Why should you care if your employees are happy and satisfied? Isnβt just getting the job done enough? Unhappy employees can lead to assumptions about whether or not your business is a great place to work β and whether or not customers want to give you their business. Countless studies highlight the links between strong employee morale and customer satisfaction.
So how do you make sure your employees are happy and satisfied? Sarah Field, author and moderator for the SBA.gov Community, shares these tips:
- You might be a good manager, but are you a good leader? In addition to managing projects and workload, make sure youβre also focused on inspiring your team to excel and succeed.
- Listen and show that you care about your employeesβ work, concerns, and aspirations. Whether you introduce a mentor program or one-on-one meetings, your employees will be more engaged and productive when they feel seen and heard. Consider a social outing like a lunch or a social event for the entire team.
- Let employees make some decisions independently when they are closer to the action than you are and more likely to make the right call. Mentor them to consider customers, the team, and the profitability.
- Give employees room to creatively address everyday challenges, whether itβs suggesting process improvement for managing inventory or researching a new technology solution for your invoicing system.
- Schedule regular βlunch and learnβ sessions to give employees the opportunity to learn and connect with one another over the lunch hour about a specific business topic. Whether youβre discussing team goals and performance, holding a βshow and tellβ with a partner, or bringing in a guest speaker, getting everyone together in one room sheds light on new ways of doing things and makes the lunch hour energizing and engaging.
- We all appreciate being thanked, but taking the extra step to use a hand-written note, a gift card, or other gestures to recognize achievement can make a big difference in making employees feel appreciated.
