For years, employers have focused on becoming the “cool office.” From ping-pong tables to espresso bars, companies have been trying to attract young workers with office perks. While gourmet meals and pinball machines are nice, they aren’t what your employees really want.
If you’re truly interested in attracting and retaining top talent, you need to create an environment that reduces employee frustrations. Keep reading to learn more about the top employee frustrations and how to address them.
Feeling Unappreciated
Employees who feel appreciated at work are not only happier, but they’re more productive. However, the new remote working environment makes it challenging for managers to swing by someone’s desk to express their appreciation. While this might not seem important, employees who feel unappreciated have lower morale and are more likely to leave an organization.
To let your team know you care, make it a habit to thank a coworker. When sending a thank-you email or text, be specific and provide context around the praise. Tell them how their actions positively impacted you, your team, or the company. This simple act alone can boost morale and improve your relationship with your team members.
Constant Interruptions
From phone calls to Slack or Google Chat notifications, employees constantly face interruptions at work. These daily distractions make it challenging to complete projects and can increase anxiety. Decreasing the number of distractions your employees face throughout the day will help boost productivity and leave employees feeling accomplished.
Start by identifying your company’s top workplace distractions, like unnecessary meetings. You may not be able to eliminate these distractions entirely, but you can reduce them. For example, if constant meetings are a problem for your team, block Tuesdays and Thursdays off as “no-meeting” workdays.
Lack of Transparency
When your company is facing a crisis, like an economic downturn, your employees may begin to fear for their jobs. Leaving them in the dark only worsens this anxiety and may cause them to jump ship. This is why senior managers need to discuss any challenges your company faces openly. Pulling back the curtain may be intimidating, but your employees will appreciate the honesty.
The first step toward transparency is sharing your company’s performance and goals with the team. This provides insight into how the company is currently doing and future plans. By sharing this information with your employees, you can build a culture grounded in trust, not speculation.
Inability to Take Time Off
While your workplace probably offers paid time off, your company culture may discourage employees from using it. A recent study found that workers’ most common reason for not using PTO was fear of being seen as replaceable. So if your organization prioritizes performance over happiness and well-being, your employees might feel like they can’t take time off.
To help prevent burnout and encourage downtime, create a company culture that encourages taking time away. One way to do this is by factoring vacation time into project deadlines. Often, companies punish employees for taking time off, making them work 12-hour days to finish projects before leaving. By factoring PTO into deadlines, employees can enjoy a vacation without having been worked to exhaustion the week before.
Difficulty Disconnecting From Work
Hybrid working environments have grown in popularity since the pandemic. Although flexible jobs have many benefits, they also make it challenging for employees to disconnect after hours. This can lead to many problems, including depression, exhaustion, and burnout.
To keep your employees from overworking, set expectations around their work schedule. Let your team know you don’t expect them to work on projects or answer emails outside of their working hours. In addition, provide company guidance about when instant messaging is and isn’t appropriate. Encourage all your employees to use Slack or Microsoft Teams during office hours only.
Boredom
Boredom can creep into even the most exciting workplaces, and if your employees are bored, they may not stay long. A full 36% of bored workers say they’re likely to leave their jobs in the next six months. So if you want employees to stick around, make sure they have engaging and fulfilling work.
Tackling boredom starts by automating repetitive tasks that aren’t the best use of employees’ time. This may involve implementing a CRM system to automate customer management or scheduling software to control your calendar. While this may cost money upfront, it will pay off in the long term by making employees more productive and reducing employee turnover.
Micromanagement
Looming over your employees to ensure they complete tasks is a one-way ticket to a frustrated team. While it can be challenging to turn over projects to your subordinates, failing to delegate will make you come across as a micromanager. Most employees resent being micromanaged, so if you want to keep your team happy, trust their work.
If you’re struggling to let go of the reins, focus on managing expectations, not tasks. Once each team member knows what’s expected of them, step away from the project. Let them know you’re available if help is needed, but don’t continuously check on progress.
Customized coffee and workplace gyms are nice to have, but they won’t keep your employees from leaving. If you’re seriously interested in improving your team’s work life, you need to focus on reducing their frustrations.