Women's Life Link Be Well, Be Happy, Be YOU!
When it comes to connecting with employees and doing the right thing, there are a lot of business owners and companies that fall short of even the basics. Especially in these times of extreme challenge in the world, going the extra mile to help others seems more than the right thing to do. This is even more true for companies and business owners that have employees who rely on them for support and understanding of their needs. Here are just a few points of connection that will help your overall communication with your employees.
Listen to Their Needs
You might want your employees to be earnestly focused on the job 24/7, but that isn’t likely to happen. For a lot of employees, working for you is just another job that is expendable. This is more true if there aren’t strong measures taken to connect with them. Some of their wishes and needs might not be doable, but it’s up to you to find out what will help them be stronger and happier in your employment.
Some might ask for flexible working patterns, others might ask for additional help such as a vaccine fridge to store their medical supplies in. Whatever it is that they are asking, it is important to listen and do what you can to provide a safe, comfortable environment. Your investment of time and money also shows them that you know you couldn’t do it without them.
Don’t Push It
We have all seen horror stories online about managers who push their luck with their employees and end up with no workers at all. For example, canceling their holidays and telling them they have to work because they are short-staffed. Don’t push your luck with your employees because they can easily walk away from the job. It is important to remember that they have a life outside of the job and deserve to be respected. It might help to have one manager or leadership team member ask employees regularly if there are things that aren’t going well in the ranks.
Be Legal
There are a lot of laws that you have to take into account as an employer, and it is up to you to make sure they are followed throughout your company. For this reason, proper training and enforcement of procedures and rules are of the utmost importance from day one. If your employees discover that you are breaking the law with their wages or their working hours, they have every right to walk out and bring legal action against you. After all, you might be ok working a 70 hour week for nothing in order to get your business off the ground, but your employees don’t want this.
Do also pay attention to what is going on with employee-to-employee interactions. You can glean a lot about what’s really going on in your company by observing and listening to everyone from managers on down. Some topics to watch for are inter-office relationships, sexual harassment, anger, bullying, and disrespect. All of these things can wreak havoc on a company and even have legal consequences for you as an owner.
