Employee satisfaction: How perception dictates morale

Some might say it's bothersome to see members of management in an organization take an apathetic approach to employee satisfaction.  For me, it's far more than bothersome or inconvenient -- it's downright troubling.  It's a very dangerous place for a member of management to be for a variety of reasons, beginning with morale.  What's more is that morale can be eroded, not only by lack of concern for employee satisfaction (assumed: concern at a level that prompts action), but by the mere perception of it.  Whether that perception is accurate or not, it's true in the minds of those who perceive it -- and keep in mind, "those who perceive it" are not limited to non-management staff.

At some point or another, most of us have probably felt like we weren't cared about, or at least not as much as we felt we should be.  Whether by a spouse, a parent, a sibling, or yes, even a boss, it creates a wedge that generally drives people in one of two directions:  Towards the behaviors that the person knows will please the individual from whom a perceived low level of concern is being felt, or more often, away from those behaviors.

"They don't care about me, why should I care about them?"

And so the decline in morale begins.


We all know that it's financially less expensive to retain a good employee than to recruit, hire, on-board, and train a new employee.  It's also a much better psychological investment to treat current employees well, and make them feel appreciated and cared for.  Building trust and confidence from your employees is guaranteed to pay dividends for a very long time, and often in ways you might not even have considered.

I worked for an organization once that treated the employees like dirt's red-headed stepchild.  It was sickening to watch -- a truly toxic environment, if ever I'd seen one.  Turnover was so high that it's difficult to put into words, and trying to quantify it?  Futile.  You wouldn't believe me if I told you what the numbers were.

On one particular occasion, a former long-time (really good) employee stopped by the office to pay a visit and say hello, after having resigned a couple of months earlier.  I overheard top leadership fawning over her, all but begging her to come back to work for us.  I couldn't help but think about all the other employees we had, who were working their hearts out at that very moment, who weren't even a blip on the radar screen of these leaders who were now almost groveling to the point of embarrassment, asking for the former employee to return.  If they were willing to spend 5% of the effort they spent trying to coax the former employee into coming back on showing the current staff their appreciation and sincere thanks for the work they do, they'd surely have been able to keep more of their good employees...and when that happens, morale improves, and everyone benefits from even the simplest of gestures that demonstrate appreciation.  It really is the little things that make the biggest differences.





Comment below, and tell us about an experience you've had where you truly felt like your satisfaction in the workplace mattered to management.