Building a Motivational Workplace Culture: Reinventing Compensation | Rebecca Ahmed | TEDxOneonta

[Music] how many parents do we have joining us here today yeah let's see a show of hands of those parents how many of you have bartered with your children you know finish your homework you can go to a friend's house clean your room you can play video games in full transparency i do want to share i have not personally birthed any children however i am the oldest of nine yes you heard that correctly and like many firstborns i assumed a leadership role quite early on making it imperative for me to understand how to motivate each

of my siblings whether you are a parent or not if you've engaged in this friendly game of negotiations you've likely learned four important lessons what motivates one does not work for another wants and needs consistently change you get what you pay for and kids talk leading an organization managing a litter of cats or kiddos whether you are a leader at a fortune 500 company or a household ceo you were all here because you want and need energized people who are motivated and invested to do a great job my name is rebecca ahmed and i am

excited to be here today and i'm going to share three recommendations for you to create a motivational workplace culture i have spent over 10 years in the human resources field in the largest hotel and casinos worldwide and i consult companies on how to transform their energy using energetic principles specifically my three recommendations will ensure you build a motivational workplace culture through the lens of reinventing compensation so let's start with the strong foundation building our core values now i know what you're probably thinking rebecca we know this we have our core values on our website we

have a pre-employment assessment test to ensure our values are aligned we even got this amazing mural painted right next to our diversity equity and inclusion statement right at the employee entrance but before you check this box and tune me out i have one question for you are your values walking the talk in every aspect of your business let me start by sharing my story i was born and raised in las vegas nevada between the kiddos and the casinos i am a natural extrovert probably like many of you i knew at an early age i wanted

to work with people in fact at 11 years old i insisted i'd coach versus attend tennis camp my coach probably just said yes to get me out of his hair but before he knew it i was conducting surveys and collaborating with the other coaches upgrading drills and programs i share this with you because my impact and an organization means so much choosing where you work is one of the most important decisions of your life when i choose where i work i ensure that my values align with the company's values and that i believe in their

vision and mission i ensure i not only experience but contribute to a thriving culture i know when i am connected in these ways to my team to my work and to my company i am an energized employee and an asset to the business yet early on in my career i was hit by a bomb i found out i was being paid under market way way way under market double digits less than my predecessor who had the same experience and less education than me now if you manage or employ people you're probably thinking welcome to the

work world rebecca but let's take a moment and think about this what does that do to an employee's energy what does it make them think about how you define honesty does it cause their belief in your lofty mission statement to blow up in thin air and most importantly does it build a relationship on trust the day i found out i wasn't being paid my worth was the day i decreased my value sure i went to work but i cut corners i started searching for other disgruntled employees to exchange stories of misery of course i'm not

proud to share my reaction but that's the amazing thing about disgruntled employees they'll collect their paycheck but they brag about how they work the bare minimum searching for corners to cut to match the corners cut on them like many of them i started to evaluate each project i was assigned based on my time and energy and i would shave off anything i could rather than going above and beyond i went below and short i reduced my energy to give i decreased my worth and in turn value to my employer luckily being a half-assed employee didn't

make me feel good i did not want to be an angry worker so i left shortly after and i learned a very important lesson that i'm sharing with you here today i've made it my mission to ensure employees and employers know how to bring their values to life here is what i learned treat your employees how you want them to treat you why because a precedent is set when a company walks the talk the opposite also rings true when built on deception or a sense of trying to get away with the bare minimum when trust

is broken it's like a piece of china it never looks the same glued together but when trust is established communication naturally increases and the dynamic energy of enthusiasm and engagement creates continuous improvement which leads me to my second recommendation tell your people what you pay them and why according to a 2020 report 67 percent of organizations say salary transparency is increasing in importance to them what you might not realize no matter what company you work for is that transparency has already been instilled throughout your people's practices stick with me here i promise to keep this

high level and fun i'm going to walk through just a few examples recruitment upgraded to talent acquisition people want to go on a few dates before they decide to jump into a relationship employee relations now runs as an hr business partner model the punitive model of three strikes you're out now provides coaching and support benefits even migrated from standard plan options to an entire marketplace of health and wellness needs now let's look at cinderella i mean compensation compensation is the only department within the people services umbrella that did not get upgraded for the most part

it's a one-size-fits-all model with limited visibility however the future of compensation is evolving and progressive organizations are leading the charge in upgrading this field starbucks committed to a hundred percent gender pay equity in the us and is working towards this goal globally they provide transparent pay wages for any role in the u.s and canada buffer has been a leader in paid transparency creating their own algorithm for candidates and team members to calculate their worth within each pay range some all's founder dane atkinson made it a company-wide policy to publishing all employees salary and stock options

for what he said was a simple way to eliminate dishonesty the impact of his decision though is even more powerful because once that company-wide policy went into place they saw an increase in productivity and retention now that i've shared the energetic power of trust and transparency let's look at my third recommendation where creativity and innovation lie design a compensation plan that creates a win-win no matter what company you work for you represent a brand or service in fact many of you are probably competitors what differentiates you your brand is personalized to attract and retain your

ideal customer the same should ring true with your employees think about each function i reviewed earlier not only has each become transparent but each has become custom tailored when a pilot applies to a first officer opening their application and onboarding experience is completely different than a flight attendant this level of individualization runs through each and every function except once again compensation so what does personalized pay look like really excited to share this last example as it showcases how this employer stood out i was working in las vegas nevada it was about 2015 2016 and a

director had to go out on medical leave kicking off a conversation about their role executive leadership reviewed the responsibilities and confirmed it was too essential to leave open so we reviewed internal talent and reached out to a department manager let's call her joy we reached out to joy because she had institutional knowledge and an appetite to grow however joy did not meet the minimum qualifications of the role therefore we had an honest conversation with her about the experience her experience and how it matched the responsibilities of the role and we assured her she would be

paid market rate based on the responsibilities she was going to be given the lower end but still market here's how we went one step further we simply asked what do you need to succeed and we shared resources used throughout the organization she was provided a leadership coach and a flexible schedule and we baked this into her compensation this is what transparent and personalized pay looks like together we call this a total rewards experience what it felt like though is something i will never forget i watched this employee shift from fear to excitement transparent and personalized

pay gave joy the confidence to thrive and you bet your ass the next time a director position opened not only did she jump at that opportunity but we the employer jumped at promoting her that's what i call a win-win you were all here today because you want and need energized people who are motivated and invested to do a great job i gave you three recommendations and you know what i'll even give you a few siblings if you want to test out the waters before implementation treat your people how you want them to treat you tell

your people what you pay them and why design a compensation plan that creates a win-win i invite you to take these action items and go walk your talk you will see your workforce's energy will shift we're disgruntled to engaged increasing employees motivation and in turn value to your organization thank you