This is a time-tested truism of leadership that has become vitally more important as we emerge from the worst days of the Covid pandemic. It is challenging every area of the nation, every sector, every business. It needs to be at the forefront of a leader’s efforts all the time.
Employees are making gains as they individually speak up and as labor becomes more organized. They are making progress in pay, benefits, flexible work, and other expectations of their employers.
Yet, according to a recent overlooked report by the Wall Street Journal last week employees are as, or even more. unhappy than in many years.
Employees report being more stressed and angrier with work – it is getting worse, not better, month over month. While much of what we have historically known about work and the workplace is beginning to bounce back, employee satisfaction is not. Employees are also significantly less likely to recommend their employer to others and, surprisingly, new employees are even less happy than longer term employees, a significant reversal of historic trends.
One dichotomy of this new conundrum is that while many employees welcome flexible and remote work options they are also raising concerns that they are isolated whether working at home or in the office. The social fabric of the workplace, the value of personal connection has always been a leading indicator of a successful culture. In their industry leading employee satisfaction surveying Gallup has relied heavily on the question, “Do you have a friend at work?” to measure satisfaction. The answer to that question is not trending in the right direction. That very fabric of social connection has been torn asunder with the new flexible work arrangements.
A key takeaway from this report is that employees are continuing to reckon with what they expect and want from work – in many cases they don’t have answers to these questions, making it even more difficult for leaders to respond.
And, as with any new challenge or problem we as leaders need to rise to the occasion, identify its impact in our business, and work to resolve it.
I enjoy my work with executive leaders across the country to help support their success and that of the organizations they lead. Enhancing employee satisfaction, which drives productivity, is a key topic we are regularly working on. We are tackling key questions and finding new, innovative answers:
- What are you doing to evolve your leadership skills to support employees?
- How are you measuring the satisfaction of your employees? Do these new times require new approaches? New questions?
- Can you support your leaders and managers better to support your employees?
- What are the key, cutting edge benefits that are making a difference?
- What more can you do to help win the battle for talent?
As you continue to lead through these significant challenges, I would enjoy working with you and your team to bring forward the best approaches to support your employees and win the battle for talent. You can learn more about my efforts to provide executive coaching and support at www.mikegiffordconsulting.com.
Please reach out today with your ideas and anything I can do to help to continue and support you!
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