On our last blog, we described how goals are trending from the myths of work/life balance to the new perception of work/life satisfaction and how to help your employees identify and achieve this goal.
Why the big shift?
We discovered that the concept of work/life balance means that one is always taking away at the detriment of the other. Even with a perfectly even balance, dissatisfaction lowers the value of the balance.
On a good day under the work/life balance concept, 75% of employees were still giving the bare minimum requirements for their job. That means that extra mile comes from only one out of every four employees. The difference is satisfaction, and it’s not always related to the job. Even unrelated to their work, dissatisfaction can bleed into the work environment and affect many aspects of their career. It is both work and life satisfaction that as employers, we can leverage to get the absolute best from our employees!
The portrait of a satisfied employee
The employee that is content in their home and work life is usually easy to identify by watching their engagement with others and the output of their work. Simply put, positive emotions tend to invigorate your employees.
Customer focus
Whether internal or external customers, the satisfied employee is engaged and driven to succeed. They understand their value in the job they do and give it the best they can. They want the satisfaction of their customer’s request resolved and find joy in their customer’s delight.
Team players
The satisfied employee is confident in what they contribute to the team and seeks out opportunities to where they can jump in and give an extra hand when needed. They bring energy and positivity to the group and encourage others to bring the same. Depending on their personality type, you’ll see them getting the group activated, making the hard decisions, ensuring absolute accuracy, or the glue that holds the team together. Whatever their natural role, they will bring it with vigor.
Innovation on their mind
Content employees are giving more than the bare minimum. These are your 25% going above and beyond expectations. Scientists have found that the brain works better when a person is feeling positive about themselves and their lives. It was discovered that investing in employee support and satisfaction leads to more creativity and problem-solving.
Don’t be surprised to discover these members looking to brainstorm ways and getting involved to make improvements and heighten their contribution to the team and the organization. There are ways to do things faster, cheaper, smarter, better, and raise the status quo. You will find them eager to take calculated risks, at just the right time. They create a supportive atmosphere, encouraging one another to learn from their mistakes instead of fearing them and playing it safe. These challenges open doors to new experiences to grow their career to new heights.
Understanding their value to the organization, they know where they might directly increase that value. All of this innovation leads to higher profits for the organization.
Productivity
Despite there only being 24 hours in a day and 8 hours of it being work, your employee that is rich in home and life satisfaction gets more done in that same 8 hours than others manage to accomplish. According to economists at the University of Warwick, you can count on 12% more productivity from your happy and content employees while unhappy employees were 10% less productive than those neutral employees in the middle. They achieve this because they are engaged in their work. Instead of covering their position while wishing they were somewhere else, your engaged employee is in the moment finding satisfaction in the here and now.
Satisfied employees are healthy in body, mind, and spirit. They are taking care of themselves and fueling their own joy as well as those around them. Self-care also strengthens immunity. All of this reduces stress and prevents burnout in the workplace which according to Harvard Business Review, the psychological and physical afflictions from your burned-out employees cost an estimated $125 billion to $190 billion a year in healthcare costs, and that does not include the sick time paid by employers. We haven’t even mentioned those occasional “mental health days” yet.
Bonus round
In addition to the already mentioned factors that lead to increased productivity for your happy employees and those around them, work and life satisfaction also provide additional “bonus” benefits to your organization.
Loyalty – Happy employees who feel their employer has their back are most likely to support the company’s mission and work hard to meet their goals. They also spread their opinions to their friends, bringing the goodwill to the community.
Lower turnover – Employee retention is always a point of concern for Human Resources. Satisfied and loyal employees are less likely to leave, thus saving the costs associated with employee turnover.
Increased profits – With all of this heightened productivity and lowered costs of your happy employees, of course your bottom line will be smiling in no time. How could it not with all of the innovation and infectious enthusiasm buzzing around.
Where we come in
In our previous blog describing ways to promote a healthy balance of work and life satisfaction, we were one piece of the equation to creating that supportive and productive work environment. At Work2Live, we aspire to help our customers by providing our customers with a vehicle to promote their employees' well-being in their work and personal lives through experiential opportunities. We do this by connecting your team with perks and rewards to encourage them to indulge in an exciting life experience of their choice and take care of themselves with your compliments. Are you ready to jump in and enhance your corporate culture? You can enroll right now or schedule a demo if you’d like to take a closer look and ask some questions. Give it a try. Your only outstanding byproduct is happy employees. What’s not to like?
The happiness and satisfaction of your employees should be at the top of every manager and HR professional’s priorities. Workers are trending to turning down the higher-paying jobs for those that are more fulfilling and find joy and inspiration. How does your company compare?