::Cultivating Your “garden” of Happy Employees::

Chances are, you don’t consider yourself much of a gardener.  But, if you have a team of employees that report to you, you need a green thumb.

Happy, engaged employees don’t just happen.  According to researchers at Gallup, of the 100 million full-time employees, 51% say they feel no real connection to their jobs and tend to do the bare minimum.  Another 17.5% are “actively disengaged,” meaning they don’t like their jobs, complain to others at work and have a negative impact on office morale.

Altogether, that is a total of 68.5% who are not happy at work. 

So, what does it take to “cultivate” an environment that grows happy, engaged employees?

• Hiring the right person for the job is the first step.  Ensuring that the skills and interests of the applicant chosen match the responsibilities of the job is a key component.
• Ensuring that employees have work that they feel is meaningful is also crucial.  If an employee feels they are creating value for the company, the community or the world around them, and it is recognized as such, the result will be desirable work attitudes, higher productivity and lower absenteeism.

Once you have the right person in the job performing work they feel is meaningful, don’t stop there! You can’t plant and never fertilize or water and expect those in your “garden” to stay motivated and engaged at the same level.

Celebrating individual and team accomplishments, developing trust, prioritizing work/life balance and offering training for growth and development are all great “fertilizers” for creating happy employees.

Can you be a better “gardener?”  Make sure you tend your plot of happy employees to ensure your they “bloom” all year long!