There is an acute danger of neglecting the wellbeing of your staff.
We often seem to focus on the external profile of our business. Why not? It’s where the profits come from. It’s the face of your company and the reputation that precedes you well before you meet face-to-face with your clients. However, there is a real danger of not glancing back over your shoulder and implementing processes and incentives that create a healthy work environment. Not treating your staff as you would your customers can and will affect your business and profit margin.
1. It’ll cost you
High employee turnover can cost businesses big bucks.
Firstly, there’s the lack of productivity. The resigning staff member leaves a gaping hole that needs to be filled with another. This could mean paying staff overtime to balance productivity levels or, in many cases, taking on the job yourself.
Then there’s the extra cost of retraining a new staff member and waiting out the weeks until they finally fit into the team.
Add to the bill the recruiters, job ads and interview time you’ve had to employ to gain another staff member and watch the dollar signs tick over.
2. You’ll stagnate
Much like a cabinet that changes ministers with the same frequency we mortals change our underwear, changes and progress are difficult to implement if you have a revolving door work force. Each employee brings a set of strengths and ideas that take time to mature. Ideas you and your business could be missing out on.
3. Seething office politics
Much like cancer, disgruntled employees tend to congregate and air out their grievances. This not only further embeds the resentment they have for work but, much like cancer, it can infiltrate many a staff member who didn’t have a problem in the first place.
Once the resentment builds to a crescendo, your business will either experience mutany (where the entire staff team threaten to walk) or a Titanic-like situation, with many jumping the boat before it sinks.
4. Loss of business
Disgruntled employees tend to have a knock-on effect. Their resentment towards work is reflected outward which, in turn, will be picked up by your customers and clients. This equals to you, not only losing staff members but potential business as well.
What is the solution?
Don’t be the only human left in your company.
Focus on the internal environment of your company.
1.Much like with your customers, you need to provide an outlet for them to air their grievances to you, or to a trusted staff member. This will alleviate festering office politics and make staff members feel that they have a voice.
2.The second step is to provide incentives for hard work. More often than not, employees complain about putting in the hours and passion to complete tasks without so much as a thanks or incentive for working harder.
Sometimes all the gratitude needed is acknowledgement for their hard work, or a few staff perks along the way.
Others may involve bonuses that are not completely impossible to achieve. You reward loyal customers, why wouldn’t you reward your staff?
3.Get to know your staff members. We invest thousands of dollars to analyse our customers and clients, we should be investing time to figure out how our employees tick. That way, we are able to allocate them to work in groups that are either like-minded or are strong where your employee is lacking. This also alleviates training bills, as they have the opportunity to learn on the job.
Need a bit more of business nudge?
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