations, is a hunger for more than money in return for precious hours spent.

Employees are actively leaving current employers in search of organizations that will fill their need for challenging, meaning-ful work that connects them with others. The new American dream is one of a meaningful life filled with purpose that leads to wealth creation.

When we discuss this hunger for meaning with leaders and teams, the most common desire is “to help.” Whether it’s a client, colleague, or the world at large, employees recognize that bank accounts can be lost, but a satisfying life can never be taken.

You won’t find an argument against wealth creation in this blog. We at Marble Arch are entrepreneurs and we believe an entrepreneurial spirit can be the most powerful expression of life satisfaction, wealth creation, and problem solving. What you will find at Marble Arch is years of experience in creating workplaces that feed the hunger “to help.” These dynamic workplaces meet the needs of this new era and reap the rewards of higher engagement, productivity, and profitability.

DYNAMIC WORKPLACES FOR A NEW ERAThe previously impermeable barrier between work and life is disintegrating. Individuals see their work as a part of a satisfying whole rather than a means to an end in retire-ment. Organizations that fail to evolve along with this relationship will see an increase in turnover and a decrease in engagement. High turnover and low engagement are HR vocabulary for "this ship is slowly going down."

In this new era, dubbed the “Social Era” by innovation expert Nilofer Merchant, even the term “leader” adopts an entirely new meaning. Suddenly, organizational leaders include executives, influencers, innovators, and game-changers. Not every individual can be an exec-utive, but anyone has the power to be a game-changer.

As a leader in your organization, how can you influence the evolution of your workplace for peak performance in the Social Era? Below you will find your dynamic workplace starter kit. It includes four powerful tactics to begin creating a workplace that supports connection, engagement, and peak performance (more HR vocabulary for happiness and profitability).

The Dynamic Workplace Starter Kit

A DEEP UNDERSTANDING OFORGANIZATIONAL PURPOSEYou will see this theme regularly in our work. We cannot say it enough: Without clarity of purpose there can be no alignment of effort, planning, or priorities. The loyalty, work ethic, and motivation we all know our teams are capable of achieving stems first from their deep connection to the organization's purpose. A mediocre understanding of an organization's purpose results in an equal degree of engagement.

Work with your team to define:

• Why you exist as an organization• How you offer value to your clients• What value and results are achieved

Watch as the enthusiasm increases as a result of this reaffirmation of effort.

A ROBUST SOCIAL FRAMEWORKPerformance expert and author Dean Spitzer has been hugely influential in our recognition of a social frame-work's power. The vast majority of our clients are working with us to improve performance and are shocked when we run various qualitative diagnostics which reveal that a lack of basic dialogue or feedback is deteriorating trust, productivity, and motivation in the workplace.

A powerful social framework creates a conducive environ-ment in which the conversations that drive strategic execution can take place. As Dean Spitzer says, “The key thing to remember is that you can purchase a technical infrastructure, but you can’t purchase a social one!”2

The term “social framework” can seem ambiguous, but we assure you that its impact is anything but. A robust social framework includes daily feedback flowing between

individuals and departments, impacting performance up to 39%.3 It also includes meeting codes of conduct so that meetings are actionable and effective, something to look forward to rather than dread.

What’s our favorite social framework tactic? Monthly one-on-one meetings between leadership and direct reports. These opportunities for in-depth development and alignment quickly become the most powerful hour of the month. Many leaders who have begun the practice have told us that their teams were far less productive during the months in which the meeting was postponed. A powerful monthly one-on-one meeting is very open, with a few key agenda items and plenty of time to share new ideas for increasing efficiency and effectiveness.

COMPENSATION THAT REWARDSLONG-TERM VALUE CREATIONOne of the major themes of the financial crisis is that short-term compensation yields short-term results. We recently had a discussion with a leader who lamented the amount of precious time and effort it took his staff to bring new client expectations back to reality after they had been sold the world by his sales director.

This leader was beginning to understand that building sales compensation entirely around new sales was resulting in unrealistic promises and disappointed new clients. This dangerous combination was deteriorating his organization’s reputation and its rate of client retention.

