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Well, “employee-centric” might be a better way to say it, but that makes for a boring title. All companies will say that their most valuable asset is their talent, but you will rarely see that genuinely reflected in their culture. When an organization is truly obsessed with their employees, it shows. Schulein said that that they,
“…focus on engaging with their own people first. Knowing what they are going through at home, learning what we can do to support them, because that’s exactly what we want them to do for the customer once the customer walks through the door. We believe that in order to be the best place to shop, you have to be the best place to work first.” - Mark Schulein, company leader at ACE Hardware.
Employee Obsessed Companies Give Employees a Voice
Two-way reviews, surveys, feedback and transparency in your communication are all ways to give your workforce a voice. You can certainly read the latest blog posts and statistics about what your workforce wants and needs…or you can ask them.
“We have made honesty and openness part of our culture and want everyone to give and receive feedback. (But we call it feed-forward to reiterate the fact that it’s about improving, not about past mistakes.) At our monthly company-wide meetings, everyone has to answer ‘When was the last time you gave someone feedback?’ This ensures people are giving feedback!" – Kit Hickey of Ministry of Supply (@Kit_Hikey)
Employee Obsessed Companies Provide Tools
The reality is that most employees want to excel; they want to be great at what they do. However, they are seldom given the tools, training or leadership to make that possible. Very often, leaders will wait until a 6 month, or even annual review to give an employee feedback, guidance or perspective.
Employees need to be able to see how their objectives line up with those of their co-workers and the organization as a whole. This is best done with goal alignment and performance tracking tools. Learn more about this software by clicking.
Employee Obsessed Companies Empower
Zappos, known as leaders in the employee-centric business model, have proven that sometimes it’s best to loosen the reigns and focus on empowering. What they’ve done is taken their main business objectives and given the knowledge and power to fulfill them, over to their workers.
Their customer service representatives don’t have to put customers on hold, wait for a manager to become available, get approval for a discount or customer incentive and finally offer it to the customer (who is probably irate and disengaged with the company at this point). They are given the authority and training to do this on their own. Both the customer and the employee are enabled to have a better experience. This isn’t something that every company can do. This is something that every company with great hiring, engagement and leadership practices can do.
Employee Obsessed Companies Recognize
Immediate and varied recognition can impact effort and retention by 87%. Employee recognition is probably the most simple and cost-effective way to increase productivity, engagement and workplace satisfaction, yet leaders are known for being stingy with it.
Let’s be honest though, sometimes it’s out of their hands. Without the proper tools to alert the management team of successes, or discretionary effort in real-time, these moments will inevitably get lost in the shuffle of day-to-day work. Click to discover how you can start rewarding and recognizing employees for work they’re doing now.
It’s time to get obsessed with your employees, or be employee-centric, whichever you prefer. Whether you’re looking for feedback, a way to empower your workforce or establish their value in a transparent way, we can help.
Take a demo today to see how ClearCompany can transform your organization.
