Why Employee Satisfaction Matters
Employee satisfaction can make your business more profitable. Here’s how to use employee feedback to motivate and engage your staff.
Here's what you need to know:
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Discontented employees cost companies $450 to $550 billion each year.
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Your employees’ experience and satisfaction can help your business grow.
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Engaged employees get more done, stay at companies longer, and innovate
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To improve satisfaction, survey workers, offer team building activities, show appreciation, and be empathetic
Employee satisfaction can make or break your business. Discontented employees cost companies $450 to $550 billion each year.
But what happens when you focus on keeping your employees content and engaged?
Business booms.
When it comes to cutting through the competition, you may not need new technology, fancy promotions, or more marketing. You may need to invest a bit more in your employees’ job satisfaction.
Why does employee satisfaction matter?
Your employees’ experience and satisfaction can help your business grow. Not only will you save money if you focus on improving your staff, but you’ll also make dramatic gains in productivity and revenue.
Engaged employees get more done
You’ll quickly find that employee satisfaction drives productivity. In one Hubspot survey, 69% of employees said they’d work hard if they were appreciated.
The fact is employees disengage and slow down production when they feel burnt out or underserved. Employee feedback allows you to catch these symptoms early and address them.
Satisfied employees are fully present at work
A Gallup study shows that highly engaged workplaces saw 41% lower absenteeism. Absenteeism affects everyone — the workplace, overall productivity, and the bottom line.
Employee feedback gives employees the chance to communicate why they may be dissatisfied in the workplace.
Happy employees stay
Employee turnover costs companies millions of dollars a year. If you don’t ask employees for feedback and implement it, it’s likely that they will leave. However, if they leave without giving you any feedback, you will be unable to make changes for the new hires — thus continuing the turnover spiral and causing you to leak money that could be used on your business.
Engagement drives revenue and innovation
Companies with high employee engagement are 21% more profitable than others. At the end of the day, happy employees contribute more. If you regularly conduct employee feedback surveys, they may also offer you valuable insights that can help create a new product or improve a routine process.
4 ways improve employee satisfaction
Luckily, there are quite a few ways to keep your employees happy and engaged at work without increasing their salary. Here are our top four:
1. Get and respond to employee feedback
If you give out employee feedback surveys, the first thing you can do is let them know how you plan to implement their suggestions and keep them updated on the process.
When managers and employers take action, staff engagement is boosted by up to 63% on average. These employees become more engaged and better trust their managers and company. After all, you’ve shown them that their opinions matter.
2. Plan team building activities
33% of employees feel that collaboration makes them feel more loyal. Team building inside and outside of the workplace can help you boost communication and foster a stronger workplace community.
In addition to setting up get-togethers, don’t forget to encourage breaks for your employees. Not only will they get a few minutes to recharge, but they’ll likely spend that time building relationships with their coworkers.
3. Show appreciation
Sometimes boosting your employees’ satisfaction is as easy as showing appreciation around the office. This can mean offering a simple “thank you”, respecting their time, being open to their preferences, or celebrating their personal and workplace milestones.
4. Be empathetic to employee needs
It’s critical that you understand your employee as a person and not just their strengths or weaknesses in the office. This will help you to better understand their feedback, what responsibilities they can take on, and how they help your business grow.
It can also help you better understand what perks you want to offer — from flexible scheduling to casual Fridays. You can find out what your individual employees need and create a smoother office workplace.