Money has an incredible ability to warp motivation until all other priorities are subjugated to the metrics that will bring in the cash. So, if motivation is going to be tied to cash, make sure it is tied to the right metrics. These metrics are going to include overall organizational profits and measurements which support your long-term competitive advantage.

Organizations can become caught up in using carrots to motivate behaviors. By setting high job standards at the time of hire and following up with coaching and develop-ing, the need for an expensive carrot ceases.

THE OPPORTUNITY TO DISCUSSSATISFACTION AND PURPOSEWe at Marble Arch always encourage individuals to ask themselves, “Am I being the leader I would want to be led by?” If you had the opportunity to discuss with your manager your level of job satisfaction and your feeling of purpose within the organization, when would be the best time for you? What would the conversation sound like? What kind of support would you want to be offered?

As you are considering this conversation, imagine offering this opportunity to those you lead. In what ways can you support an increase in their job satisfaction? How can you position their skills so that they are living more of their purpose within their jobs? The beauty of this conversation is the idea that you are setting the stage for your employee to be more motivated, more productive, and, in the end, more profitable.

When individuals are unsatisfied or feel no meaningful connection to their work, their productivity is mediocre at best. We aren’t just talking about soft stuff; we’re talking about performance.

The social era is here. Entrepreneurs and organizations have the opportunity to engage their workforce and to be rewarded with more commitment, higher productivity, and increasing profits.

As an individual and as a leader, you have the opportunity to support a dynamic workplace that helps others find meaning in their work.

Imagine how motivating and exciting it would be for you to see this change in one other employee on your team and in your workplace.

Jessica V. Weatherford and Neal Bottom are Marble Arch, a Performance Acceleration Consultancy in the San Francisco Bay Area. This article originally appeared on the Marble Arch Performance Blog, at www.MarbleArchInc.com.

NOTES

1 Pink, D. (2009). Drive. New York, NY: Penguin Group, Inc.

2 Spitzer, D. (2007). Transforming Performance Measurement. New York, NY: AMACOM Books.

3 Corporate Leadership Council. (2002). Building the High-Performance Workforce: A Quantitative Analysis of the Effectiveness of Performance Management Strategies. Retrieved from http://integratedleadership.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/CLC_Building_the_High_Performance_Workforce_A_Quantitative_Analysis_of_the_Effectiveness_of_Performance_Management_Strategies1.pdf

Needs a New Workplace

THE NEW AMERICAN DREAM

A NEW WORKPLACE FOR A NEW ERA | Marble Arch, Inc. 1

The best compensation investment may be creating specific, actionable performance expectations and metrics.

WE ARE STANDING IN THE RUINS OF A PREVIOUS ERA. The ruins aren’t decaying buildings or shelled-out homes, but of a psychological nature. The pursuit of fortune and success has been a Holy Grail for generations of Americans. Every generation of immigrants who traveled to this land came to prosper, and millions have. Their children grew up with the American pursuit ingrained within them. For many, the American pursuit was primarily one of financial freedom and wealth.

The Industrial and Technological ages brought efficiencies and a new level of financial possibility to those with an entrepreneurial spirit. A new middle class arose with a comfortable standard of living and greater time to pursue leisure activities. From the 1950’s through today, the spirit of pursuit allowed this country to create one of the highest standards of living in the world. It was in this same spirit that we as a nation turned to new, increasingly complex financial instruments to build massive fortunes on unstable ground.

The ground gave way in 2008, taking with it trust in the financial system, blind optimism, and the belief that large sums of money are at the root of a satisfying life.

MILLENNIALS, BOOMERS, ANDEVERYONE IN BETWEENMarble Arch often leads dialogues around what we call “The Generation Next Workplace.” During these dialogues, the conversation invariably turns to Millennials. It is often

assumed that the discussion will center around how to best manage this curious new group climbing the professional ladders. Generation Next is a new generation of employee, but not just Millennials.

Every generation was changed by the financial crisis. Baby Boomers watched as the value of their retirement funds plummeted and dreams of ever living life on their own terms disappeared. Gen X stayed awake at night, wondering whether the concept of retirement was any longer a possibility. Gen Y and Mill-ennials watched as everyone around them lost the very “security” and “freedom” they had striven toward for decades. For each respective generation, the trust in money to create asatisfying and purposeful life diminished.

