Save Your Employees from the Dark Side: Human Resource Lessons from Star Wars

Through George Lucas’ storytelling, filmgoers have come to know Darth Vader as the epitome of evil. But as viewers learn from the early 2000 Star Wars prequel trilogy, underneath that intimidating exterior beats the heart of a man whose turn to the dark side was largely a result of his frustration with his former employer.

What if the Jedi had an effective human resource program? Perhaps we would have seen Anakin chatting with Yoda over intergalactic eggnog at the Jedi holiday party, rather than Darth Vader bowing to the evil emperor in Revenge of the Sith.

So where did the Jedi’s HR program go wrong? At first glance, there doesn’t appear to be a problem. After all, the Jedi offer an excellent training program for new employees, surely making them one of the galaxy’s employers of choice. Where else can you learn how to wield your very own lightsaber and do Jedi Mind Tricks? They don’t offer that type of training even at Microsoft.

Concerned for employees’ futures, wise companies are.

In Revenge of the Sith, we see that Anakin, now a Jedi Knight, has become one of the Jedi’s “star employees.” However, even though Jedi Knight is a highly respectable title, Anakin is unhappy regarding his entry level status. He desperately wants to be promoted to Jedi Master believing that this new title would bring him the respect that he feels he deserves. What Anakin doesn’t seem to understand is that each Jedi Master has years of solid experience and knowledge of The Force under his or her belt. As a result of this disconnect, Anakin becomes increasingly frustrated and considers another job offer.

“A Career Progression program could have helped in this situation,” explains Michael Maciekowich, National Director, Astron Solutions. “Building career paths lets employees know that they are moving forward within an organization, giving them a sense of direction. Anakin would have realized that the Jedi cared about his career growth, and that the promotion to Jedi Master was an attainable goal, had there been a clear career progression program in place.”

Communicate you must.

As the story unfolds, we see that there is also a serious lack of communication between Anakin and the Jedi’s upper management, the Jedi Council. In fact, Anakin reveals to his wife that he feels lost and doesn’t believe that the Jedi Council trusts him.

“The Council could have considered a First Impression Survey, which is given to employees within their first few months of employment. This is a crucial time to provide integration into the organizational culture, encourage open communication, and let new employees know that you value their feedback,” says Jennifer C. Loftus, MBA, SPHR, PHRca, GPHR, SHRM-SCP, CCP, CBP, GRP National Director, Astron Solutions.

Offer great benefits, you should.

One major reason why Anakin eventually turns to the Dark Side is because he believes that they offer better “benefits” (and we don’t mean a good dental plan). The confused, young Jedi is concerned that he is going to lose someone close to him due to medical reasons, and believes that his new position will offer him the “ultimate” in healthcare insurance. As he quickly learns, however, his new employer wasn’t exactly truthful about the health coverage.

Perhaps the Jedi weren’t clearly communicating their own benefit plan to Anakin. Increased communication and attention to employee feedback could have helped in this situation as well.

“When choosing from the vast array of benefit offerings, it is important for HR professionals to analyze their employees' needs. The Jedi Council should have asked their employees what standard and voluntary benefits would be of most value to them and work to make those benefits available,” explains Loftus. It may be too late for Anakin / Darth Vader, but it’s not too late to save your own employees from the Dark Side. Remember, you don’t need The Force to make your team happy, just solid HR programs.

Rewards and Recognition: Are You Doing Enough to Acknowledge Employees’ Hard Work?

             Forbes reported in 2012 that there is a $46 billion market for employee recognition programs. With it being such a huge market, clearly employee recognition is important for every organization to consider. Research from Bersin indicates that in “organizations where recognition occurs, employee engagement, productivity and customer service are about 14% better than in those where recognition does not occur.” With our interest piqued, Astronology® will dig deeper into the topic of employee rewards and recognition, and explore best practices for these programs.

            Employee recognition programs can vary, from the very simple and inexpensive to the elaborate.  No matter where your organization falls on that continuum, the stakes are high when considering the impact of a low recognition culture on an organization’s bottom line.  What are some consequences of ignoring the need to recognize employee contributions? 

• Low productivity and low performance
•  Negative attitudes and a poor team culture
• Increased absenteeism 
•  Low employee retention rates and increased turnover rates

            It’s safe to assume that no organization would like to have to address and reverse any of these issues. And yet, doing something doesn’t mean that it will be a success.  Even more unsettling is learning that you can have a rewards and recognition program and still not meet the needs of employees. How so?

            Susan M. Heathfield’s article featured on About.com points out that, for starters, many organizations believe in the “one size fits all” model when it comes to employee recognition and rewards. This results in narrow thinking when deciding when and how employees should be rewarded and recognized. As a result, employee complaints, jealousy, and dissatisfaction become prevalent.  Guidelines to consider in order to create a sharper rewards and recognition program for your organization include the following:

• Decide what you want to achieve through your employee recognition efforts.  A program cannot solve all problems and motivate everyone to do everything.

• Create goals and action plans for employee recognition.  Metrics focus activity towards the relevant and significant.

• Ensure that fairness, clarity, and consistency are important to and evident in the program.

• Avoid “employee of the month-type programs.” These approaches are usually not clear to employees and lead to accusations of “pet employees” receiving the awards.

•  Recognize all people who contributed to a success equally.

Heathfield highlights a program to increase attendance that can spur your organization’s brainstorming in the area of employee rewards and recognition.  An organization hands out a three-part form or three-part certificate.  During the organization’s weekly staff meeting, one form is given to employees who had perfect attendance the previous week. The second form is kept in the personnel file.  The third form is entered in a monthly drawing for gift certificates. The goal and action plan for the program are clear, the raffle catches employees’ interest, and the approach avoids the angst that “employee of the month” programs can cause.

           

Forbes also gave the following best practices for employee recognition programs.  Consider these when developing a new or reviewing an existing employee rewards and recognition program.

•  Recognize people based on specific results and behaviors. Leave the “employee of the month” mentality and deliver awards based on specific actions.

• Implement peer to peer recognition, rather than the traditional top down approach. According to Forbes, “peers know what you’re doing on a day to day basis, so when they ‘thank you’ for your efforts the impact is much more meaningful. Top-down recognition is often viewed as political and it rarely reaches the ‘quiet but critical high-performers’ in the company.”

• Share recognition stories: Story telling is powerful. Sharing recognition stories can build camaraderie.

• Make recognition easy and frequent.  Make it simple and clear for everyone to participate, receive, and enjoy.

•  Tie recognition to your own organizational values or goals: “Too many CEOs and managers focus on bottom line results without thinking about how it feels to slog away and work without anyone saying thanks.”

            Has your organization established a rewards and recognition program? Does your organization adhere to some of these suggestions? What works best for you? We'd like to hear from you! Please submit your response to Astronology® and we may feature your response!