Does your organization have a strategy in place for employee happiness?

Did you know that almost half of our working force fantasizes about finding a new job? (source: Indeed). The main reason isn’t hard to imagine, people simply like to spend more time with friends or family. You might even feel the same way? How can you make sure your organization is aware of the needs of your employees and even more important, how can you leverage this to keep your top employees as well as find new talent? We see a lot of opportunities to become a loved employer, by honoring the desires of your employees.

Why?

Motivated employees perform better, and are less likely to report sick. In addition we see that there is a bigger sense of responisbility amongst employees who love their job. This results in your staff members who don’t shy away from walking the extra mile, and who love coming up with new ideas on how to be more successful.

Flexible working environment that offeres the right balans between work and private life

As we've indicated before in our blog, work and private life are often intertwined in the lives of many. Ordering some groceries online, while spending some time replying to emails in the evening or edit a report. Standard office hours between 9am and 6pm simply aren’t optimal for a lot of people. Think of parents with young kids, who need to drop them off at school or daycare. Or when the majority of our workforce tries to squeeze in to an overly crowded train at 8am in order to get to the office in time.

Not only is it less than fun to continuously feel like you have to rush all the time, it also makes people stressed out. And starting your day while you have been stressing to get to the office, doesn’t set the mood for a productive office day.

Then what should you do?

We see several organizations that offer the possibility to have flexible office hours or that allow their employees to work from home.

Of course there are some Fashion and Lifestyle disciplines, like Retail, that don’t allow you to work from home. But also here it is possible to offer a sense of flexibility, by offering more parttime options and allow for a good time-for-time policy. It is almost an exact science to figure our how many sales people you have working in a store, in order to have a perfect balance between costs and profit. Often we see that many retailers choose to maximize their results by cutting down on staff. This makes it hard for people to claim free time, because there is nobody to replace them. An HR manager can contribute by offering a strong leave of absence policy and help Store Managers to execute that. By showing that you not solely care about the experience a new candidate brings, but also share how you create an pleasant workspace, you’ll make yourself an attractive home base for talented professionals. in addition it might be worth considering to work with flexible employees, who can help out for short periods of time when you need an extra hand. This will help offer your existing employees their well deserved leave of absence.

Meaningful work

A lot of the candidates we meet, talk about how they desire to find a job that serves a clear purpose. A purpose that gives more meaning to their every day tasks. For some of the candidates the purpose lies in having access to tools that help them further develop and educate themselves. For others it might be more tied to the values of an organization, the DNA or image. Take companies that aim to having a more sustainable business practice or that focus on creating a warm and positive working environment.

Many organizations have a certain image that has developed over the years. Most job seekers will be aware of a certain image your organization might have. Are you aware of how people perceive your organization?

Your recruiting and staffing policy plays a big role in creating a pleasant working environment. Especially the management that you hire, determines a lot of how employees experience your organization. Does your company offer a way to help managers further refine their leadership skills? And do you have any insight on how your managers lead their teams? By organizing 360 surveys or a team analysis, you can learn more about how the teams in your organization function and how much fun your employees experience in their everyday working life.

Of course not every organization is focused on sustainability, especially in the Fashion, Retail or Lifestyle industry, still it is worth spending time on identifying a positive purpose that makes coming into your office worthwile. Not just for you, but for your image and ability to recruit more talent in the future. They will feel drawn to the initiatives your organization pursues, and will be eager to contribute to your success.

Would you like to learn more on how we can contribute to your recruiting policy or your company image? Feel free to contact us any time, to learn more about our services.