Did you know that almost two-thirds of employed workers are actively job hunting in 2022? Eek!
But managers, try not to feel disheartened.
This is an opportunity to prioritize employee job satisfaction and keep the best people at your business! Don’t worry, I’ll tell you how.
Here are my top 5 tips on how to BOOST employee job satisfaction:
See Related: How to Maximize Workplace Productivity Without Burning Out Your Team
BOOST Job Satisfaction #1: Be an Advocate for Growth
Okay, let’s be honest.
Have you ever accepted a job you didn’t anticipate staying at for long? It could be for any number of reasons:
- Maybe you saw it as a quick stepping stone on the way to something better.
- Maybe it was a temporary layover while you found something you were more passionate about.
Focusing on employee job satisfaction can inspire your team to invest more years in your business.
How?
Help employees visualize a future with you
When someone starts working at your business, sit down with them. Discuss their opportunities for career growth and set a path for this team member.
Personalized attention is key here.
Why is this so important?
First of all, you immediately demonstrate that you are investing in your employees. Career development and job training set them on a path for growth. It feels good to know you are going to grow!
Did you know that 87% of millennials believe learning and development in the workplace is important?
We feel better knowing we are working towards a goal
We all have those days when work feels mindless and directionless. Offering employees training and the chance to build new skills ensures that their work is constantly evolving. Plus, you get your chance to act as corporate emcee for a change.
Attending conferences, taking classes, and enjoying other career opportunities keeps the work exciting! Investing in these will increase employee satisfaction.
Plus, setting a clear career path for your employees helps them define their career goals. It gives them a sense of direction and forward momentum.
Build longevity and loyalty
When you support employees by creating career development plans, you improve job satisfaction by:
- Helping employees feel a sense of safety and job security (you are investing in them)
- Demonstrating that you genuinely care about their growth and development
- Making employees proud to work for your company because they feel valued and respected
- Helping employees plan for the future and stay motivated
BOOST Job Satisfaction #2: Opportunities for Feedback
According to Harvard Business Review, offering balanced feedback helps employees feel appreciated.
Balance praise and development
When employees only receive negative criticism, they can lose motivation. After all, why try so hard if their efforts are only met with unfavorable judgment?
However, only offering praise can make employees feel like managers are not invested in their growth.
Offer feedback regularly and divide it into two sections:
- Focus on areas for improvement and development.
- Then, offer positive feedback and individual praise. Celebrate the small wins too!
Balancing enough praise with useful feedback is key to employee satisfaction. Demonstrate that you care about their growth and they will be proud brand ambassadors.
Encourage employees to regularly submit feedback
If you never solicit feedback from your team, I guarantee you’ll see signs of employee disengagement. It’s the same thing when an event emcee doesn’t ask for the audience to participate.
I think it’s the sign of a poor manager to never ask employees to share feedback. It demonstrates that the manager thinks they have no growth or learning left to do.
Here are a few ways to invite open and honest communication from employees:
- Conduct annual surveys and make them completely anonymous. This will encourage employees to be as honest as possible. Healthy feedback sessions can’t be stymied by fear of retaliation from managers.
- Also distribute pulse surveys. Pulse surveys are shorter and more frequent so you can track changes over time. Ask questions like:
- Are you satisfied with your current job path?
- Do you feel satisfied with your managers’ performance?
- How can your managers improve your job satisfaction?
Bonus: How to Prepare for a Business Meeting in 4 Easy Steps
BOOST Job Satisfaction #3: Options and Flexibility
Improving employee satisfaction starts with honoring employees’ needs. This can be challenging when team members require different accommodations.
However, this is your chance to step up. Increase job satisfaction by offering a level of flexibility most employees haven’t experienced before.
Build healthy and happy employees by improving working conditions
Satisfied employees feel that their needs are respected. Wherever possible, offer employees the opportunity to do remote work.
Some may prefer to come to the office. But others will feel a greater sense of well being working at home. They can pet their dogs, watch their children grow up, and save money on gas.
Ultimately, it’s about giving employees a choice.
Whatever option allows them to create the work life balance they desire, you should offer.
This demonstrates that you trust them to get the work done. Prove you have team trust and you will see increased job satisfaction in your employees.
