– to decide how best to achieve the result. Take it a step further by allowing employees to pick and choose the projects and responsibilities they can work on as a reward for having previously done a great job.
Allowing flexible work schedules
Based on my research, the majority of employees cite increased flexibility in employee work schedules as a top motivator. Furthermore, depending upon the type of work, a flexible schedule can also increase the efficiency of getting the work done.
Technology has opened up new possibilities for how employees work. Gone are the days when communication was limited to fax and phone lines or face-to-face meetings. These days, some businesses operate entirely on a virtual platform with employees scattered throughout the country or world. Although not every company is able to operate this way, a large percentage of jobs can be done outside the traditional 9 to 5 office schedule. As a result, in recent years, many companies have experimented with flexible schedules or telecommuting options. Consider these statistics:
✔ Forty percent of current workers work remotely.
✔ Eighty-six percent of employees today report that they wish they had more time to spend with their families.
✔ In the last five years, nearly 30 percent of workers have voluntarily made career changes that resulted in a salary reduction in an effort to lead a more balanced life.
✔ Almost 50 percent of employees value the option of flexible or work- from-home hours.
✔ Fifty-four percent of employees appreciate the option to leave work early to tend to family or child issues.
✔ A large percentage of workers would take a reduction in pay if doing so allowed them to have more time for personal interests or to spend more time with family.
Having a sense of balance between the personal and professional parts of their lives is very important to today’s employees. Your company can help employees achieve greater flexibility and greater balance by implementing policies that promote life outside of the workplace. Here are some suggestions:
✔ Letting employees work alternate hours (arriving early and leaving early or vice versa)
✔ Offering four-day work weeks, in which longer hours are worked on fewer days
✔ Letting employees telecommute and work from remote locations
✔ Offering job-sharing options, where two or more employees split a job
✔ Allowing an employee to leave work early or to take time off to compensate for extra hours worked
Many companies have found that offering employees the options of working a flexible schedule or telecommuting increases morale and productivity. For some employees, the attraction is less time spent each week in a car and savings on gas or mileage. Others may enjoy reducing childcare expenses or simply having the opportunity to spend more time with their children. Whatever the motivation, employees appreciate the option of being able to have some control over their own schedules and, as a result, feel as though the company has their best interests in mind.
Providing managerial accessibility and support
When employees are encouraged to have more autonomy, independence, and flexibility in their jobs, they need your support; however, in one survey conducted by Gallup, 66 percent of respondents said their managers had asked them to get involved in decision-making, but only 14 percent felt they’d been empowered to make those decisions.
In most cases, giving employees the autonomy and authority to act in the best interests of the organization and offering words of encouragement and praise along the way works wonders. Encouraging employees to pursue their ideas and supporting them in that process are also important for yielding positive results in the workplace.
Here are some guidelines for building rapport with and supporting your employees:
✔ Take time with employees. It all comes back to communication: Getting out and talking to employees, spending time with frontline staff, and making an effort to truly listen to employees can open your eyes to seemingly small accomplishments that would otherwise go unnoticed. No matter how small, the roles and responsibilities of every employee are a critical factor in the overall success of an organization.
✔ Ask employees what they want and/or need. Don’t assume you or your management team knows automatically. For employees that have been with you several years, don’t assume what they wanted five years ago is still the same; encourage open and honest dialogue.
✔ Be available for questions from employees. Managers have to be available and approachable to get employees to talk with them. Whether that means dropping into the break room, holding “office hours,” or having a beer with the team after work or to celebrate finishing a project – face time is critical. I know of one manufacturing plant that even invested in an electronic deli type of sign that said, “Now serving number … ” Employees who wanted face time with a visiting executive got a number and made their way to the main office as that number got close to being called.
✔ Show understanding and empathy. It’s important for all employees to feel that their managers are on their side, rooting for their success and seeking to help them succeed in any way possible. When employees face life changes, tragedies, or circumstances that demand more of their time than usual, employees need to feel comfortable discussing their situation with their managers or employers. If they’re met with understanding and a willingness to help, they won’t ever forget it. And the happier and more stable your employees, the better your business fares.
✔ Support employees when they make mistakes. Employees need their manager’s support more than ever when they (the employees) make mistakes. Finding fault and openly criticizing employees is easy – sometimes even in front of their peers. But if you take that approach, your employees will lose a degree of self-esteem and a willingness to act independently – and you may never get those attributes back again.
