Employees are the most significant asset when it comes to business growth. Your employees are at the heart of building customer experiences, growing talent and expertise, and delivering income-generating services and products. Yet employees' opinions are often overlooked. Businesses tend to focus on maintaining employee retention through training opportunities, generous wages, and exciting job titles. As a result, they can miss warning signs that can lead to high turnover rates. Indeed, why do employees quit a job that pays well, provides professional training, and rewarding paths? The answer is simple: Because they don't identify with the business objectives and culture. So how can you make your business meaningful to your staff?
By Team Savant
Image: Laura Davidson
1. Recognise Employee Contributions
It is only fair to let employees know that their hard work is appreciated. Whether the employer chooses to do so via a public praise of you sharing the end-of-year bonus depends entirely on the business resources. Employees do not necessarily crave money as a sign of recognition. More often than not, a sincere thank you can go a long way. As a result, employees who feel they are not valued are more likely to look elsewhere for a job opportunity, regardless of how much they are paid.
2. Give Back To the Community
Employees are connected to and affected by the events in the outside world. As a result, many are anxious about supporting charities and humanitarian activities both in their local communities and all around the world. Employees are typically the first to support and recommend charity campaigns at work, such as developing corporate fundraising ideas, including sports days or auctions to raise donations for charity organisations. Employees are also willing to volunteer for humanitarian actions, such as donating days to support people in need or even joining humanitarian travel to bring their skills to good all around the world.
3. Value Their Expert Opinions
Managers and team leads occupy a specific role within a business, and they are designed to provide organisational guidance and streamline activities within the team. However, when decisions requiring expert skills and knowledge are required, managers must learn to put hierarchy aside and listen to the experts within the team. Employees often feel their opinions are ignored or discarded for the benefit of office politics. Aside from leaving employees frustrated, decisions made without the support of knowledgeable employees who have in-depth knowledge of the market and existing challenges can put the business at risk.
4. Accept Time Constrictions
Employees are the first to suffer in a remote work environment as businesses fail to acknowledge the cost in time for preparation and attendance for multiple video call meetings. Zoom meetings and other platforms have made it possible to maintain a strong bond even with employees who work from home. However, an online meeting can cost a lot of time too. The surge in organising multiple online meetings to cure social isolation in remote teams is counterproductive and can affect the team productivity and work/life balance. Reducing unnecessary meetings and communication during the day to free up actual work time can save employees stress and hassle.
Employees expect their business to build a meaningful platform for their day-to-day tasks, involving the ability to give back to the community and to participate in important business decisions where their skills are required. Becoming more involved in the direction and strategy of the business for employees begins with influencing community activities and expert decisions with the knowledge that their time and services are appreciated and valued fairly.