Does Your Company Really Value Its Employees?

John Krautzel
Posted by in Career Advice


Your bottom line motivates every business decision, but employees are driven by individual needs that do not always align with yours. The incentives you use to get employees on board determine whether your company culture inspires passion or antagonism. If you treat all employee relationships like transactions, you cannot expect workers to care about going beyond the minimum standards of the job. Show appreciation for employees, and they reward you with smoother operations and teamwork.

Perception vs. Reality

High turnover rates are one of the most blatant signs of a poor work environment, especially when your company loses valuable workers despite offering competitive salaries. A disconnect develops when company decisions frequently undermine employee interests. You may see your company as a nurturing workplace that provides reasonable benefits, reliable income and opportunities for promotion, so a lack of employee loyalty can be frustrating.

From employees' perspectives, most jobs gradually lose their appeal when companies enact counterproductive policies or create unnecessary competition between team members who need to collaborate to succeed. Your management team may pass the blame for oversights or ask for employee feedback without ever implementing changes. Regardless of the specific conflict, employees become resentful and distrustful when your company culture positions them as underlings of no importance. Under these conditions, your goals cannot align because employees view your bottom line as profit you made at their expense.

Characteristics of Uplifting Companies

Businesses with an attractive company culture recognize that the employer-employee dynamic is a partnership, not a taskmaster and a mechanical workforce. You must make shared values the core of your company culture, and that includes setting ethical standards for how employees treat one another and approach business operations, says Kathy Bloomgarden, CEO of Ruder Finn. That mutual respect carries over to customer interactions and makes the entire environment feel welcoming and supportive.

You cannot ask employees to stay productive and solve problems if you chronically ignore factors that keep them motivated. A Gallup study estimates that employees who are strongly disengaged cost U.S. businesses up to $550 billion in lost productivity each year. Increase long-term profitability by giving employees a voice in company decisions and finding out which policies prevent efficiency. They may have operational insights you never imagined, and employees are more likely to care about the overall success of the company if their input makes a difference.

Inspire your employees by nurturing their passion projects and being open to new methods. Employees and businesses need growth, but that only happens when your company culture encourages and supports occasional risk. You never have to excuse poor performance, but use unexpected obstacles as opportunities to let enthusiastic workers solve problems creatively and to identify training gaps.

When profit goals are all consuming, your company hinders employee loyalty and sends workers in search of positions that offer more personal fulfillment. Instead, focus on building a strong workforce through ongoing education and professional mentoring. Offer bonus incentives that reward merit over cutthroat tactics to show employees you value hard work and good ethics. Positivity trickles down through your company culture and makes employees stick with you out of loyalty — not obligation.


Photo courtesy of stockimages at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

 

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  • Kamairi C.
    Kamairi C.

    Valid points @Nancy. Very valid points

  • Nancy Anderson
    Nancy Anderson

    @Mike thanks for your comment. I can see both sides also. But honestly, when salaries really started to rise - say in the early 2000/2001, prices on everything else went up also. The apartment that I had rented for $600 and lived in for a year went back on the market for $800 PLUS you had to pay your own water. So, we can say what we want but when salaries go up, everything else will go up also. And why not? We can afford it or so they think. This should be a gradual rise; not one overnight. Could up the minimum to $9.50/hr and then do a small increase every year. What will happen when lower waged employees receive $15/hr? Those who are currently @$15/hr because they worked for it will be going on strike requesting $30/hr. After all, the minimum wage was doubled so why not their salaries? Where does it stop? That's the side that I can see. Sure I would LOVE a raise and I ask for one every few months even though I know the answer before I ask. But one of these times they will surprise me and up my salary a little bit. It's not that the company doesn't value my work and dedication; it's a business decision. Same with a company like McDonald's whose employees are striking for $15/hr. If they get it, what it will mean is that instead of retaining two employees @$7.50/hr each, they will only be able to retain one employee. What do you think will happen next? Just some food for thought.

  • Mike Elawar
    Mike Elawar

    @Nancy thank you for the feed back and I agree and seen what your talking about I aslo disagree with you on both sides i think the employee should be a little more loyal just for the fact we went in and asked for the job well most likely not saying thats always the case but until your fully invested into the company is ware i think it should be equel loyalty...also if things were more affordable people wouldn't have to have a strike for a 15$ hr but we also wouldnt have to raise the price of living if it was given to us sothat a viscious circle that will never end like this sentence haha

  • Nancy Anderson
    Nancy Anderson

    @Kamairi loyalty should be on both sides - both employer and employee. Yes companies are under financial strain but not as much as they were 10 years ago. There does seem to be a light at the end of the tunnel as more jobs are being posted today than in recent years. Yes healthcare costs are a concern but even that will change as time goes on. Our country has weathered storms like this before and survived and we will do the same this time. What will cause issues, at least in my humble opinion, is workers going on strike and not taking jobs unless the starting wage is $15/hr. That will mean fewer jobs along with the cost of everything from food to clothing to transportation to housing going up. That $15/hr won't get you anymore than $8/hr today. And that buddy that you were working next to today will be gone tomorrow because you now have his salary along with yours. I am sure that you have already seen this when you go to the grocery store. Packages are getting smaller but the price is staying the same or going up for less food. That apartment that you could afford @$600/mo is going to be $650 or $700 tomorrow. After all, if the minimum wage is $15/hr you can afford it - right?

  • Kamairi C.
    Kamairi C.

    With whom does the loyalty need to begin? Which party should exhibit more commitment to loyalty, employer or employee? Because of the financial strain that most company are under nowadays, I find that company are finding less expensive was to ensure operation continuity. In addition to the change in our country's healthcare requirements it has become more difficult to maintain a full-time workforce vs. the cheaper part time workforce. As a result we see a continual swing of Unsatisfied workforces.

  • Nancy Anderson
    Nancy Anderson

    Thanks for these comments. Sad state of affairs that we live in today. @Mike sorry you felt you had to leave your position. Unfortunately you may find that same attitude at the next company, too. @Rebecca it truly is a shame that companies don't have any respect for their employees but, as we learned growing up, to get respect you have to give it. Companies don't feel that their employees are giving respect back so it's a two way street here. We need to be the change agents in our respective companies - the ones that others look up to and want to emulate. After all, that's how we learned and our parent's generation probably said the same thing about us when we first got into the workforce!

  • Mike Elawar
    Mike Elawar

    Man i resigned from a warehouse today after 3 years and what could have been a jump to a great career but i could not handle the Ungratefulness and no kind of understanding no kind of respect and honestly just plan out not right people in certain positions

  • Rebecca W.
    Rebecca W.

    Business wants things both ways--they call it a family when they want something from their employees (ex: no raises, forced overtime) but it's a business when employees want something from the employer (ex: extra time off, better benefits).

  • EDIE K.
    EDIE K.

    That's not good they need to have motivation and care for people for coustmers important to have people skills it makes you a better person

  • Oscar R.
    Oscar R.

    Well don't feel so bad, were my husband work is the same, there is not motivation at all. Also they don't care about their families, the only thing they care is about them self and their paycheck

  • Brian cherry
    Brian cherry

    savealot doesn't value their employees. The only thing they value is their bonus

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