When looking at a profit and loss statement, there’s never an entry for how satisfied employees are working for your business. Yet it has a direct effect on every aspect of your operation, from productivity to customer service, from innovation to turnover.
Keeping workers happy is something that needs to be among the top priorities of any successful operation. The Marriott hotel chain has a motto that goes, “Take care of your associates and your associates will take care of your customers”, which is something every business can benefit from.
More than Money
If you ask many workers what it would take to make them more satisfied in their jobs, a lot of them probably wouldn’t put “more money” at the top of their list. People value intangible things such as being recognized for a job well done, being made to feel that they are appreciated and that they are making a genuine contribution to the success of the organization.
When your workers feel valued and appreciated, they will give you more every day. They also are less likely to quit and join another organization, less likely to call off when they aren’t truly sick, and less likely to damage your business’s reputation by talking bad about your company to their family, friends, and co-workers.
You also are less likely to have labor problems. And if you don’t already have a collective bargaining agreement, it’s important to note that happy, satisfied workers are less likely to sign union cards.
Ways to Make Workers Feel Appreciated
Making workers feel valued is a top-down effort. It begins with ownership and upper management, who need to get buy-in from managers and supervisors at every level of the organization.
The easiest and best way to make workers valued is to know them personally. People like it when they are called by their name. They will feel a stronger attachment to the place where they work if they feel that people know them there, especially their boss and the upper management.
“Manage by Walking Around” is an effective strategy for getting managers and supervisors to interact with workers on a personal level. Require your management team to have a minimum of one personal interaction with every one of their direct report employees on a daily or weekly basis.
Lead by example by spending more time out on the floor talking to people, asking about their personal lives, and making them feel as if you genuinely care about their well-being and happiness.
Give Credit Where Credit Is Due
Another effective way to improve employee morale is to ask your front line workers for their ideas on how to improve their operation. They actually are in the best position to know because they are the ones dealing with actual products, processes and customers.
Offer rewards for workers who can come up with innovations that improve productivity, increase profits, or improve the customer service experience. You don’t have to spend a lot of money to get a lot of great ideas.