At about this same time, new research revealed what actually motivates employees to higher performance. Shockingly, it wasn’t enormous sums of money. Sure, in the short-term, bonuses create a temporary increase of desired behavior.

But over time, money has a tendency to twist an employee’s motivation until all of one’s focus is on how to reap the largest bonus possible.

As Daniel Pink stated in his groundbreaking book Drive, “instead of restraining negative behavior, rewards and punishments can often set it loose—and give rise to the

cheating, addiction and dangerously myopic thinking.”1

The focus on bonuses over the last 40 years has led millions of people to trade life satisfaction for growing bank accounts and dreams of securing a high standard of living.

The height of the financial crisis passed, and many were left wondering if the money now gone from their accounts was worth the hours of work it had cost them to earn it. Suddenly, an awakening began to ripple through the country that we are only now beginning to understand. This awakening, for all generations, is a hunger for more than money in return for precious hours spent.

Employees are actively leaving current employers in search of organizations that will fill their need for challenging, meaning-ful work that connects them with others. The new American dream is one of a meaningful life filled with purpose that leads to wealth creation.

When we discuss this hunger for meaning with leaders and teams, the most common desire is “to help.” Whether it’s a client, colleague, or the world at large, employees recognize that bank accounts can be lost, but a satisfying life can never be taken.

You won’t find an argument against wealth creation in this blog. We at Marble Arch are entrepreneurs and we believe an entrepreneurial spirit can be the most powerful expression of life satisfaction, wealth creation, and problem solving. What you will find at Marble Arch is years of experience in creating workplaces that feed the hunger “to help.” These dynamic workplaces meet the needs of this new era and reap the rewards of higher engagement, productivity, and profitability.

DYNAMIC WORKPLACES FOR A NEW ERAThe previously impermeable barrier between work and life is disintegrating. Individuals see their work as a part of a satisfying whole rather than a means to an end in retire-ment. Organizations that fail to evolve along with this relationship will see an increase in turnover and a decrease in engagement. High turnover and low engagement are HR vocabulary for "this ship is slowly going down."

In this new era, dubbed the “Social Era” by innovation expert Nilofer Merchant, even the term “leader” adopts an entirely new meaning. Suddenly, organizational leaders include executives, influencers, innovators, and game-changers. Not every individual can be an exec-utive, but anyone has the power to be a game-changer.

As a leader in your organization, how can you influence the evolution of your workplace for peak performance in the Social Era? Below you will find your dynamic workplace starter kit. It includes four powerful tactics to begin creating a workplace that supports connection, engagement, and peak performance (more HR vocabulary for happiness and profitability).

The Dynamic Workplace Starter Kit

A DEEP UNDERSTANDING OFORGANIZATIONAL PURPOSEYou will see this theme regularly in our work. We cannot say it enough: Without clarity of purpose there can be no alignment of effort, planning, or priorities. The loyalty, work ethic, and motivation we all know our teams are capable of achieving stems first from their deep connection to the organization's purpose. A mediocre understanding of an organization's purpose results in an equal degree of engagement.

Work with your team to define:

• Why you exist as an organization• How you offer value to your clients• What value and results are achieved

Watch as the enthusiasm increases as a result of this reaffirmation of effort.

A ROBUST SOCIAL FRAMEWORKPerformance expert and author Dean Spitzer has been hugely influential in our recognition of a social frame-work's power. The vast majority of our clients are working with us to improve performance and are shocked when we run various qualitative diagnostics which reveal that a lack of basic dialogue or feedback is deteriorating trust, productivity, and motivation in the workplace.

A powerful social framework creates a conducive environ-ment in which the conversations that drive strategic execution can take place. As Dean Spitzer says, “The key thing to remember is that you can purchase a technical infrastructure, but you can’t purchase a social one!”2

The term “social framework” can seem ambiguous, but we assure you that its impact is anything but. A robust social framework includes daily feedback flowing between

individuals and departments, impacting performance up to 39%.3 It also includes meeting codes of conduct so that meetings are actionable and effective, something to look forward to rather than dread.

