The New York Times pointed out in 2011, there are three reasons why people tend to leave their jobs. “The first is that they don’t feel a connection to the mission of the company, or sense that their work matters. The second is that they don’t really like or respect their co-workers. The third is they have a terrible boss.” (Bryant, Adam. “Google’s Quest to Build a Better Boss.” The New York Times. 12 March 2011). Let’s focus on the first two reasons, and how you can boost employee connection with your company mission and with each other.
Company Mission A strong company mission gives your employees a sense of purpose. It should be clearly stated, easily understood, and recognized and embraced by all employees. Employees should be extremely familiar with the company mission, after all, they were probably hired on the basis that they connect with and are a good fit with the mission. More and more companies are incorporating community involvement into their mission, and allowing time for employees to get involved in the community. This might include a paid day off to volunteer at the location of their choice, which in turn, makes their work more meaningful. By not just allowing, but encouraging your employees to get involved, you are stressing the importance of human connection.
Interpersonal Relationships Human connection can also be achieved by relationship building in the workplace. The Forum: Business Results Through People (affiliated with Northwestern University) released a study that said “friendships and other social ties foster higher levels of happiness, that from a company perspective, can lead to higher employee satisfaction, higher levels of retention, and better employee organizational performance.” Those are pretty powerful benefits that reiterate the importance of creating a work environment that fosters those interpersonal relationships. There are a variety of different routes you can take to go about this, including these specific ways to build teamwork, or changing things up like this based on the time of year.
It has been proven that truly valuing an employee will result in better performance. Contact a Marketing Innovators solutions expert today to see how you can boost employee performance by focusing on employee satisfaction.
