IMPORTANCE OF PUTTING EMPLOYEES FIRST

Companies are increasingly realizing the power of creating people-centric organizations that value the happiness of employees as much as the bottom line.?

Wellbeing is about much more than physical wellness or happiness. Gallup research has established that high wellbeing equates to a life well-lived across five critical elements: career, social, physical, financial and community wellbeing.?

This reality has critical implications for leaders because employees with thriving wellbeing are more engaged and resilient. Gallup research shows that employees thriving in all five elements are:?

• More than twice as likely to say they adapt well to change?
• 81% less likely to seek out a new employer in the next year?
• 41% less likely to miss work due to poor health?
• 36% more likely to recover fully after illness, injury or hardship?
• 27% less likely to have changed jobs in the previous 12 months?

?Imagine what it can do for your company in terms of innovation, employee retention and cost reduction? As Simon Sinek says: Happy People Makes Happy Numbers.?

?How can a company ensure that they put their employees first??

1. Be more employee-centric than office-centric.?

Create a strategy that supports team members in all ways possible. This can be done by creating communication plans and organizational processes.?

Have a framework in place to encourage a level playing field for both on-site and remote workers. Show openness and willingness to listen and understand what your employees expect from you.?

Cultivate More “Human” Leaders - humble leadership drives loyalty, increasing effort and retention. This leads to better services and an inspired customer experience, which drives revenue. Employees should be among your primary stakeholders, treat them as such.?

2. Demonstrate Commitment

A people-centric organization explicitly values the happiness and well-being of its people. It does this not just through slogans or catchphrases, but through developing programs with your team that support employee success.?

3. Use tech to facilitate flexibility and transparency

Invest in technology and tools that make your employees’ jobs easier and support their ability to carry out the most critical responsibilities. Automate administrative and other non-value added tasks to save your employees time and use it for growth and relationship building.?

For instance, time tracking software that tightly integrates with your payroll, CRM, ERP and HRM systems can save substantial administrative overhead and several hours every day.?

4. Lead with empathy

To attract and retain talent, managers need to lead with empathy. Employees who feel valued and can achieve work-life balance are more willing to challenge themselves to provide better results.?

Providing perks like childcare, additional time off for family care, flexible working hours and more can go a long way to making employees feel valued. Those are quick wins and should be considered as such.?

When (you) people feel valued and cared for, (you) they do their work with a stronger intrinsic motivation, a deeper sense of purpose, and a greater level of engagement. They go the extra mile simply because they want to contribute to an organization that cares about them.?

Beyond the general increase in retention and decrease in sickness, employees with thriving wellbeing are more engaged and resilient, and more than twice as likely to say they adapt well to change.?

?Sources:?

• Forbes blog: Power of putting people first by Rasmus Hougaard, 2019.?
• Gallup blog: Take Care of Your People, and They'll Take Care of Business, R. Gabsa and S. Rastogi, 2020.?
• Forbes blog: Leading with empathy: The importance of putting people first by Lakshmi Raj, 2022?

?Article by: Caroline Englund Kiruri N.