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Employees Are Satisfied With Their Jobs: Or Are They?
Feb 2nd
How do your employees feel about their jobs? For a small business owner, the answer to this question is crucial. Employees who are happy at work and passionately engaged with their jobs are more loyal to their employers, more productive and just plain better for your business.
A recent study of employee job satisfaction and engagement has some useful insights for entrepreneurs. The Society for Human Resource Management’s 2011 Job Satisfaction and Engagement Research Report, which surveyed companies of all sizes in late 2011, found that while more than 75 percent of U.S. employees are satisfied with their jobs overall, there are some key areas of dissatisfaction.
Paying attention to these areas could mean the difference between keeping and losing valuable workers.
A whopping 83 percent of U.S. employees said that overall, they are satisfied with their current jobs. SHRM vice president for research Mark Schmit notes that in general, this percentage hasn’t changed significantly in the last 10 years. Schmit says:
“In general, people find ways to be satisfied at work.”
But while you might think that in a tough job market, people would feel that just having a job at all is reason to be satisfied, in reality the percentage of satisfied employees has decreased slightly since 2009.
One key area where employees are less than satisfied is career development. Only about 40 percent of respondents say they are satisfied with the career development and advancement opportunities at their current jobs.
For the first time, the survey also looked at employee engagement. Engagement differs from satisfaction. While satisfaction depends primarily on job security, engagement measures how committed employees are to the workplace and how connected they feel. When it comes to engagement, there’s room for improvement. Just 52 percent of employees feel completely engaged at work; only 53 percent say they enjoy going above and beyond what their jobs require.
While these aren’t horrible numbers, I’m sure you agree that having all of your employees fully engaged in their work is the ideal state. So how can you improve things?
Schmit theorizes the disengagement is because employees feel they aren’t being groomed for the future:
“Employees seem to be saying, “I’m not getting training or opportunities for development, so why would I volunteer to do extra things to advance my career by helping out the organization?”
Small business owners often worry that the only thing their employees care about is raises and other financial rewards—which are tough for a small business to offer in this economy. The good news from the SHRM findings is that training and advancement opportunities are easier to offer.
True, you may not have immediate advancement opportunities for employees. But you can offer training. Here are some ideas:
- Cross-train employees so they learn new skills. This also benefits your business, since employees can fill in for each other when there’s an absence or vacation.
- Set up informal mentorships where more experienced employees show younger ones the ropes.
- Look into free or low-cost training and education programs at local community colleges or adult education centers.
- Meet with employees to figure out their career paths. As a small business owner, you have more flexibility to design jobs that take advantage of your team’s skills and desires.
Are you worried that you’ll institute training efforts, only to see those employees leave for greener pastures? Dissatisfied employees will leave when the job market improves—whether you’ve trained them or not. Then you’ll have to train their replacements. Isn’t it better to invest the time and effort in the employees you have now and keep them on your team?
Engage with your employees, and their engagement will increase, too.
Employee Training Photo via Shutterstock
Employees Are Satisfied With Their Jobs: Or Are They?
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
Manage Your Employees With Full Engagement
Dec 3rd
One fact about business (and life): Dealing with people can be like swimming in murky waters. You just don’t know how people will respond to your comments. Murky rapidly becomes mysterious in business, because professionalism at times masks deeper personal expressions. There’s a reason those funny asides on “The Office” don’t happen in public.
Full Engagement: Inspire, Motivate, and Bring Out the Best in Your People attempts to make the murky ocean of human behavior more clear. It’s an honest business book written by Brian Tracy, a renowned speaker and business consultant. I was sent a copy by the publisher, and decided to give it a read.
As a Manager, Your Emotions Towards People Affect Their Motivation
That tenet is at the heart of the book, as Tracy explains in the introduction:
“The way you treat people, what you say and do that affects them emotionally, is more important in bringing out the best in people than all the education, intelligence or experience you might have at doing your job.”
The book is organized into nine chapters, all emphasizing a positive, people-centric outlook. But it’s far from being a motivational exercise. Tracy provides the context you need to manage people, infusing his advice with his years of consulting experience. He believes that great managers generally do not start as great managers, so the writing explains how to become one in straightforward language. There’s no psychological jargon to slow down the reader, and Full Engagement stays fully engaging for its 213 pages.
Weigh Your Situation Against the Actionable Ideas Suggested
While the book clearly is aimed at business teams, some of the material feels as if it overlooks some of the complexity of organizational structure. For example, a section called “Select the Right People” offers basic tips on job candidates, but no mention of supporting studies or data on hiring trends that can justify the suggestions. And when the tip to hire “people who will be hard workers” is offered, the 80/20 rule is used to explain why “80 percent of people working today are lazy.”
