4Cs Blog: Happy Employees = Happy Customers

The top employers have one major thing in common: their employees are happy. Each year Forbes compiles these great employers into a list, the “100 Best Companies to Work For." This means that employees are loud and proud about their jobs. Employee surveys are conducted each year through the Great Place to Work Institute for use in Forbes’ yearly publication.

Below are the top 5 companies from the list.

Unfortunately, there are many people in the workforce that do not enjoy their jobs or the companies they work for. This can be for a variety of reasons, but a common reason is that the employee does not feel appreciated or valued. Employers that offer employee benefits tend to have a more loyal staff.

Importance of Employee Benefits
Employee benefits are a great way for employers to show staff that each person is a valued member of the team. This can lead to more satisfied employees and fosters a sense of loyalty to the company. Satisfied employees are more likely to be more productive which can greatly profit the company they are working for. These companies that offer employee benefits usually see a higher percentage of employee retention, cutting any costs associated with hiring and training new employees.

Common Benefits
Each company offers different employee benefits, but some of these benefits are more commonplace. One of the main benefits includes offering employees health, dental and vision insurance. Other common benefits include sick and vacation pay so that employees have time to rest and recuperate when sick or overwhelmed.

Offer More than the Competition
Some companies are choosing to go above and beyond in employee satisfaction. These corporations are offering some of the best employee benefits in the business, allowing them to keep their valued staff.

It has been established that employee engagement does help businesses to prosper. However, the full effects of this are not completely transparent. Many studies have been done to try to see the whole impact of employee engagement on the company.

Disengaged employees definitely bring a business down, so what about engaged employees? There are over 30 studies that show correlation in several key areas when it comes to engaged employees:      

Several Keys to Job Satisfaction

Achieving employee engagement or satisfaction is the goal of many companies. This is because happy employees complete more work in less time and with better quality than the employees who do not care about their jobs. One way that employers judge how their employees feel is with an employee satisfaction survey.
This employee survey often tells you several things:

• The employee is/is not happy
• What the employee is unhappy about
• Possible ways to solve this issue

In addition to the surveys, the University of Leicester in England has found that there are several other ways to improve job satisfaction. One of the most important ways is variety. It will lessen the stress on most employees and make them more satisfied. It really proves that boring and tedious are not the way to go.
Freely sharing information about projects, feedback, and consulting with employees also boosts morale and productivity. This type of management style falls under what is referred to as a “high performance work system.” It really works! This styles of management gives employees more involvement in their own companies. In doing this, employees are happier and engaged.
All in all, the way a company designs their jobs will have the greatest impact on employees. However, the way employees are treated also plays a major role in satisfaction. In delivering the best possible workplace, the company must learn to communicate in a nurturing way to employees, while giving them more investment (mentally) in the company. This is truly the best way to raise productivity, morale, and quality.

When looking at working for a smaller company versus a larger corporation, the issue of job satisfaction might come up. The larger corporation most certainly might offer employees more, but that does not always make it a better place to work. Research has proved that sometimes the smaller businesses win out when it comes to employee satisfaction.

Why is this? Often the answer is quite clear: smaller businesses usually have more time for personalized management. This simply means that employees usually have more stake in the company, more involvement, and more one-on-one time spent collaborating. Successful small businesses often hit all those points without difficulty because their employees are fully engaged and satisfied with their work.

This is why larger companies with engagement problems need to create and implement an employee morale survey. This will allow management to see where employees are not satisfied. Then, correcting these issues should boost morale. This is not a short or completely easy process, by any means, but with dedication, it can be done.

When the larger corporations start working out the engagement issues with their employees, they need to start slow. They should create measurable goals in each department. The first thing each department should consider is getting employees more involved with the company. Getting everyone involved and on the same page is a good start.

Once large corporations institute programs designed to help with employee engagement, they need to implement another employee morale survey. The data returned will be the deciding factor of whether or not the program is working and if it should continue. Tracking profits and productivity during this time will also help to determine if a difference was made.

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