Having good working relationships is the most fulfilling part of a job! That’s according to a new report into UK workplaces. Apparently 42% of workers feel that positive relationships helped them feel good at work!
The survey by support charity Samaritans and Simplyhealth revealed that the key factors for success in this area were:
- Positive relationships with colleagues 42%
- Good work / life balance 40%
- Receiving praise 26%
- Earning the trust of their boss 16%
Having ‘happy staff’ who feel ‘good’ at work is clearly a positive thing, but that’s too simple! it needs to be more than just feeling ‘good’! 3D businesses ensure that all their people are ‘committed, motivated and effective‘!
Yes, of course we want our people to be ‘happy’, but it’s also about achieving goals and targets – that’s being ‘effective’! Hey, I could be ‘happy’ at work all day by watching Sky Sports all day, chatting to my friends over the phone and having regular coffees brought to my desk!
The evidence suggests that these things are linked and that link should beproactively managed – the best leaders do this by clearly spelling out goals and targets, expectations and getting ‘buy in’ to those goals (3D Charactersitic #1: Get That Vision Thing!). They also work hard at helping individuals ‘deliver’ – that’s not always that simple!
So, some questions for you to consider…
- Are your people ‘committed, motivated and effective‘?
- Are you?!!!
- What do you need to do to make that happen?
…companies should be striving to hire and/or train, and otherwise nurture, employees who can be ambassadors and advocates for the enterprise. As noted in my CustomerThink article from a couple of years ago and as you’ve also expressed, this takes organizations well past the Service Profit Chain and engagement theses of happy employees = happy customers: http://www.customerthink.com/article/linking_employee_behavior_to_customer_loyalty_advocacy
Thanks for that Michael – your article reinforces the points very well and there’s some very powerful messages there!