These tidbits do blend into memorable descriptions, like the “articulate incompetent” – a well-spoken candidate whom makes a great impression in the interview, but produces no valuable work once hired. Other concepts covered include:
- Employee motivation tips that create satisfied employees and lead to sales
- Selecting employee candidates by The Rule of Threes
- Five Keys to Peak Performance in a work environment
- The principle in Chapter Nine: Be The Best You Can Be
The most applicable suggestions in Engagement appear in the later parts of the book. In the “Five Keys to Peak Performance” suggestion, Tracy suggests steps to involve the staff in identifying the values that should govern the relationships among team members.
In fact, Tracy’s advice and view may be most useful when you truly have no blueprint for inspiring employees. Owners building their teams will benefit from this book. The book does not delve into the subject of remote teams, so read and judge for yourself how the material works with unique arrangements in employee management.
One note: While I was on the subway, another passenger noticed my copy of the book and struck up a conversation about Tracy. The passenger had read Tracy’s earlier books, and his suggestion made me look through a few of Tracy’s other titles. My two cents: You may find some additional detail in past offerings from an author, and Tracy certainly has plenty to offer.
As I stated earlier, Full Engagement is written in accessible language, but may not serve every business’s operational needs. It’s fine for those professionals who seek some basic motivation guidelines when working with others. Readers seeking a more definitive framework and statistics may want to consider other books that could provide more detail. But Full Engagement delivers a solid effort to put the often distant worlds of employee motivation and business results closer to being in the same orbit.
Manage Your Employees With Full Engagement
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
What Do Your Millennial Employees Really Want?
Nov 23rd
What do Millennials in the work force really want? One thing is loud and clear: They want their Facebook, Twitter and smartphones—and if your business doesn’t give them what they want, they’ll find an employer that will.
That’s a major finding from the second annual “Cisco Connected World Technology Report” which surveyed 1,400 college students and 1,400 young professionals under age of 30. The report states:
“The growing use of the Internet and mobile devices in the workplace is creating a significant impact on job decisions, hiring and work-life balance. The ability to use social media, mobile devices, and the Internet more freely in the workplace is strong enough to influence job choice, sometimes more than salary.”
Here’s what you need to know:
For 33 percent of the respondents the abilities to use social media, bring their own technology devices for use at work, and work remotely are more important to them than salary when it comes to accepting a job. In fact, 40 percent of college students and 45 percent of young employees were actually more likely to accept a lower-paying job with more flexibility about device choice, social media access and remote work, than a higher-paying job with less flexibility.
Millennials aren’t shy about making their technology demands known. Nearly two-thirds say they ask about social media policies during job interviews. And companies are listening: 41 percent of the employed respondents say their companies promoted a flexible device and social media policy specifically to recruit them.
For businesses struggling with IT security, allowing workers to access company networks on their personal devices, or use company devices for personal use, are crucial issues. But attempting to separate the two is a losing battle: More than 70 percent of respondents say they should be allowed to use company-issued devices for both personal and business use. Mixing business and personal is part of their lifestyle. What’s more, 81 percent would like to choose the devices they use at work, either by bringing a personal device or by getting money from the company to buy their own work device.
If you’re banning personal social media use at work, you probably already know it’s not working, but this study confirms it: More than half of respondents say if a company prohibits social media access on the job, they either wouldn’t work there, or would figure out a way to get around the policy.
What can a small business owner do? As the saying goes, “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.” Of course you need to set policies that ensure your company’s devices, networks and data are secure. And you need to make sure all employees (of all ages) understand and follow them. But as this survey shows, if your policies are too draconian, they’re going to backfire.
Instead, harness the social media and tech savvy that Millennials bring to the table. Enlist them to use social media on behalf of your company. Smart businesses are already doing so: Nearly 33 percent of the respondents who had jobs say their familiarity with social media and ability to use devices contributed to their hiring.
Image from wrangler/Shutterstock
What Do Your Millennial Employees Really Want?
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
Would Your Employees Refer You?
Oct 21st
Would Your Employees Refer You?
This content from: Duct Tape Marketing
The title to this post should stop and make some business owners question a few things.
Things like – I’ve never really thought of my employees as a referral source. I don’t know if my employees know how to refer me, or worse, I don’t know if they know if they would refer me. Or maybe you’re thinking, I wonder if there’s a way to get my employees to refer prospective team members?
Your current employees, like your current customers, are more suited to refer, or not refer, your business than any other group.
