Employee Satisfaction

Several Tips on Keeping Employee's Satisfied:

by Mitchell Labiuk

I have spent eight years in Retail, five of those years as a Manager. Here are a few ideas that helped keep my employee's satisfied, and retained.

1) I was excitied to see them everyday

 Spend a few minutes at the start of their shift, ask them how they are, how family members are doing, ask them how everything went the other day, find out what challenges they may have had and any successes.

2) I pointed out their "Good Jobs!"

 I was constantly on the look out for "Good Jobs!". Whenever an associate did a good job, I made sure they were aware of that, and I made them know I was excited and proud of them.

3) Handle conflicts as soon as they happen

Nobody likes to voice a concern to a manager and not have the issue resolved. Deal with the small issues before they become bigger ones. Handle them professionally. Should always take that person off the sales floor to discuss the issue. Never raise your voice.

4) Reward your associates

If it was a hot day, I would buy ice cappuchinos for my staff. Have candy available for them, chocolates, it wasn't much to me, but my staff appreciated it. Birthday's were very special as well. I would bring in a birthday cake for that associate, and a card signed by everyone in the department. My reward: on my birthday my associates suprised me by getting a tshirt signed by around 20 - 30 associates, and a birthday cake.

5) Be a leader, be a leader, be a leader!

6) Train your replacement

You should always have some key people in your department that can do most of the work you do, if your sick, an emergency happens, or for holidays. It builds a stronger relationship with your key person, and it eases the stress of being away for an extended period of time.

7) Be fair

If an associate deserves a raise, do what you can to get it for them. If there are things they need to improve on, don't wait till the evaluation to spring it on them, coach them, let them improve their skills before the evaluation.

8) Communication

Spend the first part of your day planning out what you want each associate to accomplish during the day. Put the notes in a communication binder. This is what an associate should be looking at when they first start their shift, and check off when each item is completed. If they need clarification, be open to their questions, walk to the area and go through the plan with them, ask them for their input. A tip I learnt from another manager was, In their notes, write down, "The color of the day is ........" If its aparent they haven't looked at your notes yet, you can ask them, "So Mitchell, what is today's color?"

9) Have fun!

Keep the workplace an enjoyable place to be. Work hard beside them. If they are struggling with a task, give them help, or delegate someone to help them.

Thank you for taking the time to read this article. Hopefully you found some value in reading this article. If you are a Manager or Employee, please pass this article to others.

Please view my new LinkedIn profile and add me as a contact, endorse me or recommend me, that would make my day! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Mitchell Labiuk