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We already know that in the hospitality industry in Ontario you are constantly striving to ensure the best guest experience possible. Time and money are invested in mystery shopping services to find out where employee improvement can take place and how guest experiences can be re-evaluated.
To ensure high quality customer service, you first have to hire the right people for your business, and the key to maintaining great employees is to ensure that they are fully satisfied and engaged in their work. It may seem like a tricky maze, but by looking at Employee Satisfaction and Engagement as a full-circle, resulting to customer satisfaction, it ensures that everyone involved is happy which only further benefits your business.
Employee Satisfaction vs. Employee engagement
Employee satisfaction and employee engagement are often used interchangeably however they reflect different elements of how employees feel when they are content with their jobs. Both terms are often used to refer not just to the basic core needs of job satisfaction, but also motivation and commitment of engagement. Generally, it does not matter which term is used.
Employee engagement: Employees feel passionate and committed to their jobs and the organization they work for.
Employee satisfaction: The extent to which employees are content with their jobs and work environment.
Here are a few ways to improve and ensure employee satisfaction and engagement, by following these simple tips your guests’ experience is sure to reflect your employees’ attitudes about your business:
Respect
Employees need to feel respected by managers and coworkers within the workplace, this includes listening to feedback they receive, being open to suggestions, and having an open door policy. Employees who feel respected by management will respect their work environment.
Trust your Employees
By fostering trust within your staff they are more likely to respect you as an employer. Don’t micromanage work and let employees problem solve among each other. By providing more control to employees allows them to be more responsible and engaged within their tasks.
Foster Growth
Routines for employees can create boredom that may lead to loss of job satisfaction. In order to increase satisfaction of employees is to fully engage them within their work experience, beyond the day-to-day routines employees need to feel important and celebrated. In a survey from Inc.com (2011), about employee motivation high wages were not listed in the top 3, the number one desire was ‘full appreciation of work being done.’
By providing opportunities for employees to learn new skills, they will be less likely to strike boredom, and by acknowledging their new skills learned will allow their benchmarked skills to be celebrated, creating a higher employee satisfaction.
Encourage Community
Socialization is key in any organization, by nature we are social beings. By creating an environment where social connections are approved, allows employees to build trust with one another, increasing employee happiness.
Foster a community within your organization by any of these simple tips:
- arrange work stations so employees and see/ talk to one another
- celebrate holidays and birthdays,
- Eat lunch together or arrange pot-luck lunches
- Provide out of office socials
- Work on a project for the office together: such as a mural or paint the office
