I noticed a recent article in ZDNet about Google and their appointment of a Chief Culture Office. Attracting and retaining high performing employees is critical for every organisations success. Google is no exception.

What interested me most was the comment made on employee happiness. Google have been surveying staff for over 5 years now.

To quote Stacy Sullivan, Chief Culture Officer and HR Director at Google:

“We're trying to figure out how committed people are to the company, what's causing that commitment level to be high or low, what makes a difference to them and their management and direct managers. The results ended up being centred a lot on career development and growth. So career development is more of a focus than giving more stock options or increasing salaries.

This reflects the findings in other published research. See this post.

So besides career development and personal growth (and a good salary and perks) what really helps employees to remain fully engaged and motivated?

·         Open upward and downward communication within the organisation

·         Understanding clearly how their role helps the company achieve its vision

·         Trust in management – what they say and do