How to keep Singapore employees happy

In a recent survey done by Gallup Singapore, it was reported that only 2% of respondents feel engaged at work.

During my presentations on happiness, I often ask the audience: “How many of you look forward to going to work every day?” Not surprisingly, only about 20% of the audience will reply positively.

There are many reasons why employees leave but I believe one of the main reasons is that they do not like their colleagues or bosses. In short, they left because of poor relationships.

In this article, I would like to focus on relationship building. A happy employee is likely to be a productive one. In addition, a happy employee is less likely to be tempted by better job prospects and a higher salary elsewhere.

The acronym LAST below describes 4 ways bosses can build effective relationships with employees.

Little Things Matter

When I asked my wife what was the first thing that attracted her to me almost two decades ago, she said that it was because I offered her a piece of tissue after our first lunch date and because it’s rare that a guy would carry a packet of tissue around then, I left a good first impression on her.

At work, sometimes, it’s the little things that matter. Be mindful of the needs of your employees or co-workers. By being attentive to the little things in their work, they will be appreciative of your kind thoughts and attention.

Some areas to note include their welfare, well-being of their family members, training needs, appropriate empowerment and job satisfaction.

Attention

In my book, I asked these three questions:

• When is the most important time to you?
• Who is the most important person to you?
• What is the most important thing to you?

The answers are: the most important time is now; the most important person is the one in front of you; and the most important thing is happiness.

Everyone loves attention. Yet, I think many employees may not get the attention that they desire.

It could be just a pat on the back for a job well done, a compliment, a note of thanks for their hard work or simply just taking time to meet regularly to understand their concerns.

When speaking to an employee, it is important to give him or her full attention instead of multi-tasking by talking on the phone or working on the laptop while speaking to your employee.

See the Good in Everyone

Everyone has his or her strengths and weaknesses. An administrative personnel may not be people oriented. A marketing personnel may not be meticulous.

Understand the strengths of each individual in your team. There are many strengths-based tests available such as the MBIT and DISC profiling tests.

Administer such tests regularly to understand the strengths of each individual and allow them to flourish in their roles based on their strengths.

Third Party Perspective

There are always two sides to a coin. Hence, during meetings and discussions, be open to other perspectives. Do not dominate the meeting discussion nor impose your views on the employees.

They will be appreciative that higher management is willing to listen to their ideas. If there’s a deadlock, seek a third party’s opinion. Sometimes, we may not be able to see our own blind spots.

Most would agree that the learning curve is steeper for new employees. It may be less costly to retain than to retrain.

Hence, every little effort counts in keeping the employees happy. It may be worth the investment as a happier employee is likely to contribute more to the organization.