Good afternoon.
Have you worked someplace where the boss decided, and acted on, what he thought was important to the employees? Or have you, as I have, made that mistake yourself? You can spend a lot of money providing benefits, or addressing issues, for your employees. You could be missing what's most important to them, or doing what matters not to them.
As we've often discussed (
here and
here are recent examples), your people are your most valuable asset. It's important to be sure you're treating them as they would like to be treated (according to a twist on the golden rule - "Do unto others as they would have you do unto them"). This can be a useful guide where employees and customers are your focus.
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Where to Invest in Your Employees' Well-Being?
The purpose of providing benefits, building cultures, and other workplace niceties is to create an environment where employees enjoy their work. Since you're spending money on these things, wouldn't it make sense to spend it where it will do the most good?
When employees enjoy their work, they work more effectively. Most importantly for many businesses, when your employees are happy, they treat your customers well.
Another benefit is that employees who enjoy their work and their workplace stay, and stay loyal. One of the biggest costs in business is replacing employees. So keeping the ones you have can improve your bottom line a bunch.
So how do you know if you're taking care of what's most important to your employees?
The article I'm highlighting this week, by Alison Davis
, whom I've just discovered, focuses on a tried and true method for finding out where you should be focusing your employee-care dollars. Ask your employees what's important to them!
(Alison has written many interesting articles - check them out here - there's a good chance you'll see some of them in future issues of The Unity Community).
In order to keep the atmosphere lively and get good response, find ways to make this a fun game. Davis' article addresses that as well.
So, to recap:
- Ask your employees what matters to them
- Keep your employees happy
- Keep your employees
- Make money
- Enjoy life - and work
