Many thanks, Nathan, for chiming in. Compensation still matters, but employees today are looking for so much more... and culture is at the crux.

Thanks very much indeed for your comments, Jo. And for the additional research reference.

Don, brilliant comment and thanks for adding to the conversation.

You're correct. Employees are looking for the specifics of how do I do that. That's why I so passionately believe in the power of strategic recognition. If you create a recogntion program, clearly and carefully define your reasons for recognition to be your core values and strategic objectives, then give all employees permission to recognise each other when they see colleagues demonstrating those values in contribution to those objectives - now employees understand what those values and objectives look like in their daily work.

Critical to this, of course, is requiring a detailed message. A simple "thanks for that" won't be sufficient. Instead, employees need to hear messages like: "Great job on the MacGuffin project. You took the time to understand the client's challenges, dissect the need, and then respond to each point clealry and with an actionable approach. Our client now appreciates us even more. You truly demonstrated our value of 'client-focused.'"

Very true, Barry. Because of tight budgets, muncipal and other government employees often do not receive the same opportunities for recognition more common in the private sector. And that is truly unfortunate. Most of us never give a thought to all that the emplyees of our local governments do that keep our lives running smoothly - utlities, rubbish removal, oversight, police, firefighters. The list is truly endless.

Thank you for bringing this topic forward.

Great comment and question. I'm in both Dublin and the US throughout the year, so I have an interesting perspective from that angle. Yes, unionisation does add another element to the discussion of "fairness," yet we at Globoforce have several clients with union shops that see the benefit of being able to recognize (and reward) employees individually. This approach tends to work because we do not advise singling out a group of people, but rather ensuring ALL employees are eligible to participate in recognition and rewards - both the giving and receiving of recognition, which lends to an understanding of "fairness."

The discussion of base pay and annual merit increases (also called pay for performance) is another wrinkle. I wrote an entire post on Compensation Cafe on why that approach should be done away with. May I refer you there for more insight?

http://www.compensationcafe.com/2011/04/are-annual-merit-increases-the-r...

Many thanks for the compliment of the response, Malcolm. You've added clarity and depth to the conversation, and I appreciate you advancing this very important topic.

Hi, Jon. Thanks for the comment. I appreciate the passion you bring to what we both believe in so strongly.

I agree very few (if any employees) are looking to march in lockstep with the CEO and his/her purpose. However, I do believe employees like to know the organization has defined a greater purpose - a goal the organization is striving to achieve, if you weill - and that the CEO is the one backing that purpose to the hilt.

There are the obvious examples of Zappos, Southwest Airlines, etc. A member of my team just returned from Zappos where she reported the sense of purpose is truly palpable. At Zappos, that "purpose as defined by the CEO" is service . We are here to serve others - both customers and each other within Zappos. My colleage reported this apparent at every level, in every role. When you consider that Zappos has not had an open position in their cusotmer service department (or, as they call it, the customer loyalty department) in three years - a role that across the industry has 70% employee turnover  - there's something to be said for Purpose set by the CEO.

The catch, of course, is making that Purpose much more than lip-service from the - putting in the effort, time and monetary investment to make it real. At Zappos that means committing the time/money to have every employee spend four weeks in incubation (onboarding on steroids) in which they learn the company history, processes, and, yes, purpose.

Great post, Hannah. I'd add to your list - recognize employees frequently and specifically to help them see the meaning in their work. Just yesterday I wrote in my HRZone blog about this, saying:

Meaningful work and a sense of value within the organisation are indeed powerful elements of employee engagement. All work is meaningful and valuable (otherwise, why would you be paying people to do it). The trick is for management to help employees see that meaningfulness and personal value, especially during this tough economy and often stressful workplace environment.
Read more: http://www.hrzone.co.uk/blogs/derekirvine/strategic-employee-recognition-derek-irvine/engage-employees-helping-them-see-mean#ixzz1UGDxuaMK

Thanks for carrying the engagement disucssion forward!

We seem much on the same page. At some point we should investigate doing a webinar together on our mutual position on the importance of company culture and the ability to proactively manage it through strategic employee recognition.

Best of luck to you, Charlie. I second many of the comments already made. You elevated HRZone to a useful, insightful community where I never fail to learn. I am grateful I had the opportunity to meet you and am sorry to see you go.

In your new endeavours, please do let me know if I can ever be of assitance!

Best regards.

Derek Irvine