Employers and employees sometimes have different opinions about how important employee satisfaction is.
Does it really matter if an employee is happy with the working conditions or environment?
Which of the employees below will be more productive?
Which would you rather have?
In response to a report about an employee's concern, one employer callously said, "Fire her. We'll get someone else. The company is like a train. There will always be people getting on and off at every train station."
He obviously did not care the least bit about his employees.
Everyone is replaceable. Or are they?
What some companies fail to realize is that it costs more to lose employees than to retain them.
Consider an example:
An employee who has been working for the company for 10 years hands in his resignation because he is unhappy that his concerns or complaints are not being addressed. The company spends time and money on advertising for the position, the recruitment process and hiring a replacement. The replacement has to be trained to reach the level that the exiting employee was at, which might take more than a few months. During those 10 years, the employee had formed relationships. With his departure, the other employees have lost a friend or a mentor. If they had similar concerns or complaints, they may follow suit.
Replacing an employee is possible, but closing the gap left by the exiting employee will take considerable time and expense.
Some tips for employers:
- Address legitimate concerns or complaints from your employees. Do not regard them as a criticism of the company or of management styles, but as an opportunity to improve.
- Do not clip your employees' wings to keep them in their place, or micro-manage them. When your employees thrive, they will soar and so will the company.
- Address performance issues immediately. If an employee's poor performance or bad behaviour is allowed to slide, it affects both them and their colleagues negatively.
- Show your employees that you value them beyond the workplace. For example, if an employee is given sick leave, are you more concerned about who will do their job than about their wellbeing? Or if they are involved in an accident with the company vehicle, do you ask first about the vehicle?
HOW TO IMPROVE RETENTION:
- Foster a learning culture, where employees are provided with the opportunity to learn, and the necessary tools to succeed. Once your team stops learning, there is nothing left for them to do, and they become miserable.
- Appreciate all employee contributions, big or small. This can take different forms from a simple "thank you" to “on the podium” addresses. Recognition, no matter how small or simple, will improve employee satisfaction.
- More than ever before, we have seen that soft skills are powerful in keeping the whole organization together in the midst of challenges. Invest in soft skills training, especially for your leadership team.
- Meaningful reward or benefits systems will go a long way in employee satisfaction. If possible, invite suggestions or input from employees.
- Periodic employee satisfaction surveys or pulse surveys will help the company get the feel of employee morale, measure satisfaction and mitigate risk factors.
- Find opportunities to communicate with the team and if necessary, improve communication within the organization. Employees value clear communication and honest feedback.
- Promote mental-wellbeing in the workplace, and at home.
- Investigate reasons for turnover. Exit interviews are still an effective way to do so. But even when an employee has long left, reach out to them and find out what they thought could have been done differently. You might be surprised at the result.
Back to the employer mentioned earlier. Sadly, his company soon went out of business. Not only were the employees affected by his attitude toward them, but his clients did not appreciate the way he treated his employees and did not want to deal with him.
Clearly, employees need to feel appreciated at work. But it is not the sole responsibility of the employer to make sure there is employee satisfaction. What can employees do to contribute to a productive and satisfying work environment?
Watch out for Part 2!
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