4Cs Blog: Happy Employees = Happy Customers

Why Employees Who Mask Their Unhappiness Are Lethal

"An organization pays a heavy price when its bright, capable people quit and leave. But it’s even more costly when bright, capable people quit and stay.” — Rodger Dean Duncan

One of the overwhelming challenges of being in HR is being held accountable for maximizing retention and reducing turnover. A great deal of effort and energy gets spent making sure employees don’t quit but there are many times when they do despite it all. Feelings of abandonment must echo the halls of HR when it happens but there are other ways unhappy employees process their environments that are not so obvious but maybe more lethal.

How To Bust Boredom and Be The Change In Your Organization

There Are No Good Reasons To Waste Your Vacation Days

It seems we have forgotten that we have a limited time here on earth as we work ourselves to death to pay our bills when we should be spending our time on worthwhile things that make us happy like family, friends, our passions and our hobbies. Many Americans persist in frittering away and wasting vacation days that are earned and deserved however, denying themselves the chance to rest and relax. In fact many are proud of being  workaholics, which is commonplace and symptomatic of many employees in our culture today; but the reality is when we do the same thing day in and day out, week after week month after month we become dead inside and we forfeit our quality time for what? More work….

Does Office Gossip Help or Hurt Us?

Most of us would agree that office gossip can be deadly.

Many of us also know how much it hurts to be backstabbed by the people who greet us every day with a smile and cheerful ‘hi’ in the hallway. Yet some researchers have shown that gossip can be good for us and it can even be used to enhance relationships. They have even gone so far to say that talking behind someone’s back can bring about increased harmony amongst co-workers. 

Body Language And How it Impacts Employee Engagement

Managers who understand the basic rules of body language have a unique ability to influence employee engagement by their ability to use non-verbal messages to know their employee’s true feelings. U.S. anthropologist and body language expert Ray Birdwhistell discovered decades ago that 95 percent of communication happens in our subconscious minds and then it is expressed through our body language. Taken one step further, Linda Talley, a current expert in body language, says that a person can say something which may not be true but their body language will always tell the truth.

How to Increase Employee Retention With Lean Management Principles

Employee turnover is accelerating, and it’s costing employers money. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, workers are staying with their employers for a little over four years. The average cost of hiring one new employee can range from $1,000 in services industries to as much as $5,000 or more in professional and manufacturing industries, according to Recruiterbox. This includes costs for in-house recruiters, third-party recruiters, advertising, travel, referral bonuses, sign-on bonuses and relocation.

How Work Spouses are Disrupting Morale and Employee Engagement

If coworkers are the unsung heroes of employee retention imagine the impact work spouses could have on reducing turnover. Work spouses are a growing phenomenon in the world of employee research because they tend to be super motivated employees who consequently have a significant impact on job satisfaction and engagement. In understanding your work force it is helpful to know if you employ any of these happy couples and to what extent you are encouraging or discouraging these types of relationships.

Employee Survey Critics Don't Want You To Know This

It is pretty tough to find out that your employees have harsh and negative feelings about you and the way you manage them. Most humans take that kind of stuff personally and sometimes it hurts.

In a perfect world communication would rock and everyone would feel valued and heard and, If communications were truly working as they should, then you wouldn't need to survey employees because everything would be out in the open. In a perfect world bosses would regularly walk up to their employees and ask how it’s going and they would know if they liked their work or not. Conversely employees would feel confident and reassured and would speak the truth; there would be no need for secrets and problems would be solved in a healthy way.

The reality is communications are tough for everyone and chances are if you are considering surveying your employees it is because you know you have problems. A survey won't solve your problems but it is undeniably the most logical first step in solving problems because it will expose the problems and the barriers you are up against so at least you have the basis for an effective action plan.

Don’t be Fooled by Employee Survey Critics...

Bad Bosses Need TLC Too

It is tough to find out that your employees have harsh and negative feelings about you and they way you manage them. We take that kind f stuff personally and sometimes it hurts.

In a perfect world communication would rock and everyone woud feel valued and heard and If communications were truly working as they should then you wouldn't need to survey employees because everything would be out inthe open. In a perfect world bosses would regalarly walk up to and as you how well you like your job. And you would feel confident and reassured about telling them and there would be no secrests and problems would be solved. 

Four Principles That Precede Employee Engagement

In various degrees, we each have natural emotional needs that are as important at work as any other place in our life. Perhaps even more important given the amount of time we dedicate to our jobs. Employee engagement surveys can give you the inside story about how well your employees needs are being met but how well do you understand your employees needs and what steps can you take to ensure you are creating a healthy positive environment to foster higher employee engagement?

It might be helpful to stop focusing in increasing employee engagement and focus on treating employees well instead. When we focus on the needs of others, listen to them and give them opportunities to grow, engagement naturally follows. If you try to squeeze more productivity out of people for the sake of profits they will see that coming and that will breed contempt and frustration but if your heart is in the right place they will see that too. 

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