When it comes to running your business, a great customer service team is going to be a major part in keeping revenue flowing. After all, having happy customers means that your business will do nothing but grow, right?
Something that we may forget is that the employee experience is just as important as the customer experience. If your employees don’t have the right tools or are unhappy with the current setup of your operations, then it’ll be harder for them to engage and perform their duties. According to Gallup, 85% of employees are not engaged or actively disengaged at work. Part of a strong business is having a strong team, which means providing the team members with what they need to succeed.
So what are some ways your business can improve your employee’s experience?
No one wants to feel like just another gear in the machine. Get to know your employees and learn their likes and dislikes, what motivates them, and more. Yes it’s simple, but it’s also effective in establishing a stronger connection between them and the company.
Try kicking off your mornings with a fun, interactive icebreaker meeting. Ask some fun questions for everyone to answer to get to know each other a little bit more. You could also do a virtual happy hour and have a fun, relaxed conversation with your team. The more they feel like they fit in, the more they’ll want the company to grow and succeed.
What tools you offer for your employees will be a huge factor in how they perform their duties. You wouldn’t hire a designer and not offer the Adobe Suite or Figma, would you? A team is as strong as the tools they can utilize to succeed. In a study by Citrix, they found that most surveyed executives agree that the applications and devices their organization provides make a positive contribution to their employees’ working experience.
So talk to your team about what tools they do or don’t use, and what they think is needed to make their jobs easier and more effective. Not only are you giving them what they need, but you’re also instilling trust and transparency that will also help improve your employee’s productivity.
One tool that will improve flexibility, overview and collaboration is Desktop.com. The service allows your team to organize and import all of the needed apps and other online resources into one shareable place. Desktop.com also includes full HD video calls and chat, so that you can collaborate and work on projects seamlessly. It has been proven that having ready access to the data and insights they need to do their jobs, wherever they are located, does more to influence employee engagement and productivity, and ultimately their overall experience, than other technology factors.
Let’s be honest - most people who will work for a business will only be doing it so they can get paid. However, over time you’ll get to know your employees better. Eventually, you may come to learn more about their plans for the future and their skillset. Do you have an employee wanting to learn more about business strategies? Maybe another employee has another skill that could benefit another department. It’s important to understand what your employees’ goals are, and think about how that extra skill or desire can be used to benefit your company.
If you give your current employees a chance to shine in other areas that they show interest in, you increase their desire to want to better serve the company and watch it grow. Putting the time into your employee’s interests and personal growth will give you a more well-rounded team that will stick by your side.
Free gym memberships, discounted clothing, unlimited snacks - who wouldn’t want those kinds of perks? While they’re not bad to offer, you might actually be wasting your time and money by offering items like these. According to a study by LinkedIn, “ 44% of professionals preferred benefits like health coverage and paid time off.
By giving employees the right perks, people will feel more inclined to use them and feel appreciated. Talk to your employees and ask about which benefits they use, and are most important to them. Get a clearer understanding of how your team feels, and you can better curate a list of perks that will benefit not only your employees' engagement, but also your company's finances.
No one wants an employer who doesn’t listen to a team’s ideas and suggestions. While we tend to think most decisions should be made by management, employees usually have a lot of creative and effective ideas that could benefit the company. In fact, 82% of employees have ideas on how their company can improve. Unfortunately, employees tend to feel like their voices aren’t heard.
Be sure to have regular meetings and listen to the team’s concerns and thoughts. Everyone wants to feel like a part of the company, so by giving a voice to your employees and allowing them to have a say in the operations, you’ll boost morale and encourage positive engagement within the team.
Now you can use these tips to help improve your team’s engagement and begin creating a work environment that benefits everyone. When everyone feels like they’re a part of the team, that’s when your business will really start growing!
