When a prospective employee submits their résumé for consideration to an employer seeking to fill a vacancy within their organization, a question often asked is “What employee benefits are there?” And while employee benefits are often a vital factor that is taken into consideration when accepting a position with a company, another aspect that fails to be disclosed is how the Employer, themselves, treat their employees.
In an ideal world, employers are understanding, considerate, patient, and generous; regrettably, these traits are few and far between therefore resulting in unhappy staff and when staff are treated poorly it has been proven in numerous case studies that the employees morale drastically decline in turn impacting their overall productivity and the company’s profits.
According to Psychology Today, happy staff spends 80% of their time on task while regrettably, unhappy employees admit to only being 40% on task. Additionally, unhappy employees have proven to be more frequently absent than those employees that are happy.
Now sit and think about that for a moment.
If your happiest staff are on task 80% of the time, that percentage represents 4 full work days, whereas unhappy employees are only said to be on task 40% which equates to only being productive 2 work days a week. That’s 60% at less throughput which, if translated into a dollar amount can legitimately cost tens, possibly hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in lost revenue due to productivity, or lack thereof.
It’s been stated that it costs, on average, over $35,000 (USD) to replace an employee when they leave. This figure includes both the logistical costs of replacing someone as well as the lost output required while having to go through the grueling process of finding a replacement, having to train them to get them up to speed, and getting that member to a productive place to confidently handle their new position. All these facets of employee happiness have proven to play a role in overall productivity for companies, which have monitored, and evaluated, based upon data collected, over a period to proactively improve upon their employee’s daily work environment.
Global giant Google is one of the prime examples used in many case studies conducted to highlight how focusing energy on your employee’s happiness can ultimately affect your company’s overall success. While Google was still in its infancy era, a contagiously happy software engineer named Chade-Meng Tan was recognized for his motivational qualities and was quickly promoted to “Jolly Good Fellow” where his primary job went from developing mobile apps to ensuring that happiness was spread across the Google organization.
Now let’s be realistic, not all employers are created equal and not every company can afford to have regular incentives to offer their employees, however, some easy-to-implement habits are strongly advised and cost nothing other than your time and consideration which can drastically impact how your staff feels when coming to work.
Communication
A key component in any and ALL relationships throughout life. From how you maintain friendships to the memories created with family. The ability to openly and frequently communicate with peers and partners is almost as important as the air we breathe. In a work environment, failure to sufficiently communicate on a regular basis could be the make or break of productivity and positive successes. If a staff member is feeling underappreciated, and are unable to voice this emotion, they will progressively spiral downhill, be far less productive and eventually over time will seek work elsewhere. In an effort to avoid such a situation, it is advised to hold regular staff meetings where all peers can bring new ideas to the table, visit their failures and successes and potentially feel inspired by those peers that display more confidence. Teams who encourage, support and appreciate each other equates to better problem-solving techniques and success.
Fairness
Understanding that everyone has a life outside of work which may sometimes interfere and require attention is an attribute required in this day in age where workers are also juggling parents, unlike prior to the 1960’s where it was the norm for a woman to stay home and take care of the children.
Providing flexibility, fair pay, and acknowledgment that on occasion an employee has to take little Johnny to the dentist makes it more effortless to the employee to handle and approach with management. People have always flourished when their employers are responsive to their needs, therefore continuing the pattern of a positive approach.
Empowerment
If you’ve hired someone with the intent to have them do something, display trust and confidence in their ability until proven otherwise. Playing to people’s strengths can unleash truly inspiring results. Furthermore, it’s proven that when employees are given the reins to be themselves, they display far more confidence and generally excel.
Inspiration
In order to lead, you must first lead by example. If an employer is belittling an employee, is disrespectful, inconsiderate and displays negative behavior, it is only natural for an employee to follow suit. One cannot expect to remain in a positive mindset if the leader of the pack is making the environment so miserable that you can cut the tension with a knife or is constantly found contradicting things they’ve said. Inspiration is often derived from those that lead and do so in a fun-loving and approachable aspect.
Never has an employee said,
“I love when my boss undermines my ideas and makes me feel incompetent”.
Maintaining a happy, motivated, and well-oiled team requires effort and is not about free lunches and random bonuses. It’s about mutual respect, how they’re being treated by their employer, and whether they are valued. Reminders to the staff of how important they are to you and your business are not only suggested but encouraged as people are more inclined to rise above to succeed if they’re given invigorating compliments from their superiors and peers rather than constant nagging and disappointment.
It’s clear, that if you treat your employees well, this then creates a bond and trust that will thrive whereby those employees will work harder, be more efficient at their job, and generally strive to do more for the company that is treating them so well as a consequence of the employer’s investment.
