In today’s business world, successful companies don’t earn their reputation just by building a good general corporate brand or value proposition to customers. A big part of proving their competence is good employer branding which describes an employer’s reputation as a place to work and their employee value proposition.
The crux is that if your employees are unhappy or dissatisfied, your skills and business plans won’t matter at the end of the day.
Employer branding can be improved by keeping employees happy, and employee reflection is a specific case where their thoughts on leadership can be valuable in figuring out how to mend the workplace.
The Psychology of An Employee
There is a reason why 'culture management' and 'experiential learning' are given so much importance in a workplace. An employee learns the most subconsciously by observing the behavior of their immediate managers. That is how employees form their own perception of what is acceptable in the organization and what is not. Therefore, managers need to create a positive influence on their team or juniors. Whereas, employee reflection should be encouraged so that the insights can be used to make the workplace a happy space to be in.
How To Have a Positive Influence on Employees:
When employees stop and reflect on these positive influences created by their managers, their happiness and satisfaction may automatically increase.
1. Inspire Them to Learn
Go above and beyond your assigned tasks to learn more, like through newsletters, trend reports, or books. Moreover, you can share your learnings with your team and ask them their opinions too, thus creating a learning culture. It could also encourage your team to go beyond their comfort zone and take ownership of something more than what gets assigned to them.
2. Promote a Positive Environment
A positive work environment is the number one quality desired by any existing or potential employee. To create a positive work environment, prioritize onboarding and training, create comfortable working conditions, conduct regular check-ins, foster collaboration, develop a strong workplace culture, and facilitate learning opportunities.
3. Take Action On Employee Feedback
Employees want to feel that their opinions matter too. So, be a good listener and ask for feedback after every meeting. You can also send anonymous surveys to support open and honest feedback. This in turn will encourage your team to ask for your feedback too.
Some great employee feedback examples would be –
“I think you did a great job when you…”
“I would love to see you do more of X as it relates to Y.”
4. Encourage Open Communication
Having open lines of communication in the workplace fosters more contentment at work as no employee feels hesitant to speak their mind or express themselves. Moreover, giving and receiving feedback becomes easy.
It is always important to implement necessary changes to show that you run a culture of action in the organization and not just words.
5. Allow Flexibility and Freedom
With the growing importance of work-life balance, a flexible work schedule is highly appreciated by employees as it allows them to pursue their hobbies and family time. It has been proved that 85% of companies that offer work-life balance programs for their employees report an increase in productivity.
Freedom of working style can also leave a positive influence on employee happiness as people admire and value creativity and thinking freedom at work.
6. Create Safe Spaces for Reflection
The best way to foster a more positive culture is to look inward.
Employee reflection requires a safe space where they feel protected to express their opinions on the leadership, company culture, teams, project results, etc. This exercise can give better outcomes than trying to create own conclusions, which is inarguably necessary for long-term business success.
7. Be Open to Change
“To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.” – Winston Churchill
In every business's lifecycle, there comes a time when it has to undergo a significant number of changes. For example, change in office location, work from home policy, salary structure, leave policy, appraisal cycle, etc.
While adapting to changes is not easy for anyone, you need to be aware that your team will be observing you on how you react to these changes. And your response to a change will also influence the response and mindset of others in the team. So, be mindful and optimistic of any new change coming your way to set a good example.
Being in a position of power further highlights the importance of acting appropriately to strengthen the inner fabric of your company. So, take every opportunity at hand to make your employees happy. This will not only increase productivity but also improve the company’s employer branding!
Author Bio: Kelly Barcelos is a progressive digital marketing manager for Jobsoid – Applicant Tracking System. She is responsible for leading the content and social media teams at work. Her expertise and experience in the field of HR enable her to create value-driven content for her readers – both on Jobsoid’s blog and other guest blogs where she publishes content regularly.
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