When I come across highly engaged employees I like to ask, “What can your company do to keep you?” As leaders in an organization, it’s important to keep you finger on the pulse of your employees. Here are some things employees want from their companies and leaders:
More efficient processes – It’s very frustrating, particularly to the newest Y generation employees when processes are outdated or inefficient. They come from a quick paced perspective. They want their leaders to care about what’s working and what is not.
Invest in my learning – People want to feel like they are valued and that the company is willing to invest in their training. Even if your budget does not allow for high level outsourced training, taking time on the job to train your employees is important. Pair them with a seasoned employee who is willing to train them. Assign a mentor, but make sure the mentor is on board with their responsibilities. It can be counterproductive if the person you pair your new employee with is not invested in their success.
More representation at the C-Suite level – Employees want to feel like people high up know about their achievements and the success of their department. Often times, there is no representation in the C-Suite for support service departments. It can be very empowering when employees know they are valued by the highest ranking employees in the organization.
Recognition from their boss – A little pat on the back goes a long way. Yes, money talks (that’s a given when it comes to keeping employees) but praise from their boss, especially in public makes employees want to continue doing a good job for them, even when the raises fall a little short.
It reminds me of an episode of the show Friends. Chandler had a boss who had a habit of patting his employees on the butt for motivation as they left a meeting. Chandler found this really weird and uncomfortable. He finally decided to tell his boss that he didn’t like it and that he would rather he not do it to him. His boss agreed; he didn’t realize it bothered Chandler.
Next meeting, everybody walked out of the meeting and got their pat on the butt from the boss, except for Chandler. In true sit-com fashion, he was dramatically left out and of course Chandler felt de-motivated, and started re-thinking his decision. The pat on the butt, however inappropriate, was his boss telling everyone, “Great job!” And now Chandler didn’t get to feel that. Disappointed, he now wondered if he spoke too soon. As you can imagine before the episode was over, Chandler ate some crow and got his boss to include him in the motivational pat on the butt again.
Not advocating the pat on the butt, but praise from the boss, in most formats, is always a good thing!