Corporate bosses and small-business owners alike have often struggled to understand why their employee retention rates are so bad, with few of them realizing how important job satisfaction is towards keeping a motivated workforce. Few things cost companies their valued employees more than dismal working conditions which ignite serious dissatisfaction with their jobs, so what should managers and CEOs be doing to keep workers satisfied and ready to achieve in the workplace?
Putting an emphasis on your employee’s mental health and ensuring an open, enjoyable workplace are all crucial towards boosting your retention rates. Job dissatisfaction is hard to fight, but an evil that must be overcome if your company is to succeed; so where should you begin?
Building a satisfied office
Existing data when it comes to job retention isn’t always pretty; some 46% of workers surveyed by IBM said that would accept another job if the opportunity arose, for instance, a dismal figure for managers eager to retain their workers in the face of competitors looking to pull them away. All is not lost, however; building a satisfied office will take time, but with the proper investments you’ll find yourself keeping employees around with more success than ever before.
Millennials in particular are eager to jump ship if they find themselves unhappy in their workspaces, so you should understand from the start the importance of keeping age in mind when it comes to placating your workers. Different employees from different generations will expect have varying expectations, and there’s no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to keeping your employees happy and efficient.
Having an open office environment where employees can come forward with complaints and criticisms, as well as work directly with their managers to better time their shifts, will go a long way towards keeping your workers satisfied. Companies that shut low-level employees out of the conversation when it comes to organizing holidays or other special events, or those businesses which are too strict in their day-to-day operations, are likely to see their workers abandon them in droves.
Having a healthy mentorship program will help curb the stress that your workers are going through, and help build better interpersonal relationships in your office, too. Surveys tell us employees hate having rough bosses more than almost anything else; three out of four employees surveyed reported that their bosses were the most stressful aspects of their job, for instance. Mentor/mentee relationships will help you close the gap between your managers and workers, and build friendships as well as professional relationships that will help glue your office together.
Avoiding common mistakes like micromanaging your employees, too, will help you avoid pushing them away from your company. Building a positive office environment, like Virginia kitchen and bath, necessitates giving your workers some freedom, after all. Help supplement your efforts by expanding your HR team, too; your human capital is perhaps the most important part of your company, and something you can’t afford to shun.
Avoiding a blue workplace
It should come as no surprise that job dissatisfaction is a primary reason workers abandon their companies; who wants to stick around when things are always bleak, and you feel like you’re stuck in a rut going nowhere? Avoiding a blue workplace, then, and placing your employee’s mental health at the forefront of your company’s concerns will help you boost overall satisfaction levels while retaining larger amounts of your dedicated employees.
A surprisingly large amount of your workforce may be dealing with mental or emotional struggles that impact their decision on whether they’ll be staying at your company. Well-being initiatives aren’t just vital from a health standpoint, either; they’re crucial towards fostering a positive office culture and help build the relationships that bind your workers together. If your workers feel as if the company is abandoning them or ignoring their needs, they’ll be all too happy to flock elsewhere; putting your human capital first, then, is a surefire way to boost your retention rates, regardless of the cost incurred.
Making your workers happy certainly isn’t easy; everyone has different wants and needs, and your business can’t afford to forget its profit imperatives. Your workers are the heart and soul of your company, however, and are worth the investments needed to keep them around. Be open to feedback and criticisms about your business operations, and take employee’s demands into account if you hope to see them stick around in the long-term.
Flexibility at work, strong benefits packages, and an inclusive environment that champions diversity are all small steps that you can take towards keeping your workers in the family for years to come. Foster a welcoming office culture, and place your human needs before your business needs, and you’ll find your company retaining more workers in no time as it churns on towards success.