Intrinsic versus extrinsic job satisfaction
This is where many employees feel their place of work is lacking. They may have intrinsic job satisfaction, but no extrinsic job satisfaction.
Let’s talk about the difference.
Intrinsic job satisfaction is the work itself. Do your employees enjoy and feel satisfied with the actual work they do?
Extrinsic job satisfaction is the work environment. Are employees happy with their pay? Supervisors? Co-workers?
You can have your dream job. But if you find many employees unpleasant, chances are you won’t stay long.
This leads me to my 4th tip for increasing job satisfaction:
BOOST Job Satisfaction #4: Strengthen the Company Culture
What is company culture? The Balance Careers defines it as “the shared values, attributes, and characteristics of an organization.”
How a business chooses to (or to not) display its values impacts employee engagement:
Maybe a business lists respect, integrity, and transparency as values on their website. But in reality, employees experience quite the opposite.
This is inconsistent and confusing for employees. That does not support increasing job satisfaction.
Keep employees engaged with each other by fostering positive relationships
What does this mean? The majority of Americans will stay in a job where they feel a sense of community.
Building relationships is a great way to focus on company culture and spark employee engagement.
Offer paid opportunities for employees to foster relationships. Need some ideas?
- Host employee outings and events to amusement parks, festivals, museums, or concerts
- Organize employee picnics at nearby parks
- Establish employee affinity groups to help create space spaces for employees of different backgrounds and experiences
- Create employee book clubs and other hobby-related groups
How can your work environment improve employee morale?
By initiating these opportunities for employee engagement, you will boost employee morale.
Engaged employees who are developing meaningful relationships with each other will be more excited to come to work and do a great job.
This creates a feedback loop:
- The more positive employees’ attitudes are, the better work they will do.
- The better they feel about their work, the more positivity they will have throughout the day.
All of this ties together, you see? As an employee’s morale skyrockets, the work improves. The sense of community tightens up. And you are left with far less turnover and more consistent results.
BOOST Job Satisfaction #5: Time is Precious
In addition to employee engagement, employers find that increasing productivity increases job satisfaction.
Improve productivity; improve employee satisfaction
One of the worst feelings as an employee is feeling like you are wasting your time:
- Maybe your manager assigned you a meaningless task.
- Maybe you are twiddling your thumbs because your skills are being underutilized.
- Maybe you are working overtime on an intense project that you’ll never finish without assistance.
Want to know a key factor to improving employee satisfaction? Work smarter.
Here’s what I mean:
Many employers feel tied to the 9-5, Monday-Friday work structure. But is that the most productive method?
Some businesses are exploring the 4-day workweek. Some see higher productivity because there is less time to get the same amount of work done.
This doesn’t mean skimping on quality, though.
Many businesses find that the 4-day workweek takes the dead air out of the week. Employees are more productive with their time.
Plus, they get to enjoy more time with their loved ones, or exploring their hobbies.
How to increase productivity:
To increase productivity, provide employees with the tools to:
- Communicate effectively
- Focus on their tasks free from distractions
- Collaborate as needed
- Work flexible hours with set times to address needs as a group
- Leave when the work is complete (avoid the thumb twiddling
Results foster results
Remember that feedback loop we were talking about? When employees are happy, they will do better work. Doing better work makes them feel good. And so on, and so forth.
As employee productivity improves, employee motivation will skyrocket, as well. There is nothing like seeing tangible results to inspire continued hard work.
Equip your employees with the tools they need to be productive and happy. You will see even the most uninspired employees transform into an ambitious team.
Ready to BOOST your employees’ job satisfaction?
Let’s review my tips on how to increase job satisfaction in the workplace:
BOOST Job Satisfaction #1: Be an advocate for growth.
BOOST Job Satisfaction #2: Opportunities for feedback.
BOOST Job Satisfaction #3: Options and flexibility.
BOOST Job Satisfaction #4: Strengthen the company culture.
BOOST Job Satisfaction #5: Time is precious.
Good luck!
Keep Reading: How to Secure Corporate Sponsorships in 4 Simple Steps
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Adam Christing has been called “The Tom Brady of emcees.” He has hosted more than 1,000 company meetings, special events, gala celebrations, and more. He is the author of several books and founder of CleanComedians.com. For more event tips, follow Adam Christing on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
