How Do I Engage my Employees to Produce the Best Results for my Company?
Immix hosted a Powerup Event on October 18, gathering business leaders and consultants to discuss an important topic for small and growing businesses. Although the topic was branding, we were reminded of the importance of an employee’s role in bringing a company’s products to life—the people who create, sell, market, and live a company’s products and brand.
During the event, Jeff Stephens (Creative Brand Communications) and Eric Miller (Squishymedia) said that when they are figuring out a company’s brand they look not just to the officers and shareholders of the company, but to the everyday workers and employees. Kyra Bussanich (Kyra’s Bake Shop) said she looks for those employees who embody the “cupcake” attitude.
You understand the importance of people, but how do you keep your employees loyal and focused on your company’s brand and products? It is important to show employees how they fit within the financial structure of the company and to show how their actions and attributes directly affect your company’s bottom line.
It is not a new concept: keeping your employees happy has a direct effect on your company’s bottom line. But it is also important to keep your employees aware of the financial health of the company. CPA firm, Fitchitt, Benedict, and Clark, P.S., published a few practices that employers can implement to help make their employees cognizant of their direct contributions to your company’s bottom line:
- Ask each employee to write his or her own job description to explain how that employee makes money for the firm. Supervisors can help staff members fine-tune these descriptions. In time, managers and their staffs will be able to discuss each work assignment in terms of how it relates to company profits.
- Urge every employee to write a brief description of what your company makes or sells. Ask them to cast their descriptions in terms of various company goals, such as quality, customer retention and increased customer referrals.
Help your employees understand how they fit within your business structure. You cannot reward your employees with pay raises and promotions if you are not making a profit; you probably won’t have much of a profit if you don’t have hardworking and dedicated employees.
“Employees are a company’s greatest asset – they’re your competitive advantage. You want to attract and retain the best; provide them with encouragement, stimulus, and make them feel that they are an integral part of the company’s mission.” – Ann Mulcahy, former chairperson and CEO of Xerox Corporation
“There are only three measurements that tell you nearly everything you need to know about your organization’s overall performance: employee engagement, customer satisfaction, and cash flow…It goes without saying that no company, small or large, can win over the long run without energized employees who believe in the mission and understand how to achieve it…” – Jack Welch, former CEO of GE