Inspired by the 2000 Rom-Com “What Women Want”, comes the less elusive, more important for your business, “What Workers Want”. A tell-all tale of how to keep a happy workplace, keeping in mind – a happy workplace is an efficient, creative place that clients love coming back to.
Systems, Protocols, Organisation
This means everything from receipt records to your marketing-to-sales handover. One person should not be the keeper of all this information. You are in the business of creating leaders for your brand and company – give workers all the resources they require to achieve results. An outsider’s perspective is a valuable tool in understanding your weaknesses. Maybe even… outside help that can train people and put in place systems and protocols WINK WINK NUDGE NUDGE…that’s us!
Formalise the Learning that’s Already Happening
Create a learning culture in your team. This is how you attract the top talent – people want career development and the ability to succeed. However, chances are lots of learning is already taking place in your workplace…
“We get only 25% or less of what we use in our jobs through formal learning. Yet, most of today’s investment in corporate education is on the formal side,” says David Grebow from the IBM Institute for Advanced Learning. Ways to make this learning more concrete is to introduce coaching, mentor programs and extra training (like from a Hunt and Hawk growth specialist). It’s also about understanding how to move around workloads according to newly acquired skills in your team. Nurturing the learning process, sure may mean an initial expenditure of time, but the ROI is huge when you start having employees come to you with new ideas for your business and a lightened workload for yourself.
Feedback & Positive Reinforcement
Unlike Mel Gibson, in ‘What Women Want’ – there’s no mind-reading happening here! Actively let your workers know how they’re going – especially when it’s good!
A research paper by the American Journal of Industrial and Business Management talks about the difference between Extrinsic Reward (bonuses, increase in salary, gifts) and Intrinsic Reward (praise, delegation, acknowledgement). It found that Extrinsic Reward did not work as effectively in the long-term as Intrinsic Reward i.e. the monetary incentives wore off after a while and instead positive feedback, increased responsibility and greater trust, created a happier workplace (Teen Wei, 2014).
Fair Conditions
This means: fair remuneration for the work done; work/life balance; possibility for promotion; challenging work; job security and appreciation given where it is due.
We’ve all had good bosses, we’ve all had bad bosses. Be a good boss – your workers and business deserve it.
