4Cs Blog: Happy Employees = Happy Customers

Employee Surveys Find that Contract Workers Hurt Morale

A recent survey taken in India has offered some interesting results that might cause a downward trend in employee morale surveys. It followed several different sectors that included telecom, IT, healthcare and manufacturing. What researchers found was that the amount of regular employees were shrinking each year. In many sectors, contract employees are replacing regular employees as the main source of new workers. This means that permanent jobs are becoming less commonplace, affecting job stability across every sector. Job growth and corporate growth is also affected, leaving experts to believe that employee morale will be next to take a dive.

Though the survey applies to India, the same trend is starting to happen some in the United States. Companies are afraid to grow due to the current state of the economy, which has not fully recovered from the 2008 collapse. What this means for many employees is that jobs are becoming scarce in many fields, and lateral movement is less likely. Employers already struggle with morale and engagement in the US.

Disengaged employees make up close to 70% of the workforce, something that employers want to fix. However, many do not have the tools to do so. A plan of action is needed to strengthen the bonds between managers and employees. This process starts with an employee morale survey. The information gleaned from this survey will help employers to know what their weaknesses are. To learn more about how an employee morale survey will help your business, contact us at Insightlink Communications for viable options.  

What Drives Employees Away

Disengaged employees are a problem in the United States, more so than many other countries around the world. It seems that so many companies either do not know what their employees want or need, or they just do not care.

However, when the bottom line starts to suffer, it may be time to take heed and look into why the employees are not happy. There are many reasons why an employee might leave an organization, but here are some shocking facts: Only about 12% of employees leave for more money 75% leave to quit their bosses Barely 25% of businesses have an engagement strategy Less than half of engaged employees receive feedback More than 70% of all employees are disengaged Only 40% of employees knows their company’s goals These facts on engagement are sobering.

According to the statistics, many companies are broken. Their employees are just not happy, which leads to high turnover and lackluster sales. Many other countries around the world have engagement rates near or above 60%, while in the US we are at 30%. There are ways to solve the engagement issue. Studies have shown that engagement strategies have a positive impact on business success.

In fact, businesses who have mostly engaged employees have sales that are 2 to 2.5 times more than a company who has mostly disengaged employees. Engagement will take time to fix. An employee survey will help companies to understand what their employees desire. Then, it is up to them to put a plan in action.  

What Makes Employees Most Happy at Work?

The Top 5 in Forbes' Employee Satisfaction List

The top employers have one major thing in common: their employees are happy. Each year Forbes compiles these great employers into a list, the “100 Best Companies to Work For." This means that employees are loud and proud about their jobs. Employee surveys are conducted each year through the Great Place to Work Institute for use in Forbes’ yearly publication.

Below are the top 5 companies from the list.

Best Employee Benefits From Big Companies

Unfortunately, there are many people in the workforce that do not enjoy their jobs or the companies they work for. This can be for a variety of reasons, but a common reason is that the employee does not feel appreciated or valued. Employers that offer employee benefits tend to have a more loyal staff.

Importance of Employee Benefits
Employee benefits are a great way for employers to show staff that each person is a valued member of the team. This can lead to more satisfied employees and fosters a sense of loyalty to the company. Satisfied employees are more likely to be more productive which can greatly profit the company they are working for. These companies that offer employee benefits usually see a higher percentage of employee retention, cutting any costs associated with hiring and training new employees.

Common Benefits
Each company offers different employee benefits, but some of these benefits are more commonplace. One of the main benefits includes offering employees health, dental and vision insurance. Other common benefits include sick and vacation pay so that employees have time to rest and recuperate when sick or overwhelmed.

Offer More than the Competition
Some companies are choosing to go above and beyond in employee satisfaction. These corporations are offering some of the best employee benefits in the business, allowing them to keep their valued staff.

Employee Engagement and Outcomes

It has been established that employee engagement does help businesses to prosper. However, the full effects of this are not completely transparent. Many studies have been done to try to see the whole impact of employee engagement on the company.

