5 Things Employees Hate About Their Workplace (And How to Fix Them)

It pays to keep your employees happy. In fact, it pays approximately $5,000 per employee. According to a survey by Randstad, over one in three employees would give up $5,000 a year in salary to feel happier at work.

Unhappy employees are costing businesses $300 billion a year. That's equivalent to roughly 8,000 trips to outer space, 150,000 Bugatti Veyron sports cars, or the total GDP of South Africa.??

Employers scratch their heads over what keeps an employee happy, but some of the things employees say they hate most about their workplace are not things you might expect.

1. Employees hate: Unnecessary meetings

When it comes to workplace pet peeves, meetings that could have been emails often top the list. Meetings suck up time in an employee's day, and every second spent in a meeting is time that could have been spent at their desk finishing work – so it's no surprise that meetings that are deemed unnecessary lead to grumpy employees.?

How to fix it: Before you schedule that meeting, ask yourself: Can this be done through email or Slack? Is there something about this particular problem that requires your employees to discuss it in person? Unless live communication is necessary, opt for email.

2. Employees hate: No constructive criticism

Harvard Business Review found that contrary to popular belief, most employees want constructive criticism from their bosses. In fact, over half would prefer it to praise or recognition. Employees want to improve their professional selves and find it frustrating when their leaders won’t tell them how to.

?How to fix it: Giving negative feedback may sound intimidating, but there are ways to phrase your feedback constructively . Focus not just on what your employee is doing wrong, but on specific skills they can improve – and how you can help.

3. Employees hate: Lack of support

Nobody likes being micromanaged, but a lack of management is no better. Employees are not looking to have their hand held, but a boss who never offers support is at risk of creating a very unhappy workplace.?

How to fix it: Check in with your employees regularly. Ask them what would make their work day more productive and less stressful. Brainstorm ideas with your employees to make sure they aren't being overwhelmed.

4. Employees hate: Ambiguous roles

Employees working for smaller businesses are often required to wear many different hats at once, switching between several different roles in their day-to-day work. However, when employees feel like they're being taken advantage of, a workplace can often sour.

How to fix it: For many employees, the problem is not the diversity of their day-to-day role but a lack of time to do it all. Employees who are fulfilling several roles often feel overworked – so make sure that your employees are not taking on more work than they can complete.

5. Employees hate: No work/life balance

Even an employee who loves their job still wants time to live their personal life. A workplace without a healthy work/life balance runs the risk of employee burnout, with employees feeling stressed, drained, or resentful. Burned-out employees are 63% more likely to take sick days and over twice as likely to look for another job, which will affect both your employees satisfaction and your business.

How to fix it: Encourage your employees to take sick days and use their paid time off when needed, without guilt trips for proper use of PTO. Long-term, that single sick day an employee didn't take will cost your business much more in lost productivity than losing one worker for a day would.

The statistics do not lie: Happy employees work harder. Happiness pays dividends in productivity and profit, with businesses that keep their employees happy routinely beating the competition.?

Keep your team happy, and your business will see the results. Your employees are your most valuable asset – and it's time to invest.

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Tom Popomaronis is Executive Vice President of Innovation at Massive Alliance, a global executive branding agency. Tom co-founded Massive's Executive Leadership Branding program – which transforms world-class executives into contributing authors at leading publications.

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