What’s our favorite social framework tactic? Monthly one-on-one meetings between leadership and direct reports. These opportunities for in-depth development and alignment quickly become the most powerful hour of the month. Many leaders who have begun the practice have told us that their teams were far less productive during the months in which the meeting was postponed. A powerful monthly one-on-one meeting is very open, with a few key agenda items and plenty of time to share new ideas for increasing efficiency and effectiveness.

COMPENSATION THAT REWARDSLONG-TERM VALUE CREATIONOne of the major themes of the financial crisis is that short-term compensation yields short-term results. We recently had a discussion with a leader who lamented the amount of precious time and effort it took his staff to bring new client expectations back to reality after they had been sold the world by his sales director.

This leader was beginning to understand that building sales compensation entirely around new sales was resulting in unrealistic promises and disappointed new clients. This dangerous combination was deteriorating his organization’s reputation and its rate of client retention.

Money has an incredible ability to warp motivation until all other priorities are subjugated to the metrics that will bring in the cash. So, if motivation is going to be tied to cash, make sure it is tied to the right metrics. These metrics are going to include overall organizational profits and measurements which support your long-term competitive advantage.

Organizations can become caught up in using carrots to motivate behaviors. By setting high job standards at the time of hire and following up with coaching and develop-ing, the need for an expensive carrot ceases.

THE OPPORTUNITY TO DISCUSSSATISFACTION AND PURPOSEWe at Marble Arch always encourage individuals to ask themselves, “Am I being the leader I would want to be led by?” If you had the opportunity to discuss with your manager your level of job satisfaction and your feeling of purpose within the organization, when would be the best time for you? What would the conversation sound like? What kind of support would you want to be offered?

As you are considering this conversation, imagine offering this opportunity to those you lead. In what ways can you support an increase in their job satisfaction? How can you position their skills so that they are living more of their purpose within their jobs? The beauty of this conversation is the idea that you are setting the stage for your employee to be more motivated, more productive, and, in the end, more profitable.

When individuals are unsatisfied or feel no meaningful connection to their work, their productivity is mediocre at best. We aren’t just talking about soft stuff; we’re talking about performance.

The social era is here. Entrepreneurs and organizations have the opportunity to engage their workforce and to be rewarded with more commitment, higher productivity, and increasing profits.

As an individual and as a leader, you have the opportunity to support a dynamic workplace that helps others find meaning in their work.

Imagine how motivating and exciting it would be for you to see this change in one other employee on your team and in your workplace.

Jessica V. Weatherford and Neal Bottom are Marble Arch, a Performance Acceleration Consultancy in the San Francisco Bay Area. This article originally appeared on the Marble Arch Performance Blog, at www.MarbleArchInc.com.

NOTES

1 Pink, D. (2009). Drive. New York, NY: Penguin Group, Inc.

2 Spitzer, D. (2007). Transforming Performance Measurement. New York, NY: AMACOM Books.

3 Corporate Leadership Council. (2002). Building the High-Performance Workforce: A Quantitative Analysis of the Effectiveness of Performance Management Strategies. Retrieved from http://integratedleadership.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/CLC_Building_the_High_Performance_Workforce_A_Quantitative_Analysis_of_the_Effectiveness_of_Performance_Management_Strategies1.pdf

PURPOSE

HOWWHY

RESULTS

A NEW WORKPLACE FOR A NEW ERA | Marble Arch, Inc. 2

The best compensation investment may be creating specific, actionable performance expectations and metrics.

WE ARE STANDING IN THE RUINS OF A PREVIOUS ERA. The ruins aren’t decaying buildings or shelled-out homes, but of a psychological nature. The pursuit of fortune and success has been a Holy Grail for generations of Americans. Every generation of immigrants who traveled to this land came to prosper, and millions have. Their children grew up with the American pursuit ingrained within them. For many, the American pursuit was primarily one of financial freedom and wealth.

The Industrial and Technological ages brought efficiencies and a new level of financial possibility to those with an entrepreneurial spirit. A new middle class arose with a comfortable standard of living and greater time to pursue leisure activities. From the 1950’s through today, the spirit of pursuit allowed this country to create one of the highest standards of living in the world. It was in this same spirit that we as a nation turned to new, increasingly complex financial instruments to build massive fortunes on unstable ground.

