4Cs Blog: Happy Employees = Happy Customers

If coworkers are the unsung heroes of employee retention imagine the impact work spouses could have on reducing turnover. Work spouses are a growing phenomenon in the world of employee research because they tend to be super motivated employees who consequently have a significant impact on job satisfaction and engagement. In understanding your work force it is helpful to know if you employ any of these happy couples and to what extent you are encouraging or discouraging these types of relationships.

It is pretty tough to find out that your employees have harsh and negative feelings about you and the way you manage them. Most humans take that kind of stuff personally and sometimes it hurts.

In a perfect world communication would rock and everyone would feel valued and heard and, If communications were truly working as they should, then you wouldn't need to survey employees because everything would be out in the open. In a perfect world bosses would regularly walk up to their employees and ask how it’s going and they would know if they liked their work or not. Conversely employees would feel confident and reassured and would speak the truth; there would be no need for secrets and problems would be solved in a healthy way.

The reality is communications are tough for everyone and chances are if you are considering surveying your employees it is because you know you have problems. A survey won't solve your problems but it is undeniably the most logical first step in solving problems because it will expose the problems and the barriers you are up against so at least you have the basis for an effective action plan.

Don’t be Fooled by Employee Survey Critics...

It is tough to find out that your employees have harsh and negative feelings about you and they way you manage them. We take that kind f stuff personally and sometimes it hurts.

In a perfect world communication would rock and everyone woud feel valued and heard and If communications were truly working as they should then you wouldn't need to survey employees because everything would be out inthe open. In a perfect world bosses would regalarly walk up to and as you how well you like your job. And you would feel confident and reassured about telling them and there would be no secrests and problems would be solved. 

In various degrees, we each have natural emotional needs that are as important at work as any other place in our life. Perhaps even more important given the amount of time we dedicate to our jobs. Employee engagement surveys can give you the inside story about how well your employees needs are being met but how well do you understand your employees needs and what steps can you take to ensure you are creating a healthy positive environment to foster higher employee engagement?

It might be helpful to stop focusing in increasing employee engagement and focus on treating employees well instead. When we focus on the needs of others, listen to them and give them opportunities to grow, engagement naturally follows. If you try to squeeze more productivity out of people for the sake of profits they will see that coming and that will breed contempt and frustration but if your heart is in the right place they will see that too. 

Employee Engagement hovers around 30% in the U.S. which means 7 out of 10 people hate Monday!

A statistic like that begs us all to wonder what is happening in our own workplaces and how many people are enjoying or hating their jobs. Sure you can ask around or you can take a guess but the only safe and sure way to know is to survey your employees. The only way to know what your employee think is to ask them about their jobs and where they work.

 

We all know that organizations with engaged employees are more successful. We also know that every workplace has its drama,  issues, problems, awkward moments and funny stories. But this week our hat goes off to the people in HR who have the privilege of handling the people we have affectionately come to know as 'helicopter parents'. In an article written by Dana Wilkie that was published by SHRM last week, Wilkes gives us the inside view on some of the most outrageous stunts pulled by helicopter parents. And, as we consider the possibility of any of these happening in our organizations, we wonder if any of these kinds of experiences would make you say yes or no to the hopeful young person applying for the job. 

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