What’s your dream work environment?
We all know employee retention is an economic issue and low turnover is a huge financial boon for any company. If an employee loves working at your company, not only will they stay longer, chances are they’ll also perform much better! But how do you get not just retention, but committed loyalty and full engagement? How can you make your workplace THE place, the company everyone wants to work for and no one wants to leave? The simple, though not easy, answer lives in two core needs that you must be able to meet for your employees. If you as an employer can meet these two needs, you’ll have a team whose friends are jealous of their amazing work environment. They’ll be poised to jump at any opening and opportunity you post.
1) External needs. These are the needs at the root of most distractions and non-work induced pressures. Lets face it – what happens outside of work matters to your people, so it should matter to you, too. The core question to ask yourself is: How can I lessen the external pressures that draw the attention and focus of my team away from our mission and make it easier for them to stay? Consider companies like Google. People stand in line to work there. They have free meals, child care, dry cleaners, massages, sleeping pods, health care… almost any need that could draw an employee physically, emotionally, or mentally away from work is met on campus. OK, DON’T SAY IT! I hear you – Google is a behemoth with vastly more resources than you as a smaller company with less resources can offer. I get it, but what gifts CAN you share with your employees to meet their external needs? You may not be able to host childcare, but could you partner with a nearby provider? You may not house a doctor, but maybe you could make a naturopath available to each of your employees 4 times a year at no cost so they can take care of their health to avoid illness in the first place. If an employee feels that you care about their life and well-being outside of work as much as you care about their dedication and loyalty inside your work, you will transform their perspective of what work is and could be. Once they feel seen and respected as a human being, and not just an employee, people will find your work environment MUCH more enticing.
The flip side of that coin is the second need.
2) Internal needs. These are the needs at the root of diminished loyalty. The first need represents the things that pull them away. These needs represent the things that push them away. Consider what causes an employee to want to leave their job, from an internal perspective: lack of respect, lack of meaningful relationships, lack of support, lack of creative expression, fear…are your people treated as an employee, or, perhaps, the CEO of their role? Are they a number, a job, a tool, or are they a partner and a valued, honored resource? If you asked them that question, how would they answer? Internal needs include the need for an avenue of creativity, the need to be able to take risks and contribute without fear of being fired on their first mistake, and the need to be trusted enough to engage in ideas outside of just the basic tasks of their job. Is that how your team members experience your workplace/environment? Because the bottom line is this: what they experience is what they duplicate. Therefore, if you are asking what internal needs need to be met, the insights can be found in peoples’ behavior, attitude and levels of engagement. They must first receive it from you before they can give it to you in the form of loyalty. Their behavior isn’t always their fault; often it’s a reflection of your leadership. Personally, I know that if all I’m wanted for is my body or my brain, I don’t feel valued. I don’t feel connected, and it won’t take much to convince me to go elsewhere–whether that be another job, or to just stay home for a mental health day. Meet the needs necessary for your employees to feel like contributing partners to the organization, not just doers within it, and others will stand in line to work for you, too.
Feel free to email or call if you want support yourself as you learn how to explore and meet those needs, or want to learn more about building leaders at every level within your organization – CEO’s from the bottom up!
