Tangible tips for becoming a great place to work
How can you create a great place to work? We caught up with Anthea Marris, a consultant whose career spans over 20 years of working in a range of HR roles for businesses such as BT, Cadbury, Kraft and Mondelez International. She most recently led the HR Change team for Cadbury’ s flagship factory at Bournville where she played a key role in delivering a 40 % reduction in manufacturing costs through modernisation of working practices, reduction in headcount, and increased employee accountability, involvement and engagement. With a keen eye for building strong business partnerships based on trust, support and openness we looked for her guidance.
Why does engagement matter?
According to a new Gallup report, only one tenth( 11 %) of UK employees feel engaged at work, whilst over one fifth( 21 %) are actively disengaged. This means that only 11 % of us working Brits are jumping out of bed in the morning excited about tackling the day ahead. Most of us are just counting down the days to the weekend, our next holiday or even retirement. No wonder UK productivity levels are reported to be so low. According to OECD data, UK productivity per hour is 35 % below the German level, and 30 % below that of the US. It seems that, in addition to the political and economic factors affecting all developed economies, the UK has particularly poor management practices. So, what can UK employers do to create a great place to work? From my experience, you need to create a work environment that is fun, enjoyable and inspiring. Encourage fun and laughter and warmth. Create opportunities for employees to build strong social relationships both inside and outside of work. Employees with strong friendships in work are happier and more motivated to work harder.
What about relationships?
Develop your managers and leaders to be more self-aware and to lead by example. They set the tone( the ripple effect). If managers and leaders are genuinely passionate, upbeat and enthusiastic the people around them will have almost no choice but to feel good too. You need to also get to know your employees – encourage people to talk about their families and lives outside of work and show them you care. You should allow employees to bring their true authentic selves into the workplace. This means embracing diversity and being aware of all the different generations in the workplace and how to lead and inspire each of them. That means you need to help employees to uncover their strengths and find ways to use them every day. Communicate feedback in a ratio of 6:1. That’ s six pieces of‘ positive, well done feedback’ to every piece of criticism. If you communicate in this ratio employees will flourish. Utilise a range of communication channels, both downwards and upwards. Use forums to allow people at all levels to be heard. Ensure people know what is expected of them and have a have a clear and compelling reason to come to work. Remind them of the bigger picture – the reason they do what they do. Part of that should be that you tell you people how much you value them. A simple thank you, peer recognition schemes, employee award programmes and total reward statements are all great ways to make employees feel valued – most of these practices are common sense but unfortunately not common practice! If implemented well, these practices will help create upward spirals of enthusiasm and energy in employees which leads to increased productivity and ultimately improves business performance and profitability. It’ s also key to show that you trust your employees. Most people come to work wanting to do a great job. They want to feel valued and respected. Design your work place policies for the 90 % of people who come to work to do a great job. Every time you put a policy or procedure into your organisation, you take away some of the passion and trust from those who are already doing a great job.
What about working hours?
Business should absolutely encourage flexible working e. g. flexible shift patterns, home working, reduced and compressed hours. Flexible working gives employees a better chance to strike a balance between work and other commitments and a greater sense of being in control of their working life. Research( CBI) reveals that flexible working practices help achieve high employee commitment, reduced staff turnover and lower levels of stress. Recognise effort and give feedback that focuses on strengths. Anthea recently set up Anthea Marris Consulting Limited which provides change management, HR consultancy, coaching, team effectiveness training, and training programmes in a range of topics designed to unlock the capability of leaders and people managers.
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