How To Avoid Unhappy Employees

All employers should want their employees to be two things:

1. Happy &
2. Effective.

They usually go hand in hand with each other; in the sense that if your employees are happy at work they are more likely to be effective at their jobs, and if they are UNhappy they are more likely to be INeffective at work.

That makes it all sound so simple doesn’t it? Well of course it is far more complex than that, and you probably wouldn’t be reading this post if it was a simple topic that we had all sussed already.

I’m not going to proclaim to know a magic fix, but seeing as you’re here now, let me share a few important thoughts that all business leaders should be considering when it comes to employee engagement strategy and keeping employees happy and effective…

Leadership

So much of employee engagement boils down to leadership. The number 1 reason people quit their jobs is because of their immediate boss. So goes the saying, “people don’t leave companies, they leave managers.” Often what we see is the rise of individuals into middle management positions who don’t know how to be true leaders.

So if you’re a top boss, wondering why your best talent is unhappy and maybe looking elsewhere, number 1 place to start auditing is the rest of the leadership throughout the company.

Even if your employees aren’t citing unhappiness per se, strong leadership at all levels is hugely important to the success of the overall business. That’s why you’ll see so many of the Strive experiences that we offer centred around leadership.

Ultimately it’s on the company leaders to set the tone. Not only
the CEO. but the leaders across the company.

Tim Cook, CEO of Apple

Communication

A Gallup survey recently told us that a whopping 74% of employees feel that they’re missing out on company news. Happy and effective employees like to be kept up to date regularly with strategic information, too many companies fail to understand this fully and how to do it. Sharing strategies and plans is instrumental for each employee to understand how they fit into the bigger picture and can avoid simple misunderstandings that lead to unhappiness at work.

Communication is not just about news sharing, but it’s also about conversation, and about listening – more important than ever before for a post pandemic scattered workforce is to take the time to offer 1-1 support to your employees to really listen.

At Strive, communication is one of our 5 pillars of engagement, can you list the other 4? (hint, we’ve mentioned one already.)

Physical Exercise

A short walk outside can boost serotonin levels, increase mental alertness, and reduce stress. Studies show that exercise can treat mild to moderate depression as effectively as antidepressant medication. We believe that employers have a duty to their employees to help ensure they get enough physical exercise. For some of our clients that stretches as far as providing personal training sessions for all employees which is an amazing initiative, however for other companies it can just be as simple as controlling work hours and patterns and checking in with your employees to remind them to get out and about. Each company will have a unique approach to this and we love hearing about all varying initiatives out there,

Culture

As human beings, I believe the art of finding happiness is when we can live in accordance with our values. We really believe that leaders should focus on creating a culture where employees are able to bring their true self to work which will in turn lead to happier and more effective employees. 

“As human beings, I believe the art of finding happiness is when we can live in accordance with our values.
Leaders should focus on creating a culture where employees are able to bring their true self to work”

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