As workforces become more remote and distributed, managers and leaders need to find ways to promote employee satisfaction.
Retention, employee engagement, and job satisfaction will all contribute to company success.
There are many ways beyond compensation and benefits that leaders can use to develop high levels of employee satisfaction and content in the workplace.
To attract and retain talent that is excited and motivated to work hard each day and contribute to the company mission, HR teams and managers are integral to creating a positive work environment and employee experience.
Read on to discover the employee satisfaction ideas that will have the greatest impact at your organization this year and beyond.
What is Employee Satisfaction?
Employee satisfaction measures how happy or content people are with their jobs. It is highly related to people feeling that they have the tools, support, and resources needed to do their job and that they have a positive outlook towards leadership and the company goals.
And employee satisfaction is often measured and tracked with a survey that goes out on a regular cadence to gauge how employees are feeling about their work.
Why is employee satisfaction important for an organization?
Businesses have a lot to gain from keeping employee satisfaction levels high. People that are happy at work are more productive and more likely to stay at the company for longer periods of time.
This can lead to faster product innovation and better quality of products with more business knowledge staying at the business thanks to higher employee retention.
Lower turnover rates will also reduce hiring costs and save your recruiting teams time and energy.
Employee satisfaction has an impact on customer relationships, too. The more someone feels positively about the work that they are doing, the more likely they are to stay engaged and go above and beyond for customers.
Productivity, revenue, and profitability are directly impacted by how satisfied employees are and can have compounding effect on business results.
Employee Satisfaction Ideas
1. Improve overall communications
Successful companies value keeping employees in the loop and provide the tools needed to facilitate transparent and effective communication.
Dissatisfaction is often a result of lacking information on changes and feeling undervalued.
- More than 80% of Americans say employee communication is key to developing trust with their employers. (Lexicon)
- 74% of employees feel they are missing out on company information and news. (Trade Press Services)
Sharing updates about changes in organizational structure or company strategies builds trust across the business and allows for employees to feel more involved and included.
Company-wide newsletters, intranets, chat apps, and communications platforms can help get messages out to everyone at a company and encourage information sharing.
2. Listen to feedback
Feedback is a gift, and every company should have a process in place to collect feedback and implement changes from it.
Employee satisfaction depends on building trust and open channels of communication – and those conversations need to go both ways.
Surveys and listening tours that are aimed at getting to the root of the employee experience are essential to understanding the health of an organization.
People want to feel heard and understood, so encouraging feedback and using it to drive actionable change at the organization will boost employee morale.
3. Provide management training
Managers play an important role in keeping employee satisfaction levels high. And sometimes the skills that have helped leaders rise in the ranks of their department don’t translate to management experience.
Managers that can delegate and trust team members to take on new projects can lead to higher morale and less turnover.
When your company trains team leads and managers on how to handle hard conversations, provide feedback, and avoid micromanaging – it will strengthen teams and can increase workplace satisfaction.
Classes on leadership styles and best practices for developing relationships with direct reports will benefit many aspects of the organization.
4. Recognize and reward high performers
Showing appreciation for what employees have accomplished has a lot of value in building employee satisfaction.
People want to have a sense of purpose and understand how their contributions add up to the bigger company goals. But they also want to be recognized for the unique skills they bring to the table.
Sharing notes of celebration or congratulations for achieving goals, welcoming new hires, or providing excellent customer service brings greater visibility to engaged employees that serve as a model for the rest of the team and company.
If you understand what motivates your team members, you’ll also be able to develop rewards systems that reflect their values and appeal to them the most.
Rewards systems that align with the company values and mission are the most successful at motivating and improving employee satisfaction.
The EveryoneSocial platform makes it easy to share warm welcomes for new hires to start interactions and team connections from day 1 of onboarding.
5. Encourage wellness
Health and wellness are two major factors that contribute to an employee’s well-being. Organizations should support and provide as many resources and opportunities as possible to increase wellness.
Educational materials and sessions on physical or mental health issues are some ways that employers can contribute to well-being. For example, HR teams can share tips on stretching during the workday or how to set up an ergonomic workspace at home.
Offering discounted gym memberships or reimbursement for fitness classes can also help employees feel supported for their fitness goals.
6. Support career development
Employees will be happier in their roles when they have a sense of what the future holds from them at a company. Job security and support for training and gaining skills that prepare them for professional development is proven to increase employee satisfaction.
Managers should have conversations about what growth opportunities are available at the company for workers. Setting clear expectations and goals for what it takes to move up in the company helps, too.
Encourage employees to set aside time for educational webinars or training that will help them stay up to-date in their field.
Employees that feel supported to learn and grow at a company will have less of a reason to move to another company for professional advancement which can lead to less turnover.
7. Invest in work environment and tools
Part of a positive employee experience is having the rolls and resources needed to complete the job.
Safe and secure work environments will contribute to employee satisfaction and should be prioritized by the business.
If there are communication or technical issues that are impeding teams from being able to deliver what they need, companies should look into tools and workplace software platforms that will solve those issues.
For example, if a company wants to encourage employees to use social media to promote where they work but it takes too much time, an employee advocacy platform like EveryoneSocial is a great option to make it easier for employees to fit that into their schedules.
It’s also a great way for employees to stay informed, learn, connect with other colleagues, and build their professional brand.
8. Develop a social culture
More than half of the respondents in Glassdoor’s Mission and Culture Survey said that company culture is more important than salary when it comes to job satisfaction.
More and more job seekers are paying attention to the culture at a company when making decisions about where they want to apply to jobs and build careers.
Encouraging bonds across departments and social interactions boosts morale and positive feelings of collaboration.
According to a Gallup poll, close friendships at work can improve employee satisfaction by nearly 50%.
This is especially important for distributed workplaces with locations across the country or globe.
Communication tools and setting up easy and frequent ways to interact and socialize at work will have a tremendous impact on the employee experience.
9. Clarify the company mission
Understanding what matters most to a business and how decisions are made helps improve employee satisfaction.
The company mission is a clear factor in why people want to stay and advocate for where they work.
In fact, 79% of job seekers will consider a company’s mission before applying. 66% of employees find motivation in a company’s mission, and 64% attribute their company’s mission to the main reason they stay in their current jobs.
Highlighting a dedicated mission and being clear about company values can help teams find meaning and purpose in their job responsibilities.
If that mission aligns with their personal values, then employees will have greater feelings of satisfaction in their roles.
10. Support diversity and inclusion
A common theme in each of these employee satisfaction ideas is that people want to feel understood and supported.
Diversity and inclusion efforts ensure that workplaces make it possible for everyone, no matter who they are, to contribute and make their voices heard.
Over 86% of job seekers say workplace diversity is an important factor when looking for a job.
Businesses that support diversity and inclusion practices, whether it is by setting up employee resources groups or including diversity practices in their hiring and recruiting, are poised to attract better talent and retain staff longer.
Final Thoughts
Having the tools and policies in place to encourage higher employee satisfaction will have an impact on your business’s bottom line.
EveryoneSocial’s platform can be used to implement many of the ideas listed above with the way it encourages an open and sharing culture at work.
