Do You Have A Happy Staff?
Claude Oppenheim, Ph.D., President Exit interviews are commonly used to learn how staff members felt about their experience. This information can be used by managers to assess their workplace, and to make changes. But surely it makes at least as much sense to find out how continuing employees feel.
Some want a better work/life balance, which is another way of saying they want to work less, leaving time for other things. However, for others, work is their hobby, and no amount of time spent on work seems to be too much. For some, more money is very important. For others, a flexible work schedule is much more valuable. Some crave responsibility, others do not. For many, the opportunity to develop their skills is very important.
For most employees, the “feel” or culture of the workplace matters a great deal. Is the boss seen as fair, competent, trustworthy, and pleasant? Are the co-workers congenial? Do all pull their weight? While for some, the nature of the work is paramount, for others the environment much more so.
Managers need to know what is important to their workers to be able to retain and motivate them. Do you know how they perceive their immediate supervisor, which is often seen as the most important factor in how employees feel?
If you assume you know, but don’t check it out, you may be wasting resources on providing “incentives” which bring no results because wrong assumptions have been made about what is important to your employees. Or you may risk unnecessarily losing valuable employees. Having and using good measurements of staff satisfaction can be a vital tool in ensuring a happy staff, and a successful, organization.
Oppenheim Education and Management Consulting offers consulting and training on governance, leadership, administration, and program and performance evaluation. |