2. Employers: Ten Actionable Ideas for improving employee satisfaction

These ideas apply to everyone. Regardless of role or position we all benefit from a process of inspired collaboration.

1. LISTEN, LISTEN, LISTEN:“Our greatest obstacle to growth is not what we don’t know, but what we think we do know.” Use these Employee Satisfaction results as an opportunity to make sure your employees are enthusiastic, engaged and empowered. Use anonymous employee surveys and ask that all-important question “what do we do stupid around here”? (view this article to see how one manager creates an environment where 82% of employees rate their workplace either a 4 or 5 as a fun place to work, (5 being “it is so much fun I would pay THEM to work here!”). Compare that to the average work environment where only 20% are enthusiastic, 54% are disengaged, and another 17% are actually working against the system.

2. ACT: If you get feedback, whether positive or negative, appreciate it and act on it. Feedback from either customers or employees is a gift, treat it as such. Only one out of ten customers will tell you if they are unhappy; the rest will vote with their feet. Disengaged employees cost the American economy $350 billion per year in lost productivity. (The Gallup Organization)

3. BE 100% ACCOUNTABLE: It does not matter how you got this way, who your employees are or what the rest of the world is doing. Accept the fact that you create your experience.

4. APPRECIATE THE OPPORTUNITY: Deepak Chopra has a wonderful phrase we hold on to when times are the most challenging, “The best thing that can happen, is happening”. To tell yourself anything less is to tell yourself you are not enough and you don’t have what it takes. You are more powerful than you can even imagine, all you have to do is imagine it.

5. FORGIVE EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING ESPECIALLY YOURSELF: We all do the best we can at the time. There is no value in blaming, criticizing or judging anyone. ANYTIME you blame anyone you a physically attacking your own body.

6. TREAT EVERYONE AS A VOLUNTEER - because they are. People will do what is expected because they are required, but they will do the exceptional when they are inspired. Always remember “The deepest craving in human nature is the craving to be appreciated.” William James

7. GIVE UNREASONABLE FREEDOM: We all have rules imposed upon us that we can do nothing about we also have self imposed rules that inhibit performance, stifle productivity and produce unnecessary stress. The European Heart Journal, January 23, 2008 published an article revealing that “Workload or responsibility had little relation to stress levels. Rather it was how much control an employee had over the work he did and how he did it.”

8. DON'T TAKE FEEDBACK (ANYTHING) PERSONALLY: In Step 4 I said you have all the power which is absolutely true, but the only person you have that power over is you. In the same way you determine how you feel; your employees do the same. Great leaders help people understand the power of our personal stories. Stress is not a characteristic of our times, but of our stories.

9. SHARE THE SCORE: Examine your systems for measuring, sharing, engaging and rewarding employees for continually improving the process. 75-85% of the reason we achieve great results is through creating desirable consequences. See http://ServiceWOW.org for a free whitepaper to help you evaluate your systems.

10. BE A GREAT TEACHER: The ultimate goal of every profession is to make the world a better place. As a leader you have the opportunity to help your employees learn the most important lessons of all - lessons about themselves. When asked what people want most from their career they express a wide range of desires from challenge to authority, meaning, money, growth, and opportunity; but when asked why they want each of those things the answer comes down to one - they want to be happy. Great teachers, through experience and example, teach everyone they touch that happiness is always an inside job.