So, would your employees refer you? Do they act as a primary referral source for both customer and new employees? If not, why not?
There are really only two reasons that people don’t refer – employee or not. You don’t deserve referrals, and your employees are most often the group that knows this best.
Or, you’ve not communicated your expectation referrals and not taken the steps to educate and equip your referral sources – employee or not.
So, what have you done to motivate your staff to join in the game when it comes to referrals?
View full post on Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing
Hiring Employees for Small Business
Sep 3rd
While small business hiring is slowing, it’s still happening. The method for getting new hires may be shifting, thanks to social media, but small business owners still want the same thing: qualified employees who will stick around. Here’s your guide to hiring for your business.
Who to Hire
What employers look for is changing, and rightfully so. With budget cuts and a shrinking pool of available jobs, employees need to be able to take on more and bring their own ideas to the table. That’s why you should, says Jennifer Prosek, hire an army of entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurial-minded employees tend to be more proactive and willing to take on more responsibility, which can help in a small business’ success. MSN
Hiring an intern? Don’t grill them about their experience…since they likely have none. Instead, focus on their hobbies and interests. Asking what they hope to get out of this internship can help you craft the program, if you don’t have a set system in place, and it can be customized based on what your final pick is interested in learning. Your goal is to understand more about what kind of person this is, and what her dedication to the role will be, rather than what she already knows. Glass Door
Interns
While having free or cheap labor around to take care of small tasks sounds good to you, keep in mind that hiring an intern requires time and money on your part. You’re expected to provide job training for the college student or recent grad, so it’s up to you to develop an intern program that has structure and on-the-job training. The bonus? You’re training a future employee at a fraction of the cost. OPEN Forum
Not all internships are created equal, it seems. Many companies are booting out costly employees and replacing them with unpaid interns, at the detriment of their brand’s reputation. Slave labor indeed. But, as Small Business Trends’ Ivana Taylor points out in the comments, times have changed. Once upon a time, a college grad would be happy to get an internship period, paid or otherwise. Just play fair, and give your intern skills to walk away with. Bloggertone
How to Hire
Did you know it can cost as much as $14,000 to replace a single employee? That’s why working with a recruiter might be beneficial for small businesses. Recruiters have a Rolodex of qualified candidates and know your market – maybe even better than you do. And since many professionals don’t actively look for jobs, recruiters may be able to entice them to change roles if they know what you’re looking for. Insperity
If you’re ready to hire, take time to do it right, otherwise you risk hiring the wrong person (a costly mistake). Outline what you want in an employee, as well as what his responsibilities will include, then carefully craft the job description. Get your interview panel together, including people who will work directly with the person you hire, and interview as many qualified candidates as you have. You’ll be working with this employee for the foreseeable future, so give gravity enough to the decision making process. Online Jobs Information
Posting a job in the newspaper is so passé. Social media’s where it’s at these days. Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter are proving to be more affordable recruiting tools than traditional methods, and can help employers target in on exactly who they’re looking for skillwise. Twitter provides employers a tool to list job openings that its followers can share with others, while Facebook helps recruit passive applicants, who might not otherwise apply for a given job. LinkedIn tends to be more professional in nature, though its users tend to skew 40+. Talent Management
Mistakes to Avoid
As an employer, you risk bumbling the hiring process right from the interview. Beware asking questions that don’t really help you understand a candidate’s skill level and work ethic, and don’t do all the talking. And while sure, there are less exciting components to working for you (like those 12 hour work weekends), don’t downplay them to try to win over the candidate. Be candid about the good and the bad, and you’ll be more likely to hire the right person…and keep her. US News Money
The last thing you want when starting a business is to violate employment laws. Bone up on what you’re responsible for, such as paying minimum wage or greater, paying for overtime, and not deferring wages, otherwise you could face hefty fines or worse. Make sure your agreements are airtight, and that, if you use a noncompete agreement, it’s enforceable. Computerworld
The Government’s Role
Will President Obama help the job situation? We’ll see next week when he announces his plan to increase employment in the US. He will likely extend a one-year payroll cut on taxes for workers and unemployment benefits, and many speculate that he hopes to create more jobs through public works. While Obama’s plan may not be quite as dramatic as his 2009 stimulus, here’s to hoping it does create more jobs now.
Hiring Employees for Small Business
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
Are You Rewarding Your Employees Fairly?
Aug 3rd
Are employees at your small business being rewarded fairly for their efforts? Think carefully—this is a loaded question. What matters isn’t whether you believe they are being rewarded fairly, but whether they think they are.
