If you could tell your boss ONE thing!!!!

If you could tell your boss just one thing what would it be? Perhaps more importantly if your employees could tell you just one thing what would that be?

Why are we so resistant to asking our employees what they want and need to make their day to day jobs more effective, more exciting and more personally fulfilling? Perhaps we are afraid that we won’t be able to deliver on what they want, and that may well be the case. Or perhaps we believe that it doesn’t matter what employees want, and quite frankly that couldn’t be further from the truth. I believe that being perceived as apathetic towards the needs of your employees reduces their loyalty towards you which in turn reduces their productivity, efficiency and effectiveness. I believe that if you can identify and give an individual, group, or even all employees one or two key things that may seem small but are important to them, the return on investment can directly impact your bottom line. You may not in fact be able to provide each and every employee with exactly what they want but I guarantee that by asking them, with a true desire to find something of value to offer, you are setting the wheels in motion for an immediate increase in employee loyalty and morale.

My boss asked me what I needed upon returning from maternity leave. I told him that I needed to know that every day (or almost every day) I would be able to pick up my children with enough daylight hours left to laugh and play and eat and bathe and read without feeling rushed before putting them to bed. We worked out a schedule where I am able to leave work earlier in the day and dial in and work from home remotely in the evenings. Does it mean that some nights I will be up until the wee hours of the morning working while my husband and children slumber? Quite possibly. But if my company is willing to go out on a limb for me you better believe that I am going to go out on a limb for them when the opportunity requires it. I do understand that I work for a progressive organization and that this type of very individual arrangement isn’t possible in all situations but I do believe that it is an example of finding something to offer your employees that is valuable to them. If you do ask the question, and are able to deliver in any kind of way, it naturally follows that you will find yourself with employees that are fully engaged in working for you and not soul searching and job hunting on your company time