Valuing your workforce: what it’s worth

Successful staff retention requires more than salary. This is especially true in today’s climate, where skilled employees have the power to cherry-pick the best opportunities.

Then there’s the fact that staff are more connected. It’s so much easier for them to use the internet to compare their terms and conditions and explore whether the grass is greener elsewhere. Plus today’s empowered employees often discuss the ins and outs of working at their organisation online.

What today’s employees require is more recognition and acknowledgement. This is especially true for millennials, who tend to rank fulfilment in their job over tangible benefits such as pay.

Making your staff feel valued costs little, and yet so many employers struggle to demonstrate appreciation of workforce.

How to make staff feel valued

What does making staff feel valued look like? Well, knowing who they are certainly helps. A survey by Azure Consulting set out to find out what employers know about their workforce and sadly, outside of work, it seems they know very little.

Over a third (36%) of employees said their boss did not know what outside interests they had; two-fifths said their boss didn’t know what their partner or spouse did for a living; and almost half (48%) didn’t know the names of their children.

Azure concluded that employers who are more detached from their staff are more likely to suffer decreased productivity and greater staff turnover.

While it’s probably not necessary to find out details such as a staff member’s favourite colour, it pays on many levels to know more about the people who are working for you.

Here are a few simple ways you can make your staff feel valued:

1. Recognise individual achievements

 

It’s all very well to treat the company to cakes on a Friday, but individual employees can become embittered if they’re put on a level with someone who’s done, or achieved, less.
Make sure you recognise individual achievements, letting staff know that they’re a valued member of the team.

2. Talk to your staff!

 

Take time to find out about your workforce. Find out what drives them, their motivations – who they are.

This serves two purposes: by connecting in this way with your staff, they’ll feel valued and, therefore, more likely to want to perform at a higher level. It also increases trust and respect on both sides. It’s a win-win.

3. Show your employees that you care

 

We’re not suggesting that you go around hugging your employees. But when staff perceive that their employer cares about them, and their wellbeing, you’ll be rewarded with greater loyalty in return. In fact, many staff would even be willing to forego a large pay cheque in favour of an employer that genuinely cares about its staff.

When a company actively looks after its staff, particularly through wellbeing benefits and initiatives like gym membership, it’s clear that the business values its workforce; not only caring about them inside work but in their everyday lives, too.

It’s the little things that count

In the end, there are many ways to make employees feel valued, and understanding their needs is key to doing this.

These days, there’s much more demand for work-life balance, and workers are much more clued in to what they require back from an organisation in return for their efforts – and it adds up to much more than money.

Remember that the general population and, therefore, your staff, are more aware than ever of their wellbeing, so it can pay dividends to offer them discounted gym membership and support their health by allowing them some flexibility to fit in a workout.

Value employees to see your performance soar…

So, what are the benefits of making your staff feel valued? You’ll see increased motivation, retain employees for longer, and build a much more enjoyable working culture for everyone.

Research by the American Psychological Association has shown that people who feel valued by their employer are much more likely to:

• Be motivated to do their very best (93% versus 33%).
• Recommend their workplace to others (85% versus 19%).

It’s really a question of staff engagement. One thing’s for sure: if you engage with your staff, they’ll engage with their work – it stands to reason. And businesses with engaged staff have been shown to outperform others by a staggering 202%.

How much is staff engagement worth to you? It’s almost certainly worth contacting Wellhub to discover more about their popular, low-cost gym membership scheme – simply follow the link for more information.