My father recently retired after over 50 years as a large-animal veterinarian. Think James Herriot but American cowboy—Stetson and Wranglers and all. He would tell you that one of his proudest accomplishments was being a small-business owner for the last 20 years. Congrats Dad!
I worked as a receptionist at the clinic for a few years and the one thing he would always commiserate about was “I just wish my employees cared as much as I do!”
Makes sense, right? My dad, like most small business owners, sought to follow his dream to provide a quality service to his community. If you’ve been in a similar position, you know the pang of feeling like you’re more invested in that than your team is. On the other hand, it makes sense that your employees’ dreams aren’t to run your small business, and that’s okay!
The way I see it, an employee helps the small business owner realize their goals and dreams. So, it stands to reason that the employee, in some way, hopes for their employer to reciprocate—to help them realize their goals.
The good news is it’s not difficult to make that happen. No matter your size, there’s room to evolve your engagement strategies to build your employees into vocal, enthusiastic supporters of your business and your brand. That being said…
It’s not just about engagement.
For years the conversation about employee buy-in has centered almost entirely on engagement, engagement, engagement. But focusing on engagement alone can lead to negative consequences. There’s a strong correlation between engagement and burnout. Don’t believe me? Check out this article from HBR in early 2018! Basically, over-indexing on employee engagement can lead to your high performers feeling overwhelmed, overstressed, and well on their way to burnout.
The COVID pandemic and a constant flow of “once in a lifetime” events have caused people to re-examine their values, goals, and priorities in profound ways. This includes the role work plays in our lives. So, what can you do to motivate your employees in a healthy way—beyond just “engagement?”
I encourage you to add employee well-being to your business owner dictionary!
Employee well-being: why it matters and 5 ways to foster it
Employee wellbeing seeks to meet employees at a human level. It’s an approach recognizing that to be truly engaged, in a sustainable way, we need to ensure that our employees feel secure and taken care of. We are now seeing employees value the perks of an engagement mindset alongside a need for personal wellness and well-being. Why wait for the next “once in a lifetime event”? If you’re seeing a need for higher employee engagement, it may be time for a shift in thinking as your employees’ experience in turn affects your customers’ experiences with your brand.
What can you do to build a culture of employee wellbeing? Here are few suggestions:
1. Communicate company goals regularly.
Consider a quarterly or bi-annual company-wide update where you communicate the company’s short-term goals. Highlighting how each department or role plays into the strategy fosters psychological safety and group buy-in/ownership of business outcomes.
2. Make sure your benefits, perks, and resources are presented in a way that is easily digestible.
Employees who are well informed are more likely to interact with your benefit programs leading to better health outcomes and a more focused workforce.
3. Focus on benefit plan activation rates.
When your workforce is actively using the benefits provided, it’s easier to see what a positive effect your programs have on employees’ day-to-day lives. And when people are actively using your benefits plans, it’s easier to see how that support plays into your total compensation strategy.
4. Highlight financial literacy and coaching opportunities provided by your benefits provider.
When an employee can use an online seminar or expert session to help save to buy a new car, become a homeowner, put their child through higher education, they attribute the help to their job and job’s offerings
5. Keep well-being conversations evergreen and top-of-mind.
Have a weekly newsletter or company updates board? Try and include a rotating highlight of your benefit offerings! For instance, perhaps you can run a free nutrition webinar through your health care provider one month, then counseling sessions through an employee assistance program the next month.
Additionally, keep in mind that wellbeing isn’t just a general, sweeping goal, but an important part of individual conversations with employees. Make sure your team members know you’re committed to their well-being and give them safe, supportive spaces to share their questions, concerns, and feedback about it.
Remember: happy employees = happy customers
Whether you’ve just started building out your benefits, or you have a well-established plan and process, every business owner can benefit from a little well-being rejuvenation. At the end of the day, employees who feel their employer has their best interests at heart are more likely to become engaged in their work and evolve into vocal supporters of your brand. This type of buy-in benefits many aspects of your business, like productivity and employee tenure.
Arguably more important, though: employee well-being benefits the customer experience. Employee wellbeing can help turn one-time customers or clients into sources of rave reviews and returning revenue (say that five times fast). After all, the way your team feels about your brand influences how your customers feel. So, by supporting your employees’ well-being, you’re investing in long-term customer satisfaction. And this is especially true in service-oriented industries such as healthcare and financial services.
For more thoughts and tips about boosting customer satisfaction and following your small business dreams, be sure to check out the Ruby blog and subscribe to our monthly newsletter, Minutes!
