The importance of satisfied employees is beyond price!

Employee satisfaction is a term of huge importance for businesses’ life duration and quality – happy employees are the ones who are exceptionally loyal towards their organization and stick to it even in the worst circumstances.

Today’s companies and organizations aren’t a psychologist’s offices, neither learning facilities nor some kind of social clubs. Neither of those names describes nowadays’ fast-growing and challenging business units.  So why does it matter so much for companies to have happy and engaged workforce? The answer is very simple. It all comes down to cold and solid finances. Every successful business story worldwide witnesses one fact: companies that have satisfied employees have the greatest advantage over companies that don’t.

Boosting employee satisfaction is not only good for company’s drive, but it can be good for the company’s overall progress. That’s because happier employees are more productive, they come to work regularly, they are less likely to take time off, and they are more likely to remain loyal to the business avoiding the odds for them to leave for another job. That last point is particularly important, as hiring, on-boarding and training new employees, on average, costs much more than investing in the people who already work for the company.

Keeping employees satisfied and engaged takes more than just good salary and benefits. The following list exposes some of the key workplace satisfaction factors rated by employees:

• Appreciation and effort recognition are the job satisfaction’s birthmarks

Employees demonstrate strong engagement level when a unique, fair and respectful treatment is applicable to all employees in a company and that is the most vital factor for job satisfaction. Whether some assignment is done poorly or greatly, it should be proportionally treated with different type of reception by the management, but most of all – the excellent job submitter should be publically encouraged and appreciated for everything he did well, as an example for the other employees.

• The more we trust our front man, the harder we try

Maybe it happened because of the employment uncertainty in the years following the Great Recession, but employees signified that the trust between themselves and management is another highly important satisfaction factor that should not be underrated.

• Security and stability set the pace for long-term marathons

If you’ve ever had to go to work every day wondering if your job is secure, you know it can become the foundation of great anxiety. Companies can offer a sense of security through straightforward communication and transparency about the organization’s health and long-term feasibility. They can also provide motivational actions that increase employees’ life stability such as employee life insurance, retirement funds, saving funds, studying scholarships for the employees’ children or a possibility for the children to become the preferred candidates for future job openings at the same organization, in case they are competing for the same position with other similarly skilled candidates.

• Everyone wants to breathe in a healthy environment

Workspaces that are generally stress free, that do not face moral issues, harassment and discriminatory practices can create an encouraging and healthy environment for everyone. A little bit of stress can help employees to stay focused and active, but nobody imagines remaining on a job where the amounts of stress impact the employees’ physical and emotional wellbeing and massively affect their private relations misbalancing the work-life equilibrium.

• Career promotions build the winning teams

No one dreams to have a dead-end job. Employees are more likely to do extremely well and outshine when they are able to see an established upward passageway, with the opportunity to get a higher income and take on superior responsibilities. Companies’ growth happens only as a consequence of its employees’ development.

• Fair paycheck and benefits should be an issue taken off the table

The earnings aren’t the only reason employees get satisfaction in their jobs, but they usually grade them high on the list. Competitive incomes makes employees feel appreciated, and gives them less motivation to look elsewhere for a job shifting so salary grading and bonus schemes should be rational according to each employee’s job responsibilities and achievements.

At many companies throughout the world, employee disengagement is like a bad disease—difficult to diagnose and to cure, but also contagious. Unhappy means unproductive and unproductive employees are unlikely to make constructive involvements so their lack of enthusiasm tends to extend with alarming range. On the other hand, satisfied employees are more productive, have minor turnover rates, lower absenteeism and are the generators of higher profits—they are what every organization needs to prosper.

The pulse of the companies’ culture and employee satisfaction is mostly measured by annual employee surveys which are at the main orientation radar of every Human Resources department, yet only provide information on a one-time basis. Once a year, or even twice a year, surveys allow too much time to pass to guarantee the precision of the records received, as working ambiance and employee attitudes are in continuous fluctuation and momentous changes can happen in short periods of time. Employees often react on the basis of their work surroundings, the actions of their colleagues, the teamwork, and management policies. Management must be responsive to employees’ attitudes, satisfaction and opinions. All of them are critical and significant aspects of employee satisfaction that lead to a better forecast of winning achievements for many businesses.

Most companies strive for employee satisfaction, but not all conquer this target. That’s why it’s essential for Human Resources professionals to learn more about the factors that can enhance employee satisfaction, and how it fits into an organization’s overall success. The battle for talent has never been more brutal so in a world where money is no longer the number one factor attracting workforce to organizations, every business must concentrate on other factors to build a more attractive and engaging working atmosphere and to realize that the focus on the employees’ welfare is the crucial key to competitive advantage.