The ground gave way in 2008, taking with it trust in the financial system, blind optimism, and the belief that large sums of money are at the root of a satisfying life.

MILLENNIALS, BOOMERS, ANDEVERYONE IN BETWEENMarble Arch often leads dialogues around what we call “The Generation Next Workplace.” During these dialogues, the conversation invariably turns to Millennials. It is often

assumed that the discussion will center around how to best manage this curious new group climbing the professional ladders. Generation Next is a new generation of employee, but not just Millennials.

Every generation was changed by the financial crisis. Baby Boomers watched as the value of their retirement funds plummeted and dreams of ever living life on their own terms disappeared. Gen X stayed awake at night, wondering whether the concept of retirement was any longer a possibility. Gen Y and Mill-ennials watched as everyone around them lost the very “security” and “freedom” they had striven toward for decades. For each respective generation, the trust in money to create asatisfying and purposeful life diminished.

At about this same time, new research revealed what actually motivates employees to higher performance. Shockingly, it wasn’t enormous sums of money. Sure, in the short-term, bonuses create a temporary increase of desired behavior.

But over time, money has a tendency to twist an employee’s motivation until all of one’s focus is on how to reap the largest bonus possible.

As Daniel Pink stated in his groundbreaking book Drive, “instead of restraining negative behavior, rewards and punishments can often set it loose—and give rise to the

cheating, addiction and dangerously myopic thinking.”1

The focus on bonuses over the last 40 years has led millions of people to trade life satisfaction for growing bank accounts and dreams of securing a high standard of living.

The height of the financial crisis passed, and many were left wondering if the money now gone from their accounts was worth the hours of work it had cost them to earn it. Suddenly, an awakening began to ripple through the country that we are only now beginning to understand. This awakening, for all generations, is a hunger for more than money in return for precious hours spent.

Employees are actively leaving current employers in search of organizations that will fill their need for challenging, meaning-ful work that connects them with others. The new American dream is one of a meaningful life filled with purpose that leads to wealth creation.

When we discuss this hunger for meaning with leaders and teams, the most common desire is “to help.” Whether it’s a client, colleague, or the world at large, employees recognize that bank accounts can be lost, but a satisfying life can never be taken.

You won’t find an argument against wealth creation in this blog. We at Marble Arch are entrepreneurs and we believe an entrepreneurial spirit can be the most powerful expression of life satisfaction, wealth creation, and problem solving. What you will find at Marble Arch is years of experience in creating workplaces that feed the hunger “to help.” These dynamic workplaces meet the needs of this new era and reap the rewards of higher engagement, productivity, and profitability.

DYNAMIC WORKPLACES FOR A NEW ERAThe previously impermeable barrier between work and life is disintegrating. Individuals see their work as a part of a satisfying whole rather than a means to an end in retire-ment. Organizations that fail to evolve along with this relationship will see an increase in turnover and a decrease in engagement. High turnover and low engagement are HR vocabulary for "this ship is slowly going down."

In this new era, dubbed the “Social Era” by innovation expert Nilofer Merchant, even the term “leader” adopts an entirely new meaning. Suddenly, organizational leaders include executives, influencers, innovators, and game-changers. Not every individual can be an exec-utive, but anyone has the power to be a game-changer.

As a leader in your organization, how can you influence the evolution of your workplace for peak performance in the Social Era? Below you will find your dynamic workplace starter kit. It includes four powerful tactics to begin creating a workplace that supports connection, engagement, and peak performance (more HR vocabulary for happiness and profitability).

The Dynamic Workplace Starter Kit

A DEEP UNDERSTANDING OFORGANIZATIONAL PURPOSEYou will see this theme regularly in our work. We cannot say it enough: Without clarity of purpose there can be no alignment of effort, planning, or priorities. The loyalty, work ethic, and motivation we all know our teams are capable of achieving stems first from their deep connection to the organization's purpose. A mediocre understanding of an organization's purpose results in an equal degree of engagement.

Work with your team to define:

• Why you exist as an organization• How you offer value to your clients• What value and results are achieved

Watch as the enthusiasm increases as a result of this reaffirmation of effort.

