With the pressure on the retail, hospitality and entertainment businesses at its peak, and companies in a race to bring in money that allows them to survive beyond the COVID pandemic, it’s easy to become focused on cash flow and to forget how to keep staff motivated. While it’s an easy mistake, the importance of employee happiness shouldn’t be underestimated, especially at a time when staff shortages are rife.
Provide motivation
If you want staff that represent your brand, and passion that comes through in the work that they do, it’s important to hire people with a cultural and value fit for the business. However, the importance of value-matching stretches beyond the hiring process. Staff need to continue feeling a connection with their employer’s values, otherwise they lose their reason and purpose. Regular internal communication, updates on market messaging and insight into business direction will help individuals feel a part of the wider team. When that is achieved they will remain engaged and are more likely to be satisfied in their role.
Feedback and follow-through
No matter the size of the business, no staff member wants to feel invisible to those above them. If you feel like a small cog in a large machine, it’s easy to feel your presence won’t be missed if it exits the building.
Thankfully, it’s easy to prevent this feeling from emerging amongst staff. A well-structured hierarchy allows every team member to have a direct line manager; someone with whom they can regularly interact and feedback. Regular one-to-ones or an open-door policy gives employees the chance to express their feelings about working conditions, what areas could be improved? It also offers managers the chance to find out what’s going on with customers from the people that most closely interact with them.
Once feedback has been given, it’s essential that a response is made. To keep staff motivated they need to truly feel heard and valued. They need to know that their opinions are recognised and can make a difference.
Demonstrate their value
Showing a staff member that you, as an individual, and the wider business, value them is best achieved through a mixture of words and gestures. It’s important to take the time to tell staff how much you appreciate their hard work and value their time and effort. After a long, tiring day on their feet, such words can mean a lot.
To truly optimise staff satisfaction, words can be buoyed by perks. Simple gestures such as complimentary lunches as well as pensions, team days and financial bonus’ can come together, forming a benefits package that makes staff feel valued.
Keep on training
When a member of staff first joins a company, they will likely receive the training they need to fulfil the requirements of the role. However, far too often, professional training stops there. This leads to employees feeling like their skills are stagnating and can result in anxiety when new scenarios arise for which no training has been given.
Investing in training gives staff the skills and confidence they need to handle new situations and to stay efficient and productive at work. What’s more, offering staff a chance to learn and expand their skillset shows them that their loyalty is trusted, and their value recognised.
When people feel they are doing a good job and are continuing to grow in their careers, it will be easier to keep staff motivated as they’ll enjoy their work more.
Training doesn’t always mean sending staff away to courses or hiring in experts to impart wisdom. It can also include simple, internal training sessions such as learning a new piece of technology or how to fulfil elements of their role in a more efficient way. When Theravada starts working with a customer or partner, it ensures that every relevant member of staff has the information they need at hand to learn and benefit from newly installed solutions. Our role is to value-add, and we form ongoing relationships with our customers that help everyone, from directors and managers through to shift workers, to feel satisfied with all digital transformations taking place.
Contact us to talk more about Theravada’s unique approach to customer relationships, today.
