I’m not sure if you saw the latest figures, but unemployment continues to drop and the labor market is tightening. But even if it wasn’t, keeping your best people should always be your goal. In the service and hospitality fields, where the team is the only real sustainable asset, having an engaged and happy workforce is so critical. Reflecting on my own experience and market research, here are the three things that you can do NOW to ensure that your team will stay with you longer: Ensure your employees know what is expected of them – Have you ever had a job that was ambiguous? Have you ever been reprimanded for not completing something that you didn’t know was your responsibility? No matter the size of the company, having clarity around job responsibilities along with clear expectations provides employees with certainty and comfort that they are valued and contributing to the goals of the organization. In hospitality, it is especially easy to get lost if you’re not sure what you are supposed to do / be responsible for on a daily basis. This can quickly result in job dissatisfaction. Check that every employee has the tools to do their job – It can be so frustrating when you don’t have the right tools to complete a task or do your job effectively. You don’t want your employees searching for a clean uniform or the appropriate knife. When you don’t provide even the smallest of tools to do the job it has the result of making your employees feel unimportant.
“if they really cared about me, they would give me a good computer so I can be productive”. Ensuring that your team has the tools to do their job is critical to employee satisfaction as well as organizational efficiency. In short, it is money well spent! Employee satisfaction begins with a good employee experience and that begins with giving the employee what they need to do their job.
Make sure you are recognizing your employees – everyone wants to be valued and appreciated for doing their job. One of the easiest, and often overlooked, things leaders can do is simply to recognize and thank their employees for a job well done. I am not talking about a big formal recognition program. All that is really necessary is the small daily “thank you” recognition opportunities for things such as delivering great guest experience, completing a task, meeting a deadline, extra effort, or a great idea. Everyone wants to feel recognized and know their hard work is acknowledged, calling it out when it happens will be meaningful! While there are so many factors that go into a truly engaged workforce (these are obviously not all of them), these three things make a huge difference:
Clarity of job responsibilities, tools to do the job, and being valued for doing it
Taken together, you can create a great foundation for all of your employee’s well-being and job satisfaction. Review your team’s equipment and tools, do they work properly or are they causing frustration? Have you reviewed job descriptions and position roles with your employees so they are understand what is expected of them? Do you take the time to thank your employees for what they do every day?
And finally, after being reminded by my friend and colleague, Debbie Albert, we agree that none of this works unless you always practice what you preach. Now is the time, don’t wait – and great job!