How to understand what your teams need & increase job satisfaction

The challenge in finding a real solution for workplace misery

New research from job site Indeed found 72 percent of employed Australians said they had felt unhappy at work in the past 12 months.

With poor communication and poor relationships with managers being one of the most common reasons.

The responsibility to keep the team happy, staying, and engaging is heavy on the leaders' shoulders.

The truth is, I know you've done your best to make sure your team members are happy.

Increasing salaries, giving promotions, organising team-building activities... Yet, employee satisfaction stays low.

The key to unlock job satisfaction is understanding what drives your team members

So, what can we actually do to keep our teams happy and engaged?

By understanding our team members on a deeper level and finding out what their key drivers are.

There are 6 core human needs that all of us seek to satisfy.

1. CERTAINTY: The need to feel safe and in control of what is coming next, so you can feel secure.

2. VARIETY: The need to have some level of surprise to make your life more exciting and interesting.

3. SIGNIFICANCE: The need to constantly feel important, special, unique, or worthy.

4. CONNECTION: The need to build strong social bonds and relationships with other people.

5. GROWTH: The need to grow as a person, meaning spending time for self-reflection and being mindful of the consequences of daily decisions, choices, and actions.

6. CONTRIBUTION: The need to live out your life’s purpose and provide value to others that goes beyond your own needs, desires, and wants.

Some of us are driven more by certainty than variety, some of us need connection over significance, some have strong needs for growth, and some long for contribution.

Our needs are the strongest drivers that influence our behaviours and guide us toward the future.

We are all built differently and driven by different needs.

And so the conscious leadership work is about understanding each of your team member's core needs and creating an environment where everyone is driven, empowered, and can shine in their own unique way.

Discover the core needs that your team members have

There are different strategies and among those, you can choose to ask your team members questions that allow them to talk about themselves and what significantly motivates them in life.

Consider asking them the following questions after presenting & educating your teams about the 6 core needs:

- Which of then needs you think are the most important to you?

- Does what you’re doing at work help you fulfil those needs? If not, what needs to be changed so that you can fulfil your needs, as well as increase work performance, job satisfaction, and personal growth?

- Do the interactions between you and your co-workers help you fulfil your core needs? If not, why? And what needs to be changed?

- Does the professional connection between you and I help you fulfil your core needs? If not, what is the problem and what can I do to change that??

As a leader, besides getting to know your team members, you should also learn about your core needs. Once you understand the core needs of everyone on the team, including yourself, you will have great opportunities to help people get excited about working and allow them to work better together.?