What your employees want and need at work might seem clear – money, success, etc. Unfortunately, it’s not so black and white to figure out how to satisfy your employees. What we do know is that employees want to feel valued, engaged, motivated, and satisfied at work. How can you, as leaders, do your best to fulfill your employees’ wants and needs?
I wish we could hand you a step-by-step guide that would get you to a place where you could confidently say your employees feel valued, engaged, motivated, and satisfied! This just isn’t going to happen (not yet anyways). In the meantime, we can give you a little help in cutting to the chase.
If you want to know what your employees need, why not go right to the source, and ask them? Some questions you can ask to figure out what your employees want:
- What motivates you to show up to work every day?
- What is the best part of your job?
- What is your biggest frustration at work today? What is one frustration you have felt for more than 3 months?
- How can I help ease those frustrations?
- You are valued and appreciated. How can I make sure you know and feel this?
- How could I better lead you?
- If there are days when you feel less valued, less engaged, less motivated, and less satisfied… What do you think causes that?
- Picture a scale that goes from 1-10, with 10 meaning you feel completely valued, engaged, motivated, and satisfied at work. What could I do to help get you to a 10?
- What is your favorite:
- Candy to eat when you’re stressed
- Beverage to drink while at work
- Place to go for happy hour
- Get creative with these!
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Why are employee wants and needs so important?
Besides a moral obligation to improve the well-being of others, here are some benefits of fulfilling employee wants and needs:
- Employees are happy and motivated at work
- Employee retention increases
- Employees will be healthier, missing less work, and being more productive
- Employee attitude will be better in the office and with customers
- Employees will have positive things to say about your organization
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Improving the well-being of your employees will take time, trial, and error, but asking them what they want is a good start. It’s been found that 70% of employees say their sense of purpose is defined by their work. That’s a lot of pressure for you as a leader to help your employees find purpose! While you might feel the weight of this responsibility, you should know you have very limited direct control over their purpose. The best you can do as a leader is meet your employees where they are to help them feel fulfilled and purposeful at work.
When employees feel valued, engaged, motivated, and satisfied at work, the individual, the team, and the organization will reap the benefits in the short- and long-run!
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Reach out today and let’s chat about how we can help you get to the root of your employees’ wants and needs!
