Apartment Trends Magazine August 2015 | Page 22

Granting Employees the Midas Touch What Drives Employee Satisfaction, Engagement, Retention and Performance BY DOUG MILLER, SATISFACTS I f employees aren’t happy, research shows customers won’t be either. However finding and keeping good talent is becoming increasingly difficult. While a company’s first instinct may be to throw money at the issue, it’s amazing what one can learn when one simply asks the right questions. The findings from Satisfacts’ first multifamily employee satisfaction index along with research from outside multifamily helps to identify the best practices for engaging employees and boosting performance, which will then, almost magically, grant your team the ability to create happy and dedicated residents, and turn their communities into gold! EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT Employee satisfaction is usually not about compensation or benefits. It’s about engagement. An “engaged employee” is someone who is fully absorbed by and enthusiastic about their work, and therefore takes positive action to further the organization’s reputation and interests. In an article entitled “The Ten C’s of Employee Engagement,” the Ivey Business Journal shared what they believe creates engagement. • Connect: Leaders must show that they value employees. • Career: Leaders should provide challenging and meaningful work with opportunities for career advancement. • Clarity: Leaders must communicate a clear vision. • C onvey: Leaders clarify their expectations about employees and provide feedback on their functioning in the organization. 20 | TRENDS •AUGUST 2015 • C ongratulate: Exceptional leaders give recognition, and they do so a lot; they coach and convey. • C ontribute: People want to know that their input matters and that they are contributing to the organization’s success in a meaningful way. • C ontrol: Employees value control over the flow and pace of their jobs and leaders can create opportunities for employees to exercise this control. • C ollaborate: Studies show that, when employees work in teams and have the trust and cooperation of their team memb \