{"id":11555,"date":"2015-03-03T10:00:58","date_gmt":"2015-03-03T15:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magazine.wework.com\/?p=11555"},"modified":"2020-03-30T18:43:01","modified_gmt":"2020-03-30T22:43:01","slug":"how-to-increase-employee-satisfaction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/how-to-increase-employee-satisfaction","title":{"rendered":"How to increase employee satisfaction for the long haul"},"content":{"rendered":"

The success of a business hinges upon the well-being of its employees. Below, Eric Siu not only explains why a happy employee makes for a positive and productive work culture, but how to do so long-term<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Professor Alex Edmans of The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania discovered that\u00a0businesses with high levels of employee satisfaction<\/a>\u00a0perform better than those without.\u00a0Research from the University of Warwick<\/a>\u00a0says\u00a0happiness makes people 12 percent more productive.<\/p>\n

And yet a\u00a0report from Gallup<\/a>\u00a0demonstrates that 63 percent of employees today are \u201cnot engaged\u201d (24 percent are \u201cactively disengaged\u201d) in their jobs. This essentially means that 87 percent of employees have no passion for their work, lack motivation to get the job done, and are unhappy.<\/p>\n

This has an impact on the bottom line too \u2014\u00a0according to Tower Perrin<\/a>, companies with a low level of employee engagement have a 33 percent annual decline in operating income and an 11 percent annual decline in growth.<\/p>\n

Considering that three\u00a0out of four startups fail<\/a>\u00a0already,\u00a0the people in charge need to unearth ways to skyrocket and maintain employee happiness and satisfaction.\u00a0Your startup\u2019s success might depend on it.<\/p>\n

What makes employees happy?<\/h3>\n

Many combined\u00a0factors contribute to employee satisfaction and happiness. To understand this, The Energy Project teamed up with Harvard Business Review to\u00a0conduct a survey of 12,115 workers. 94 percent of these workers were in white-collar jobs. The rest (six percent), were in blue-collar jobs.<\/p>\n

According to the survey<\/a>, employees are most satisfied and productive when their four core needs are met. These are physical, emotional, mental and spiritual needs.<\/p>\n

The good news is that satisfying just one need of the four can improve performance. These steps can kick-start a culture that induces employee satisfaction and happiness, which in turn will boost productivity and performance. Just remember: each person\u2019s idea of happiness varies greatly, so communicating with your current employees and incorporating their wants and needs in the work culture will result in a positively functioning startup.<\/p>\n

How should you get new employees to adapt to your work culture?<\/h3>\n

Are you wondering how to get potential hires\u00a0to adapt to your work culture? You\u2019re on the wrong track.<\/p>\n

Tony Hsieh, Founder and CEO of Zappos,\u00a0takes work culture so seriously<\/a>\u00a0that his company performs two sets of interviews. The hiring manager and his or her team conducts the first set to determine whether the candidate has relevant experience, technical ability, and is a good fit.
\nThe HR team conducts the second to ensure that the potential employee would be a good culture fit. Employees have to pass both interviews in order to get hired.<\/p>\n

Zappos turns down many talented people who don\u2019t fit into their culture. For Zappos, the long-term benefits are more important than the short-term benefits. So instead of looking for methods to get new employees to adapt, look for employees who will directly fit into your culture.<\/p>\n

You can take it one step further and mandate an employee probationary period like Buffer does. They have\u00a0a 45-day trial period with an employee called\u00a0Buffer Bootcamp<\/a>. During this phase, Buffer assesses the new employee to see if they would\u00a0fit in with the company<\/a>. The decision to stay together or part ways depends on how both parties feel at the end of 45 days. Usually 70 percent of new hires stay on.<\/p>\n

Buffer also takes effective pre-employment steps. They\u2019re well-known for their transparency about their culture, salary packages, and everything else offered to make it easy to attract people who fit in.<\/p>\n

The secret: motivating employees to work because it makes them happy<\/h3>\n

On average, people spend\u00a08.7 hours each day working<\/a>\u00a0(as compared to 2.6 on leisure and sports). This represents an enormous section of their lives. Businesses need to prioritize bringing fulfillment and happiness to employees. The obvious choice might seem like paying them more, but that does not directly correlate with long-term happiness. Money is a reward that aids as a fuel for a temporary period. Once it\u2019s exhausted, employees lose interest.<\/p>\n

Motivate your employees\u00a0to work because it makes them happy. Then stand back and watch as productivity and overall company performance improve.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The success of a business hinges upon the well-being of its employees. Below, Eric Siu not only explains why a happy employee makes for a positive and productive work culture, but how to do so long-term. Professor Alex Edmans of The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania discovered that\u00a0businesses with high levels of employee […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1440,"featured_media":11560,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43902],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-professional-development"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow to increase employee satisfaction for the long haul<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A businesses' success hinges upon the well-being of its employees. 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