A ROBUST SOCIAL FRAMEWORKPerformance expert and author Dean Spitzer has been hugely influential in our recognition of a social frame-work's power. The vast majority of our clients are working with us to improve performance and are shocked when we run various qualitative diagnostics which reveal that a lack of basic dialogue or feedback is deteriorating trust, productivity, and motivation in the workplace.

A powerful social framework creates a conducive environ-ment in which the conversations that drive strategic execution can take place. As Dean Spitzer says, “The key thing to remember is that you can purchase a technical infrastructure, but you can’t purchase a social one!”2

The term “social framework” can seem ambiguous, but we assure you that its impact is anything but. A robust social framework includes daily feedback flowing between

individuals and departments, impacting performance up to 39%.3 It also includes meeting codes of conduct so that meetings are actionable and effective, something to look forward to rather than dread.

What’s our favorite social framework tactic? Monthly one-on-one meetings between leadership and direct reports. These opportunities for in-depth development and alignment quickly become the most powerful hour of the month. Many leaders who have begun the practice have told us that their teams were far less productive during the months in which the meeting was postponed. A powerful monthly one-on-one meeting is very open, with a few key agenda items and plenty of time to share new ideas for increasing efficiency and effectiveness.

COMPENSATION THAT REWARDSLONG-TERM VALUE CREATIONOne of the major themes of the financial crisis is that short-term compensation yields short-term results. We recently had a discussion with a leader who lamented the amount of precious time and effort it took his staff to bring new client expectations back to reality after they had been sold the world by his sales director.

This leader was beginning to understand that building sales compensation entirely around new sales was resulting in unrealistic promises and disappointed new clients. This dangerous combination was deteriorating his organization’s reputation and its rate of client retention.

Money has an incredible ability to warp motivation until all other priorities are subjugated to the metrics that will bring in the cash. So, if motivation is going to be tied to cash, make sure it is tied to the right metrics. These metrics are going to include overall organizational profits and measurements which support your long-term competitive advantage.

Organizations can become caught up in using carrots to motivate behaviors. By setting high job standards at the time of hire and following up with coaching and develop-ing, the need for an expensive carrot ceases.

THE OPPORTUNITY TO DISCUSSSATISFACTION AND PURPOSEWe at Marble Arch always encourage individuals to ask themselves, “Am I being the leader I would want to be led by?” If you had the opportunity to discuss with your manager your level of job satisfaction and your feeling of purpose within the organization, when would be the best time for you? What would the conversation sound like? What kind of support would you want to be offered?

As you are considering this conversation, imagine offering this opportunity to those you lead. In what ways can you support an increase in their job satisfaction? How can you position their skills so that they are living more of their purpose within their jobs? The beauty of this conversation is the idea that you are setting the stage for your employee to be more motivated, more productive, and, in the end, more profitable.

When individuals are unsatisfied or feel no meaningful connection to their work, their productivity is mediocre at best. We aren’t just talking about soft stuff; we’re talking about performance.

The social era is here. Entrepreneurs and organizations have the opportunity to engage their workforce and to be rewarded with more commitment, higher productivity, and increasing profits.

As an individual and as a leader, you have the opportunity to support a dynamic workplace that helps others find meaning in their work.

Imagine how motivating and exciting it would be for you to see this change in one other employee on your team and in your workplace.

Jessica V. Weatherford and Neal Bottom are Marble Arch, a Performance Acceleration Consultancy in the San Francisco Bay Area. This article originally appeared on the Marble Arch Performance Blog, at www.MarbleArchInc.com.

NOTES

1 Pink, D. (2009). Drive. New York, NY: Penguin Group, Inc.

2 Spitzer, D. (2007). Transforming Performance Measurement. New York, NY: AMACOM Books.

3 Corporate Leadership Council. (2002). Building the High-Performance Workforce: A Quantitative Analysis of the Effectiveness of Performance Management Strategies. Retrieved from http://integratedleadership.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/CLC_Building_the_High_Performance_Workforce_A_Quantitative_Analysis_of_the_Effectiveness_of_Performance_Management_Strategies1.pdf

A NEW WORKPLACE FOR A NEW ERA | Marble Arch, Inc.3

The best compensation investment may be creating specific, actionable performance expectations and metrics.

Compensation aligned with long-term value creation.$

$ $