Disengaged employees definitely bring a business down, so what about engaged employees? There are over 30 studies that show correlation in several key areas when it comes to engaged employees:      

Several Keys to Job Satisfaction

Several Keys to Job Satisfaction

Achieving employee engagement or satisfaction is the goal of many companies. This is because happy employees complete more work in less time and with better quality than the employees who do not care about their jobs. One way that employers judge how their employees feel is with an employee satisfaction survey.
This employee survey often tells you several things:

• The employee is/is not happy
• What the employee is unhappy about
• Possible ways to solve this issue

In addition to the surveys, the University of Leicester in England has found that there are several other ways to improve job satisfaction. One of the most important ways is variety. It will lessen the stress on most employees and make them more satisfied. It really proves that boring and tedious are not the way to go.
Freely sharing information about projects, feedback, and consulting with employees also boosts morale and productivity. This type of management style falls under what is referred to as a “high performance work system.” It really works! This styles of management gives employees more involvement in their own companies. In doing this, employees are happier and engaged.
All in all, the way a company designs their jobs will have the greatest impact on employees. However, the way employees are treated also plays a major role in satisfaction. In delivering the best possible workplace, the company must learn to communicate in a nurturing way to employees, while giving them more investment (mentally) in the company. This is truly the best way to raise productivity, morale, and quality.

Smaller Businesses vs. Larger Corporations: Employee Engagement

When looking at working for a smaller company versus a larger corporation, the issue of job satisfaction might come up. The larger corporation most certainly might offer employees more, but that does not always make it a better place to work. Research has proved that sometimes the smaller businesses win out when it comes to employee satisfaction.

Why is this? Often the answer is quite clear: smaller businesses usually have more time for personalized management. This simply means that employees usually have more stake in the company, more involvement, and more one-on-one time spent collaborating. Successful small businesses often hit all those points without difficulty because their employees are fully engaged and satisfied with their work.

This is why larger companies with engagement problems need to create and implement an employee morale survey. This will allow management to see where employees are not satisfied. Then, correcting these issues should boost morale. This is not a short or completely easy process, by any means, but with dedication, it can be done.

When the larger corporations start working out the engagement issues with their employees, they need to start slow. They should create measurable goals in each department. The first thing each department should consider is getting employees more involved with the company. Getting everyone involved and on the same page is a good start.

Once large corporations institute programs designed to help with employee engagement, they need to implement another employee morale survey. The data returned will be the deciding factor of whether or not the program is working and if it should continue. Tracking profits and productivity during this time will also help to determine if a difference was made.

The Top 5 Employee Satisfaction Survey Questions Explained

The employee satisfaction survey is a good measure of how happy and engaged your employees are in their jobs. Knowing what the problem areas are in your organization will help you to make the changes needed to have a higher percentage of engaged employees. Below are five of the most popular questions to be asked on employee satisfaction surveys.

The Secrets to Employee Engagement

Employee engagement is a goal that most corporations spend a lot of time and effort to meet. It is not easy, since in America, alone, only 30% on average of employees are considered to be engaged.

The other 70% fall either in the middle, where they are just striding along, or they are in the category of being actively disengaged. More employees fall in the middle, than actively disengaged, but they are still a problem. Successful companies employ many different strategies to keep their employees engaged. The first order of business is to identify just how many disengaged employees you have. This is easily implemented with a staff satisfaction survey.

This survey includes targeted questions on topics ranging from opinions on policies, to how happy the employee is with his or her job. Open-ended questions are an excellent tool to see exactly how employees feel. Carefully measure management in these surveys. Publicizing the results of the survey will often yield great results. There, the managers can let the employees know that they care and ask for suggestions to improve.

This accomplishes two things:  it tells your employees that you are concerned about them, and it gets them involved in finding a solution as a team. Employee engagement does not really have a secret formula. You have to make it a priority. A common excuse for not doing so is that of finances, but employing a survey and maybe a meeting or two will not add much in additional costs. Plus, with most of your employees engaged, studies show that sales and profits tend to trend upward.  

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