Four Keys to Creating High Employee Morale and Satisfaction
Recently, during a Q & A session at the end of one of my presentations on Igniting Innovation Within Your Employees a person asked, “How can I improve my employee’s morale and satisfaction?” This is a very good question because having a high level of morale and employee satisfaction may very well determine how motivated and engaged your personnel are. And great employee engagement will yield you happy customers and increased revenue and profits.
A Pet Peeve of Many Business Owners
Over the years I have had countless discussions with business owners regarding the challenge of getting their personnel truly motivated. This is often a pet peeve of many business owners. Obviously, if a business owner or leader is going to achieve their business goals they need satisfied and productive employees. Some company owners feel that if they are paying a fair wage, what more could employees want? Just paying a fair wage is not going to get you the high employee morale and motivation you desire.
Achieving Employee Satisfaction
What is necessary to have satisfied employees with high morale? I won’t try to cover this entire topic in this
newsletter (on which thousands of books have been written), but I will share with you the most important things that have come up in this area with the 1,200 companies with which we have worked.
First of all, we must separate “motivators” from “non-motivators” in the workplace. Motivators are things that will actually increase an employee’s performance over their normal “base line” on a continuing basis. The presence of motivators puts your staff in the “zone.” The absence of a “motivator” becomes an impediment to having a contented and productive employee. Contrarily, a non-motivator is a “given,” something that is expected as part of the employee-employer relationship. The providing of a non-motivator, such as continued employment, reasonable compensation or fringe benefits merely gets you to the base line.
Let’s examine four motivators.
A Team Atmosphere
Many studies have shown employees want to work in a true collaborative, team environment. This includes getting constructive input, support and encouragement from team members. In settings like this they are more content and productive than in a non-team environment.
A key element of creating a team atmosphere is to communicate and practice the concept “we all depend on each other” and we are all working towards a common and shared goal. Just like the players in football team where there is mutual commitment to the other team members, employees end up feeling bonded to fellow employees and, therefore, to the business that is creating the team environment.
The development of a team environment is the single most influential step in creating motivated and highly satisfied personnel.
Making a Difference in Their Customers’ Lives
Employees find it extremely gratifying to know they are positively impacting their customers’ lives by enabling them achieve the goals related to your product. Environments that share customer testimonials with their staff and tie this to the employees’ actions harvest a high level of morale and satisfaction.
It is critical to celebrate the positive results your workforce is providing to your customers on a regular basis. This should involve sharing both individual and group recognition of the difference your personnel are making in your customer’s lives.
Employee’s Opinions Being Solicited, Valued, and Used
By nature, people want to be able to influence, effect, or change their future in a positive way. When an organization invites employees to provide input on various issues impacting their work environment and your business in general, they appropriately feel this is “my company” because they had a say in its operations.
This sense of quasi ownership causes most people to work harder, go the “extra mile,” and look out for the business’ good. This results in people thinking outside the box to try to make the company better. All of these actions translate into two things: first, employees are more motivated which results in better performance; second, the business performs better.
Your Business Impacting the World in A Positive Way
Various surveys have shown people are happiest when they feel they are part of something bigger than themselves. Most people realize that there is relatively little that they can do on their own to positively impact the world.
If an employee shares a “vision” to impact the world in the same way as their employer, they may even work for an organization for free (e.g., Peace Corps), or at a compensation level that is less than a market level. They will work long, hard hours and be extremely productive because they “believe in” what they are doing—it is more than a job.
Therefore, to harvest this benefit you want consider how your company is making the world a better place and convey this to your personnel. This information should be shared on a periodic basis and in creative and engaging ways.
If you need assistance with creating a positive and motivational work environment please contact us because we can show you how to do this and obtain the high employee morale and satisfaction that will yield you happy customers and increased revenue and profits.
Fountainhead Consulting Group, Inc. is an Innovation and Business Planning firm. During the past 17 years we have shown over 1,200 companies how to achieve the goals for their business by using our unique, comprehensive and systematic business planning and growth methodology, the Structure of Success™ so they can Work Less, Make More and most importantly Have Fun in Their Business. Using our Structure of Success™ methodology each month we examine one of 12 areas of a business or organization.
Office phone: (770) 642-4220
www.FountainheadConsultingGroup.com
George.Horrigan@FountainheadConsultingGroup.com
