I just read in the June edition of Fast Company that Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, is making happiness a business.
He has launched a motivational consultancy, called Delivering Happiness, that will provide advice on corporate culture as well as offering packaged experiences (e.g., pottery classes and helicopter lessons).
Tony’s new consultancy is particularly relevant because highly paid executives have a hard-time relating to what their employees are facing in this recessionary economy.
Just as executives think they know how their customers perceive them — they may think they know what motivates their employees, but they don’t.
At Zappos, Tony is already planning to host concerts and build small crash pads, with a bed and a closet, that can be rented for $100/month — that’s what I need in my current job which is 90 miles from my home.
Things like this are critical since we know that employee satisfaction leads to customer satisfaction and customer satisfaction leads to greater revenues and profitability. See “Consumer Insights on Employee Engagement” (http://wp.me/pYHt6-e6).
In this day and age, employees are being asked to do more, take on more responsibility without a commensurate increase in salary. As such, it becomes even more important to find ways to ensure your employees are happy.
Jessica Ford of Ashton Staffing suggests the following:
- Offer a balance between work and life.
- Allow flexible starting times, core business hours, work from home options and flexible ending times. Employees will focus less on salary if they feel like they have a balance and some freedom.
- Offer an attractive and competitive benefits package, with life and disability insurance and flexible hours. An employee can be content with a low- to mid-range salary if there is a strong benefits package. This is more true for older, than younger workers who value healthcare benefits.
- Select the right people from the beginning through behavior-based testing and competency screenings.
- Offer performance feedback and praise good efforts and results.
- Do your best to create a fun work environment, because people want to enjoy their work.
- Engage and employ the special talents of each individual, and involve employees in decisions that affect their jobs and the overall direction of the company, such as the discussion of company vision, mission, values and goals.
- Continue company traditions, such as holiday parties. This gives everyone something to look forward to and adds an element of fun into the workplace.
- Remember to take an interest in your employees. Respect their ideas and listen to them. This small gesture can make an employee feel needed and that he or she has a purpose in everyday tasks, beyond just receiving a paycheck.
- Provide opportunities within the company for cross-training and career progression. People like to know that they have room for career movement.
What are you and your firm doing to keep your employees happy during a recession?
Chipotle For Life 