There are two important elements in running a business. The first is the product/service side of things and the other is internal management. Many successful businesses on the product/service side suffer tremendously on the internal management site. Its not that management isn’t getting the job done, but they don’t manage their people well.
A recent survey published by MSNBC earlier this year reported that less than half of all Americans are satisfied with their jobs. That means half the people working with you wished they were somewhere else.
Of course, most of us would all love to be on a permanent vacation, free from being tied down to any kind of job, but there is no reason not to love what you do. But this post isn’t about the employee, it’s about the leadership managing the employees. By and large, it is managements duty to create a work environment that the employees won’t be dissatisfied with.
While there is no way to reach 100% employee satisfaction–some people are simply in the wrong job–management has a great amount of control over the work environment and can create one that is both productive and enjoyable. I could have said tolerable here, but I don’t think people enjoy coming to a “tolerable” job each day. So, yes, the job must be enjoyable.
There are a lot of ways you can make work enjoyable that have nothing to do with traditional fun. After all, if it was all fun and games, then no work would get done!
John Maxwell, in his book Developing the Leaders Around You, tells us how we can do what is BEST for our employees.
Believe in them
Encourage them
Share with them
Trust them
Tell me, do you think employees would dread coming to work if the management did those things with every employee? I’ll wager that they wouldn’t and they might actually (gasp!) enjoy their job!
Believing, encouraging, sharing, and trusting are four very simple things that every manager can do for their team and produce immediate results in job satisfaction. And before you think you don’t care about job satisfaction, consider that people satisfied with their jobs will also be more productive. Higher productivity means more work completed in less time, which means higher profits! And all it takes is a few words a day to reinforce the value you place in your team.
And if you’re just a lowly employee, you can implement the BEST strategy yourself for your co-workers. At the very least you’ll be creating a bettor work environment for yourself, if not everyone else at the same time!