4Cs Blog: Happy Employees = Happy Customers

The Top 10 Motivators of U.S. Employees

In a 10-part series, Robert Gray, President of Insightlink Communications, answers this question based on results from Insightlink’s Survey of the American Workplace. Through this annual survey, completed by thousands of U.S. employees, Insightlink has identified the 10 most critical influences on job satisfaction and can also show how well most companies are performing on these same factors. In this series, Robert will summarize each of these drivers and give practical direction on what action really needs to be taken.
Enjoyment

There is no shortage of controversial topics these days — be it political, religious, racial or otherwise. Managers, human resources professionals and business executives alike are often faced with the duty of navigating the sometimes murky waters of facilitating conversations around these topics.

Though it’s important to ensure employees feel valued and comfortable to express their opinions freely, careful, thoughtful intervention on controversial topics is equally important. It’s also key that hard-to-discuss topics are dealt with professionally from an HR standpoint not only to avoid litigation, but also to ensure employee satisfaction, engagement and retention. As an HR professional, your responsibility is to keep an ear out for controversial conversations among staff in order to intervene and diffuse them before they escalate into potentially volatile situations. And remember, it is an employer’s duty to protect employees from abuse in the workplace...which can stem from controversial conversations.

Millenials, have earned a reputation for being loyalty-lite…..they may not be hard wired to quit, but they do not necessarily plan to stay with their jobs for the long term. This leaves companies and HR departments struggling to find solutions and ways to retain them as long as possible, so as to avoid the costly process of replacing them. In addition, millennials appear to have realized that that loyalty doesn’t necessarily bring rewards or even security in today’s fluctuating economy.

In fact, a recent study by PWC found that the number of employers millenials expect to have over their lifetimes has increased substantially over the past few years. One-in-four expect to work for six or more different companies in total and 54% expect to have between 2 and 5 employers during their working lives.

Although a high rate of millennial turnover may be inevitable, having a plan to offset it may help slow it and reduce its negative impact. Organizations can no longer afford to assume new hires should feel lucky to have been hired. Instead, they need to invest in their new hires to make sure they know how lucky you feel to have them. Employers can’t sit around and wait for new hires to "fall in love" with the organization. They need to monitor the onboarding process and check for signs that it’s supporting new employees. Recognizing and addressing problems when they occur will help create long-lasting and successful employment relationships.

Employees Feel it Every Single Day

If your organization suffers low morale, employees are going to feel it every single day. And they are going to express it every day in a variety of ways that ultimately are going to affect your bottom line. 
According to sociologist Alexander Leighton, "morale is the capacity of a group of people to pull together persistently and consistently in pursuit of a common purpose."
For your organization to thrive, it's essential to take the time to develop good morale.
Almost by definition low morale will produce unhappy employees. Instead of puling together, low morale will them apart…it eats away at employees over time. Once they start feeling they they are giving more than they are getting, their productivity will fall, they find new jobs and they quit, they start calling in sick more often, and bring others down by speaking openly and negatively. Working for an organization where morale is high feels great, but when it’s low it feels bad.

The dot-com culture has changed the traditional brick-and-mortar workplace culture. There is something creative and energetic in the free flowing, open workspace atmosphere. Part of the dot-com appeal is the indoor/outdoor blend that harkens back to the days of a garage-based office with the door wide open. Getting your staff to enjoy some nature time can bring up productivity, creativity and job satisfaction.

It is hard to know what sacrifices are worth making to get ahead in your career. Many people dream of traveling abroad, but fear that taking time off from their current job or from the job hunt will have a negative impact. On the contrary, time spent traveling has proven to pay dividends in both job growth and resume building.

Not all travel is created equal when it comes to your career, though. A week spent lounging on the beach of an all-inclusive resort in Mexico may reduce stress and make you a more productive worker but will probably not impact your career trajectory or impress future employers. Instead, consider travel that will broaden your understanding of other cultures and customs while challenging you to get outside your comfort zone. 

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