Dissatisfied employees are a problem. Either they’ll quit and take their talent elsewhere, (leaving you with a gap to fill), or they’ll “quit and remain”, meaning that they’ll physically remain in your office but will have ‘mentally’ handed in their notice.
Want to avoid both these outcomes? Try these methods for improving employee satisfaction:
Give pay rises where you can.
It’s unlikely that you can afford to give everyone a pay rise, but it’s worth investigating whether you have money to increase the salary of some of your employees. You might find that there are some people who are happy in their role except for the fact that they believe they’re working too cheaply, or that they could earn a higher salary elsewhere.
So, factor pay raises into performance reviews, and keep an eye on job adverts in your industry: vacancies tell you what your employees could expect to make elsewhere and what you ought to be paying them right now.
Communicate continuously.
You probably don’t like being kept in the dark, so why assume that your employees are happy to be? Hold regular company-wide meetings to brief people on what’s happening in the wider business. This will ensure that everyone understands the challenges other departments are facing, and will give employees a voice as well as an opportunity to be heard.
Also, an option for individual or anonymous feedback is a good idea too, and make sure that your managers are regularly communicating with their teams – they’ll be able to address problems as and when they arise and stop issues from festering.
Give them the tools they need.
There’s nothing more frustrating for hard-working, talented employees than not having the equipment they need to do their jobs. So, boost satisfaction by making sure everyone has adequate software, access to a proper management system and all the necessary plug-ins and add-ons to stop their computers crashing.
It sounds too simple to have a significant effect, but don’t underestimate the power of upgrading your processes to make sure people are kept in the loop, using tools that enable them to plan, track and communicate their workload with their colleagues. If you’re interested in something like this to boost satisfaction, check out http://upraise.io.
Ensure there are opportunities for development.
While it’s true that very few people would come to work if they weren’t being paid, it’s important to remember that jobs are more than just a source of income. Jobs are actually a space for employees to grow and learn in, so boost satisfaction with proper training. Celebrate your employees’ achievements, and acknowledge when they reach key milestones.
Finally, you can improve satisfaction by making sure everyone has the opportunity to expand beyond their current skillset: just ensure that there are structures in place (such as experienced colleagues and managers) to make sure that learning new things doesn’t become too stressful. After all, learning and development is supposed to push people in a positive way, not send them heading for the exit!
