Sunday, November 29, 2009

Employee Relations - Let's be thankful

In light of the Thanksgiving spirit, I think I'll concentrate on the idea of being grateful (and showing it) in the context of employee relations of a company. I think this is a pretty big part of employee relations. Of course it applies to all types of PR but it is particularly effective with employees because it is part of what keeps them happy. According to this article by Warren & Hays LLC, 70% of employees are "very thankful" for their job. This is good, however, the other 30% have different ideas. They even give a few suggestions on how to improve employee relations, such as conducting workplace surveys where employees can give their opinions anonymously. I think this would be really effective because by making it anonymous, employees can give their true opinions about the company without worrying about jeopardizing their jobs.

I also found another article, this time from Biz Coach Tim, that emphasized the importance of saying thank you to employees. While a lot of this article can be applied to all relationships in life, I think some of the advice works really well for employee relations such as these four steps to show gratitude (which are incidentally from another blog post from Kevin Eikenberry):
  • See it – look for reasons to be thankful to your team
  • Say it - they won't know that you notice what they do unless you tell them
  • Write it - this is much more powerful than verbal thanks and longer lasting
  • Share it - formal recognition is the greatest motivator of all.

1 comment:

  1. I feel that employee relations is an area of the workplace that many business owners overlook, and this is not acceptable. Without good employees, a company or organization cannot run smoothly, and it is important that employee relations are constantly monitored and improved. The four steps to show gratitude presented in your blog seem like they would be very helpful in assisting companies in improving employee relations. I think it would be beneficial for all employers to see it, say it, write it, and share it when it comes to employee relations.

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