Sometimes, you might get a hint that your employees are not satisfied with their jobs. It might be how they act at work, a rumor you hear from other employees, or a comment an employee might even tell you outright that they are not pleased for one reason or another. As a leader, you must strive to correct these situations. Your goal should be to make every employee feel as though they hit the jackpot with their job. Are you always going to achieve this goal with every employee? Of course not, but the goal should still be one that you strive for each day when interacting with employees and deciding on pay and benefits.
An Important Link
Management must always remember that employees are the link between customers and the business…a very important and necessary link. Therefore, employees must be motivated, energetic, and optimistic when dealing with customers. They represent the business to the public.
It is not only distressing to management when employees have a negative attitude about their work and the company, but it is also detrimental to the profits and success of a business. Although management might not always see negative attitudes exhibited by employees, be rest assured that customers certainly see negative attitudes coming from employees.
At one time or another, you have probably personally dealt with another business and thought to yourself, “Well, there’s an employee who hates his job.” What does this tell you or another customer about the business? Most likely, the underlying thought is that somehow for one reason or a variety of reasons, a high priority is not placed on employee satisfaction. This shows through to customers who might even think that, perhaps, a high priority will also not be placed on customer service, as well.
Communication and Mentoring Employees
Many small business owners and management never think about ongoing communication and mentoring of employees and the positive impact it can have on employee attitudes and efficiency regardless of position. At any job level, employees want to feel valued. Communication and mentoring are both beneficial and necessary, which leads to increased job satisfaction.
Employees:
· Learn new skills
· Are prepared to accept additional responsibilities
· Trained to be promoted to higher positions
· Feel more engaged and part of a team
Unfortunately, when companies have very little one-on-one regular communication with employees and have no mentoring programs, the reverse becomes evident.
Employees:
· Become disgruntled with their jobs and the company they work for
· Feel they will not be missed if they quit
· See no opportunity for advancement
· Have the impression that they receive little or no support from their employer
While communication and mentoring do take dedicated time, they involve small costs for a business but can produce very positive results. Since small businesses and SMEs have fewer employees than larger businesses to carry the workload, cross-train each other, and fill the gaps when an employee is out, small business and SME managers must make the most of the employees that the business does have.
Communication and mentoring motivate employees so they fully understand the goals of the business, willingly learn new skills, and be ready to accept more responsibility when called upon, which all leads to higher job satisfaction that ultimately relates to a higher level of customer satisfaction. This results in loyal customers who return to purchase again and positive word-of-mouth and online reviews.
Make Employees into Company Ambassadors
Take the effort to ensure every employee has one-on-one communication with his or her direct supervisor, manager, or director at least once a month or once a quarter. Have some type of mentoring program for employees regardless of position. Make employees into company ambassadors by making each employee feel as though they hit the jackpot by working for your company!
