Focusing on employee satisfaction isn’t just a fad. Employers are finding that satisfied employees work more effectively, efficiently, and stay with the company longer than dissatisfied employees.
But what causes a dissatisfied employee? These are just five of the most common sources of employee dissatisfaction and how you can address them in your workplace.
Vague Scheduling
With more employees citing work-life balance as the primary benefit they look for in a job, it’s important that employees feel comfortable with their schedule yet many companies continue to schedule last minute and publish schedules with multiple errors and gaps. When companies use spreadsheets or pen and paper scheduling, the risk of human error is high and employees can grow frustrated continually asking for the same day off or reminding managers what hours they are available to work. By switching to an automated system such as workforce management software, managers can ensure that employees are aware of their schedule and can easily request time off.
Payroll Errors
The only thing more frustrating than wondering when you’re scheduled is not getting paid appropriately for those hours. When payroll relies on paper punch cards or manager reports, not only does the process take much longer but there is also room for error. If a manager forgets to log an employee’s hours, that employee suffers by not receiving their full paycheck. Payroll errors can not only damage morale but encourage employees to leave the company.
Inability to Enact Change
Most companies assume they already have a system for change and suggestions in place through their company hierarchy. In actuality, relying on that hierarchy to enact change means you’ll rarely have meaningful change within your organization. Managers simply have too many responsibilities and employee suggestions may fall on deaf ears, be forgotten, or be disregarded as outside the realm of that manager.
Employees want to make their work environment more positive and enjoyable. Giving employees a way to suggest changes to improve working conditions can help boost employee morale and increase satisfaction. Providing an online or physical suggestion box with a committee to review and address suggestions can help curb dissatisfaction.
No Way to Track Progress
If the only way employees can gauge their progress is during their annual review, you owe it to your employees to do better. If you’re hiring the right people, they want to excel at their position and annual reviews are simply too infrequent to help them achieve that goal.
Employees need a simple way to ensure they’re on task and on track to meet their career ambitions. Having an company intranet or workforce management software that allows employees to log progress and managers to review on an ongoing basis can help guide employees into the position or skill set they desire while improving satisfaction.
Inadequate Training
What’s your on boarding process? Too often, employers leave training in the hands of managers or co-workers without any specified plan to ensure competency. New employees may get a great orientation and training or they may only learn a small portion of the job and be left to learn the rest on their own. A great training program can not only help the company but also increase employee satisfaction. Employees who feel confident in their ability to perform their job and well oriented to their new workplace are more apt to stay in the position which helps the company.
If you've noticed these problems in your own workplace, employee dissatisfaction may be impacting your productivity and the morale of your workplace. By building better systems for tracking employee concerns and progress, you can increase both.
