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Why Employee Satisfaction Is The Best Investment For Small Businesses

Happy employees are the fundamental building blocks of successful companies. Maintaining high employee satisfaction rates will help prevent your small business from collapsing. Starting a new business is risky. Almost 50% of all small businesses with employees fail within the first five years of their launch dates. Nevertheless, 25% of adults in the UK wanted to create new businesses in 2016. For many of these entrepreneurs, the potential for long-term success was worth the risk of failure. So, which characteristics differentiate the small business owners who fail from the ones who succeed? Often, successful businesspeople know how to make the right investments. The ways in which new small business owners invest their time, energy, and funds may determine how prosperous their company will become. In order for an organisation to thrive, its resources must be allocated in ways that benefit a small business’s most important asset: the employees. Take it from Anne Mulcahy, former CEO of Xerox, one of the U.S.’s leading Fortune 500 companies. “Employees are a company’s greatest asset – they’re your competitive advantage. You want to attract and retain the best.”

Related Article: 10 WAYS TO MOTIVATE EMPLOYEES

Why are satisfied employees such a good investment for your business?

Satisfied Employees Increase Productivity

Employees with high levels of satisfaction are more productive and efficient. Put simply, when employees feel happier, they get more work done at a faster pace. More productivity from your employees will result in more income for your business. Take Google, for example. Google is an organisation that is notorious for creating a culture that takes any means necessary to ensure employee satisfaction. Google employees are provided places to nap, daily meals, and even indoor slides. The company contributes its success (which adds up to almost $1.3 million in annual revenue) to its happy organisational culture. A work environment in which employees feel comfortable and connected with their coworkers promotes productivity, as well. When employees feel as though they share goals with their coworkers, they tend to feel less stressed and more empowered. This will lead to more work being done and more revenue being brought in, and your organisation will be more successful as a whole.

Confident Employees Promote Revenue Growth

Employees who trust and admire their employers are more likely to have positive feelings about their workplace and organisation in general. Confident employees are more engaged, invested, and feel more unified with the company. When employees report high levels of confidence, pride, and camaraderie, they are more likely to work well with coworkers and identify with the company’s values. When businesses take the time and money to show employees that they are valued in personal ways, employees are more likely to report these positive feelings. According to a study conducted by Fortune, companies with employees who gave their workplaces the highest ratings enjoyed about three times more revenue growth than comparable organisations. When employees display high levels of satisfaction, customers become more satisfied, as well. A study published by Harvard Business Review found that when Sears employees became more motivated and confident, customer satisfaction rates improved, too. As a result, revenue increased significantly.

Motivated, Well-Trained Employees Are Less Likely to Quit

Employee turnover is incredibly expensive. According to an article posted by HR Review, it costs upwards of £30,000 to replace a single staff member. Losing employees that had already been trained and invested in accounts for a portion of this expense. Hiring and training a new employee costs even more money. For many small businesses, high employee turnover is something they just cannot afford. Luckily, it is something that can be mitigated by spending more money on training potential employees before you have invested money, time, and resources on them. Investing in programs that help create well-trained and motivated employees will help with retention rates in the long-term. Spending more money on training an employee when they initially become part of the organisation will help them feel more prepared, more motivated, and adequate enough to fulfill their duties, which will save the business money in the future. Promoting employees from within will also help cut down on costs of hiring a completely new individual and on training them from scratch. Promotions may also give existing employees motivation and higher levels of satisfaction.

Ways to Invest in Employees

Understanding why satisfied employees are important for small businesses and how they can benefit your organisation are only the beginning steps in truly treating your employees as though they are your most important asset. Small business leaders must continually invest in their employees’ satisfaction in intangible and material ways to boost morale and employee engagement. It is important to show employees that you appreciate their hard work (a simple “thank you” can be surprisingly sufficient). Providing opportunities to continue training and education for existing employees can help give them skills to make them feel more prepared and adequate for new tasks. Most importantly, helping employees discover why the work they are doing matters can help keep them motivated, committed, and enthusiastic about your organisation for the long haul. Simply empowering your organisational team and your employees can help your business become more successful. Respecting your subordinates enough to listen to, and actually consider, their concerns can promote a healthier company. Anne Mulcahy advises business leaders to, “provide with encouragement, stimulus, and make them feel that they are an integral part of the company’s mission.” The most satisfied employees should feel like an integral part of the company because they are.