Why should you care what your employees think about this? Well, workers who don’t feel they are fairly rewarded are likely to become resentful and seek to leave your business at the first opportunity. With the current economy, of course, that might not happen right away. But while these workers are “stuck” at your business, do you think they’re putting forth their utmost effort?
I’m bringing this up because of some interesting results from a new study by WorldatWork, Hay Group and Loyola University Chicago professor Dow Scott. The researchers found that neither raises nor salary alone has the biggest impact on employees’ perception of how fairly they are being rewarded at work. Instead their top five factors were:
- Career development opportunities
- Merit increases
- Base pay amounts
- Non-financial recognition
- Employee development/training
(Surprisingly, incentive pay such as bonuses didn’t even make the top five.) There’s good news and bad news for small business owners here. First, raises and salary, while not number one, were still high on the list. And one reason many respondents felt they were not fairly rewarded was the tough economy, which has led to pay cuts and freezes.
There may be nothing you can do about that at this point. That’s the bad news. The good news is that career development opportunities are something all small businesses can offer. Look into cross-training, adult education programs, and affordable training opportunities such as online webinars or online education offered by your industry association or trade group.
Of course, after they receive training to increase their skill set and experience, employees want to feel that there’s somewhere they can go in your organization to use that experience. But four years into an economic slump, taking on new responsibilities without additional pay isn’t likely to make them jump for joy. If your small business isn’t growing sufficiently to reward new skills with salary increases (not just new titles), what can you do?
One idea is to institute profit-sharing programs. Tap employees who have learned new skills to head up new initiatives and ideas in your business. In other words, create “intrapreneurs.” Develop a plan that rewards them by sharing the profits from the new idea if it takes off. This is a great way not only to reward your people, but also to propel your business right out of a slump.
Whatever types of rewards you choose for your team, the survey found some strategies that help increase employees’ perceptions that they’re being fairly rewarded. Good communication, well-designed rewards programs and non-financial recognition worked especially well.
What hurts employees’ perceptions they’re being fairly rewarded? It should be obvious, but being inconsistent about applying rewards and “playing favorites” were cited as among the top reasons employees don’t think rewards in their companies are fair.
Are You Rewarding Your Employees Fairly?
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
2 Secrets to Keeping Your Employees Engaged
May 11th
“Employee engagement” is a hot buzzword in the HR world today—but unlike some buzzwords, this is one every small business owner should care about. As the recession cut into salaries and increased workloads, especially at small companies, it’s become increasingly challenging to keep employees engaged.
The recently released Employee Engagement Report 2011 from leadership development firm BlessingWhite has some insights that might help. The company surveyed levels of engagement and also looked into why employees leave their jobs and why they stay.
Overall, the report found 31 percent of employees are engaged, while 17 percent are disengaged. Not surprisingly, employees who were older, had been with the company longer and had more senior roles were more likely to be engaged. Also not surprisingly, more employees are seeking opportunities outside their current company than they were in 2008.
But there’s also some surprising news about why employees leave and stay. Here are the top reasons employees stay with a company:
- My career. I have significant development or advancement opportunities here. 17 percent
- My organization’s mission. I believe in what we do. 11 percent
- No desire for change. I am comfortable here. 10 percent
- My job conditions. I have flexible hours, a good commute, etc. 10 percent
- My finances. I expect a desirable salary, bonus, or stock options. 7 percent
- Other (the economy, my manager, my colleagues) 15 percent
And here are their top reasons for leaving:
- My career. I don’t have opportunities to grow or advance here. 26 percent
- My work. I don’t like what I do or it doesn’t make the most of my talents. 15 percent
- My finances. I want to earn more money. 15 percent
- My desire for change. I want to try something new. 12 percent
- My manager. I don’t like working for him or her. 10 percent
- Other (the economy, job conditions, organization mission, colleagues) 18 percent
While managers and business owners often think that pay or benefits are the top reason employees’ consider career change, BlessingWhite found that overall, career development was the top factor for employees of all ages. In fact, the workers who were motivated by money were generally less engaged. As the study sums it up, “Engaged employees stay for what they give; disengaged employees stay for what they get.”
So what can you do to keep your best employees engaged? BlessingWhite offers two suggestions for you and your key managers:
- Coaching, relationships and dialogue: Managers must understand each person’s talents, interests and needs and match those with the company’s objectives. They also need to build personal, trusting relationships with employees. And they need open and frequent dialog with employees to head off problems that can lead to disengagement.
