3 Ways to Make Your Employees Feel Appreciated
Businesses start every day, and businesses fail every day. There always will be another dollar to earn or another sales meeting to go to. Business leaders constantly have to worry about revenue, expenses, margins and often shareholders. As important as all of those things are, employers also are tasked with many responsibilities beyond growing a company, or increasing sales.
It is easy to talk all day about the intricacies of today’s market and how thousands of factors should be considered before each business decision. But the fact is businesses typically are only as good as their employees.
Lee Lacocca, Engineer of the Ford Mustang, said this, “Start with good people, lay out the rules, communicate with your employees, motivate them and reward them. If you do all those things effectively, you can’t miss.” Lacocca was passionate about and cared much for his employees, and they in turn helped him cultivate very successful businesses throughout his career.
Employers and business leaders can have a unique and powerful influence over their employees and their success. If an employee is equipped, motivated and managed well, it is hard for them to fail.
As CEOs, the challenge with maintaining a rewarding and efficient work atmosphere for employees, while also meeting expense requirements, can be even harder. That is why effective top down leadership is so important in the business world. Just because you do not physically interact with an employee on a day-to-day basis does not mean that you can’t provide him with the means to be successful.
Hiring managers that aren’t only able to meet quotas and make bottom lines look good but are able to understand employee needs, facilitate changes to meet those needs and successfully implement those changes, can be the most effective thing you do as a leader.
There are many ways CEOs, managers, owners and the like can make employees feel appreciated, useful and needed, but for these discussions we will focus on 3:
- A fundamental aspect of your responsibilities is to remember that employees are working to make a paycheck. If an employee is working, and they feel that their paycheck is not worth what they do, they are not going to work at their highest level.
- Benefits are another reason why employees work. Make sure that the benefits you’re offering really will benefit your employees.
- Finally, encouraging, teaching and giving employees ways to save will give them the means to have success in their current financial situation, the ability to overcome unforeseen expenses and ultimately reward them with a retirement free of financial insecurity.
For now, we will look into the aspect of pay, and how it relates to both productivity and employee security.
Far too often CEOs get caught up in the high paced world of making a profit to see that a salary or benefits do not always have to be looked at as expenses. Pay your employees what the job they are doing is worth. Moreover, pay them more than the job is worth, because that is how you are going to make them feel appreciated, and maximize their productivity. It is better to pay two employees a little more each than to pay three employees a little less each.
By paying your employees more, you allow them to live a better lifestyle, achieve financial independence and invest in their future. There are also benefits to your business.
Happy employees work harder and are much less likely to leave. Everyone knows that in most cases it is much more expensive to hire a new employee than to maintain an old one. Keep them happy and they will stay. Providing invest incentives through your company will leave your employees more likely to invest their wage raises. You can offer better matches on their 401Ks or offer more comprehensive insurance plans.
Ultimately, paying employees allows them to do everything they ever do. Some people may disagree, but a person’s income is their largest asset. It is what gives them the ability to do, accrue, buy and spend. Essentially, it lets a person live life.
Owning a home does not mean you can put food on the table or buy a car to go in the driveway. Keep this in mind as you decide how important your employees, and what they are paid, will be to your business. If you continue to invest in your employees, they will invest in your business.
Paychecks give your employees the means to participate in benefits that you give them access to, as well as save through retirement plans you offer.
In the next couple of posts we will discuss how providing the most expensive benefits in the world is not as important as providing the most effective benefits in the world. Help employees set goals toward their financial future. Encourage them to use their paychecks in ways that make their lives better, not only in the short term, but the long term as well.
Category: Financials Leadership
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For startups, sometimes it’s hard (or impossible) to pay your employees what they’re worth so you have to find ways to let them know how much you value them. For us at Value Prop, we give development opportunities galore. No one is stuck in a box — everyone has room to grow and try on new hats. It makes for a very collaborative and fantastic office atmosphere.
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