“I am resigning today.”
“I have received an irresistible offer, but most importantly I have been promoted to management position almost after eight years of stagnation doing the same job, under same schedules and supervised by someone who never mentors or applauds my successes.”
This news came as a surprise to me, reading my friend Henrietta’s resignation letter to his employer.
Henrietta has over the past years, praised his employer as one of the most exceptional bosses she had ever met. But one, thing that she never spoke about until recently was the kind of work relationship she shared with her employer.
“We never had a great working relationship though,” Henrietta said. “He was a social media analyst, and so was I but he was more concerned about the analytics and not the creative ideas I generated monthly to get the analytics looking great.”
So how does this tie with your motivation to resign at this time when the organization needs you most, I asked out of curiosity,
“An organization that does not respect the ideas of its employees, and support the creative talent of its staff lacks the right prospects for growth and stagnates the best in its employees” she replied.
Look for all the eight years I worked here, none of my supervisors has sent me for a course to gain more skills in social media management.
The social media management skills I am most proud of today are skills I have gained through self-study and interaction with my peers.
I was finding out so much from Henrietta’s employment journey.
Shortly after her graduation, Henrietta had a vision of finding employment in a company that not only looked at the clients it served but also a company that was loyal to its employees.
But her dream did not come to pass.
“Each day started with my supervisor poking his nose at the work of all staff members and pulling out not the best highlights of their work but the mistakes they made, and he then hurled insults at the workers.”
One IT manager was threatened with dismissal after he missed work for two days to attend to his terminally ill mother.
Some staff complained of segregation while other staff members who struggled to meet the company goals never got any form of guidance.
No steps were taken to ensure that employees understood the company mission, goals and objectives. The common mistakes resulted from employees who did not understand the mission and vision of the company.
The hardest working staff were never given a pat on the back and work became routine and eventually dull.
The result?
A group of demoralized and disgruntled employees no longer keen to help the company serve its clients well.
The number of complaints in the suggestion boxes piled up and so was the name of resignation letter finding their way to the management’s offices.
Henrietta, too, was left with no option but to begin the search for better opportunities that empowered her career.
My conversation with Henrietta opened my eyes to the core value of engagement with your employee, a not so daunting task that most managers and business owners tend to ignore their employees.
It’s also clear from Henrietta’s insights that company owners, managers and leaders need to view employees as a strategic asset.
Positive engagement with the employees results in long-term employee retention, higher levels of productivity, improved quality of work, excellent customer satisfaction and of course, higher profits for the company.
 

Here is why your employees’ matter 

A happy employee = improved productivity

Stand up for your employees and treat each of them fairly. A research carried out by the US-based Gallup group shows that ‘the most effective leaders are always investing in the strengths of their employees.’
Employees want to be happy in the workplace to stay productive. A productive employee will ensure increased revenue. Understanding that they are appreciated allows the employees to remain connected to your mission, values and goals and help you connect to more employees.
 

High Employee retention = lower turnover 

You should be worried if you cannot retain your employees. A company with a high employee retention rate can boost its growth, but a flat retention rate results into business losses because of the disruptions in the work that could keep clients waiting for weeks and even months.
Employees are not keen to look for the next employer if you provide them with favourable work conditions. So you need to understand how to develop and empower your employees to create and empower their people makes all the difference in their workplace culture.
 

New opportunities = Improved service delivery

When employees are given opportunities to advance their skills and careers, they add value to your company. So as a leader and manager, create opportunities for your employees and initiate strategies that allow your employees to grow both career-wise and workwise. New opportunities, in turn, results in improved creativity and a steady improvement in performance results.
 

Open communication = Great feedback 

A culture that allows employees to speak out freely without the fear of apprehension paves the way for transparency. It is essential to listen to your employees and to take their ideas. And when you act on their suggested ideas, the employees will feel valued and would be at the forefront to promote your business ideals.
 

In conclusion

It is vital to provide value to employees and a culture that supports them mentally and physically to obtain the best productivity from them.
This culture is achievable through employee engagement strategies, including paying for their skills training and study opportunities, coaching and mentoring and implementing health systems.
Implementing robust employee well-being systems can bolster overall employee engagement and provide you with less turnover.
It’s fair to say your employees matter more than your clients. If this is a kind of culture that you want your employees to feel, touch, hear, smell and sense, then you have created the right path to better to a company that is set to serve your clients better.