How many of your employees like working for you? Probably not as many as you may think, and definitely far fewer than you would want: Gallup reports that worldwide, a full 67 percent of workers are “not engaged,” with 18 percent actually “are actively disengaged.”
And these numbers are nothing new; employees have Not. Liked. Working. At. Their. Employer. For. Years!
And we don’t have to spell out why this is a bad thing for your company’s bottom line: you already know so.
Many reasons exist for this disengagement. Your employees may feel:
- Their boss is mean.
- The workplace is hostile/threatening.
- They toil in hazardous or unpleasant conditions.
In addition, they may feel all of these things and also feel too afraid to speak up.
And what do all of the above have in common? What is the one missing thing that ties them all together?
Kindness.
Think about it: when it comes to engaging employees aren’t we really talking about respect, motivation, workplace relationships, teamwork, shared goals, genuine connections?
And how does one create these connections, motivate others, build strong relationships, share goals? By being nice. Follow the golden rule and treat others as you would want to be treated.
Yes, you can cajole, force, make employees do that which needs to be done. But you can also help them eagerly perform their jobs well by making it an absolute top-down, company-wide culture of respect, kindness and support of employees.
Understand, also, that this won’t be easy. Being understanding and compassionate when others around you are disagreeable or even mean (and there will be at least one instance each day when someone at your company will be mean or at least “not nice” to a colleague or subordinate in some way), is difficult. No workplace is perfect, just as no human within it is perfect.
But because a workplace is the sum of its parts, with its employees being the greatest “part’ of its whole, a simple, concerted effort by everyone to respect, build trust and show care for one another will go a long way to creating a workplace in which employees:
- Feel appreciated.
- Trust management.
- Get excited about company goals and mission.
- Enjoy coming to work/absenteeism declines.
- Take responsibility for their failures and accomplishments.
- Work efficiently, meeting deadlines.
Don’t believe us? It’s true: kindness in the workplace works!
When looking for terrific – and kind – individuals for your Orange County company’s temporary, temp-to-hire and direct-hire opportunities, look to Helpmates to help you find them. Contact the Helpmates branch nearest you today.
