Tip of the Week: What Do Your Employees Really Want?

There are a multitude of things that a franchisee has to worry about. One of the most common things put on the back-burner is what your employees really want from the job. Although getting a raise is great, it’s not always what an employee is looking for.

Finding and keeping employees with the right work ethic, experience, and commitment should be your number one priority as far as staffing goes. But what about once you hire the perfect employee: how do you keep them at your business for the long haul?

Potential Future

Some employees may work for your business without ever expecting to move up in job positions, while others will expect it to happen within the first year or two. Regardless of the company, almost all employees will want to have the chance at a bigger and better future, after all, isn’t that the American Dream?

If the employee can’t move up in position (possibly management or director), then help them get the experience they need to use once they move on to another company. Educating your employees and giving them all the information they need to better perform their jobs won’t be detrimental to your business, it will help production!

Empathy

Employees don’t want to work for a franchisee that doesn’t care about their well being. Take the time to listen to their ideas and give them input. There are lots of ways to listen to your employees, whether this is through a suggestion box, email, phone, or in-person.

Employees want to feel like they have contributed to the overall goal of a company. They want to feel like they’re valued, so give them a chance. Yes it’s true, not all ideas have value but giving your employee the chance to explain their ideas may give you an idea of where they’re coming from. Who knows, letting them explain their idea could even lead to a new idea that will boost your profits.

Consistency

There are few things that stress employees out more than inconsistencies in their schedule. Although some things cannot be avoided, creating a schedule of tasks and goals can create a less-stressful work environment.

For large projects, create goals or milestones and keep your employee updated on their progress. Have them (or you) schedule tasks for each milestone, creating a clear picture of what needs to be done before moving on. Making goals for projects keeps the work interesting.

Consistency is the key to a happy environment. You’ll find that very few workers will want to come in and not know what they are going to be doing that day. Rather, have a schedule of tasks for jobs they need to complete that day and stick to the schedule. If changes need to be made, let them know well in advance: a less-stressed worker is a better worker.