When you hire someone to work in your business, you’ll know precisely what you want from them. You’ll have crafted a well-thought-out job ad and ensured that all the resumes you read and the interviews you conduct will give you what you are looking for.
Yet something that many business owners forget about is that they also need to give employees something in return. This is not just a salary; there are actually a lot of things that employees want that go beyond money and benefits (although these are always going to be important).
With that in mind, here are some of the things that employees want from their employers. When you know more about this, you can ensure that you are able to provide these things and help keep your workforce happy and productive.
A Sense Of Purpose
These days, workers need more than just a paycheck from their employer; they want to feel like their work matters. A recent survey found that 57 percent of millennials surveyed wanted to work for an organization where they could feel like they were making a difference in the world. This finding demonstrates the importance of personal fulfillment in the workplace.
Even if you don't work for a company with a particularly compelling mission statement, it pays to be forthright about your short-term and long-term professional objectives. Employees can gain a stronger sense of meaning and purpose in their job by being reminded of the effect their efforts have on customers, coworkers, and other stakeholders.
The Right Culture
Culture and purpose are closely linked, and a company's culture is usually easy to see. The culture of a company is its personality, and it has effects all over the organization.
But why do modern employees care so much about the culture at their jobs? Because they want to be part of something bigger than themselves and feel like they have a purpose, as mentioned above. When you make it clear what your company's core values and mission are, people can feel like they belong and have a sense of community.
On top of this, working somewhere with a positive company culture means the employee is more likely to enjoy their work. They’ll know they’ll be able to get along with the people they work with since everyone is going to be a fit for the same culture, and they’ll know that it suits them, otherwise they wouldn’t have applied for the job, or at the very least, they wouldn’t have accepted the position once they knew more about the company culture.
To make sure your culture is embedded with the right things, you need to open up the conversation to ensure everyone has their voices heard. A topic like wellbeing can certainly seem taboo in more “old school” companies, but incorporating wellbeing services like a company chaplain or access to mental health help is good business sense, not merely a box-ticking exercise. The right culture will always be a big draw for the right employee.
Good Onboarding
Your onboarding process is something you need to think very carefully about. This is no longer something optional that you can offer employees if you have the time to implement it. Onboarding is essential, and it’s what the majority of people are going to expect, want, and need when they start a new job.
The first few days a worker spends at a company say a lot about what the rest of their time there will be like. From what is said at the official welcome meeting to what they see, hear, and do on the job, the onboarding process can either confirm or change the impressions that new hires had before they were hired. If a job candidate feels like they were misled during the interview process, it could hurt their future productivity and engagement or even make them want to quit.
Having a good onboarding process that builds on the information given and received in the interview and that ensures everyone can start their new job from a place of knowledge can make a massive difference in the working lives of those in your organization.
Growth Opportunities
Workers who don't feel encouraged to advance in their careers are three times more likely to look elsewhere for employment.
When applying for a job, 59 percent of millennials say they place a high value on the company's commitment to their professional development. In fact, it's one of the top three things millennial workers look for in a job, setting them apart from those of older generations.
Only 39 percent of those young workers claim that they learned something new in the past 30 days that they can utilize to conduct their jobs better, making this an area where many organizations are severely lacking. Offering employees the chance to grow professionally is a great way to keep them invested in the company and their careers, and it gives the businesses that do so an edge in the marketplace. Investing in a learning management system for businesses will make this much easier to achieve.
Good Leadership
An employee’s feelings about their job are going to be directly linked to their feelings about their manager. Even if they enjoy the work they are doing, if they can’t work with their manager, they will look elsewhere for a job and quit.
However, those who do like working with their managers will be more likely to stay, even if they sometimes find their jobs to be tedious or unpleasant. In other words, a manager can make or break an employee’s work experience. This is why employees want to work for good leaders who will help them get further in their working lives but who ultimately will treat them well and make the working environment a positive one.
If you want your business to be successful, you need to attract the best talent. The last thing you want in that case is to gain a reputation for a toxic management style or a bad working environment. And it shouldn’t be hard to take care of your team and give them the kind of supportive, growth-focused leadership they want.
Autonomy
While assistance and direction are appreciated, workers prefer to have some say over their tasks whenever possible. In other words, they want the freedom to choose when, where, and how they get their work done. Being micromanaged is frustrating for everyone involved because it demonstrates a fundamental lack of trust.
In modern organizations, the term "micromanagement" has definite negative connotations. Managers who meddle too much with their staff's work tend to be looked down upon, and progressive businesses now place a higher importance on employees' independence than they once did.
Giving employees some independence in their work demonstrates that you trust them, which is an essential quality that employees look for in their workplace today. The more responsibility your staff is given, the more chances you'll have to publicly acknowledge their efforts as well, which helps you build an excellent reputation as an employer.
Recognition
Giving recognition is a key part of keeping and engaging employees, but it's not used as much as it could be, even though it's easy and doesn't cost much. It doesn't cost anything to say thank you, and it doesn't take long to do so.
By having a peer recognition program, you can lower the cost of recognition even more. Instead of relying on a small number of people to see, acknowledge, and reward every good thing your employees do, you can give everyone in your organization the power to do so. Peer recognition is also good because it gives modern employees what they want: the freedom to express their own values and goals through the praise they give to their coworkers.
Good Communication
It might seem like a small thing, but one of the biggest complaints employees have during exit interviews is that there isn't enough communication within the company.
Communication is the link between the company and its employees. Because of this, it is very important that the senior management of an organization regularly tells its staff about its vision, direction, plans, and strategies; it’s definitely something employees want.