- Trust, communication and culture: At the top level, a business owner must earn trust by being consistent in words and deeds. It’s also important to communicate frequently. Finally, create a culture where your company’s values are truly reflected in day-to-day business practices. In other words, walk the walk, don’t just talk the talk.
2 Secrets to Keeping Your Employees Engaged
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
How Can You Help Your Unhappy Employees – and Should You?
Mar 16th
Given the extra work that many employees have been shouldering for the past few years, combined with the lack of raises, perhaps the results of a recent Accenture survey shouldn’t be surprising: More than half of employees responding were dissatisfied with their jobs.
What is surprising? Even as the economy picks up, just 30 percent of respondents said they plan to look for jobs elsewhere. Instead, 70 percent of women and 69 percent of men said they plan to stay at their current company. (Though I just wrote about another survey conducted by MarketTools that indicates nearly half of all Americans are thinking about leaving their jobs.)
Why are employees dissatisfied? Top reasons were:
- Low pay (47 percent of women, 44 percent of men);
- Lack of opportunity (36 percent of women, 32 percent of men);
- No chance for career advancement (33 percent of women, 34 percent of men).
Given these factors, why are they staying? Fifty-nine percent of women and 57 percent of men say they plan to gain additional experience and seek career advancement in-house, rather than looking elsewhere.
“We’re seeing an unanticipated workplace dynamic,” says Adrian Lajtha, chief leadership officer at Accenture. “Today’s professionals are not job hunting, despite expressing dissatisfaction. Instead, they are focused on their skill sets and on seeking the training, the resources and the people that can help them achieve their goals.”
How can your company be a leader? Aside from better pay—which you may not yet be in a position to provide—the top things employees are seeking at their current workplace were:
- New, challenging assignments (44 percent of women, 48 percent of men);
- Flexible work arrangements (39 percent of women, 34 percent of men); and
- Leadership positions within their companies (22 percent of women, 28 percent of men).
Lajtha suggest companies should support employees by listening to their needs and “providing them with innovative training, leadership development and clearly-defined career paths.”
Hearing that employees are dissatisfied can get a small business owner’s ire up. But there’s definitely a silver lining here. “There’s still a sense of commitment to take action with their current employer,” notes LaMae Allen deJongh, the author of the study and Accenture’s managing director for human capital and diversity. “We interpret that as an opportunity.”
How will you take advantage of that opportunity to keep talented people with your team?
How Can You Help Your Unhappy Employees – and Should You?
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
Do You Need to Hire This Year? Where Will You Find New Employees?
Jan 26th
Are you planning to hire new staff in 2011? After two years of slashing staffs to the bone, many small businesses may feel it’s finally time to staff up so they can take advantage of the recovery.
But do you know where to find those workers?
The world of hiring has changed, and the Wall Street Journal recently took a look at how companies are planning to hire in the coming months. Here’s some of what they found:
- Companies are planning to rely less on general online job boards (such as Monster.com)
- Businesses will rely more on social networking sites like LinkedIn.
- Companies are focusing on headhunting, networking and even (gasp) poaching qualified candidates from their competition.
The Journal cites a December survey by consultancy The Corporate Executive Board Co. that found 24 percent of companies expect to decrease the use of third-party employment websites and job boards in the next 12 months. At the same time, the survey found, almost 80 percent of companies surveyed will rely more heavily on alternative methods such as Facebook, LinkedIn and referrals from employees.
Even if you aren’t already hiring, other companies are. Labor Department figures show job openings increased by 32 percent between November 2009 and November 2010. And the Corporate Executive Board survey reports that between December 2009 and December 2010, the number of applications for each job opening increased by 17 percent.
With more job openings out there, your small business will face increased competition from big companies when you do take steps to hire. So what to do? The Corporate Executive Board survey was focused on larger companies, but there are still some valuable takeaways for small businesses.
First, get back to basics. I think it’s ironic that big companies are turning to some of the time-honored tactics small companies have always used to find employees. Getting referrals from current workers, using your network of contacts to seek candidates, and even looking to your competitors as sources of job applicants are all strategies that work well for small businesses.
Second, take advantage of the ability that social networking and the Web have given us to supercharge our employee-search tactics. In the past, you would have had to actually get on the phone with 50 or 100 contacts to put the word out that you’re looking for a new marketing director, now you can let people know about it with the click of a mouse.
Third, focus on quality, not quantity. Putting the word out to a few select people you truly trust gives you better results than posting a job opening on Facebook (although the latter still beats a general job board listing for delivering relevant candidates). You’ll save time by not wading through piles of applications—and find the perfect employee far faster.
Do You Need to Hire This Year? Where Will You Find New Employees?
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
