Most business leaders, irrespective of the market they are in, consistently push to maximize growth, profitability, and value of their business. They devise innovative strategies to strive through economic upheavals and achieve their planned objectives and target.

Performance measurement plays a big role in developing policies, evaluating the achievement of organizational goals, and accordingly compensating employees. Measuring performance accurately and ensuring productivity in the workplace can be extremely challenging.

Due to the distractions caused by all the noise in the world, smartphones, social media, and the demands of personal lives, most employees find it challenging to focus and produce the best work they can.

“Many organizations are so bent on increasing revenues, profits and growth, that they erroneously ignore the value of their employees and customers quality of life.”

Employee and Customer Satisfaction is Correlated

An organization can thrive only when customers are happy and satisfied. Employees are both the face and backbone of an organization. Employers need to not only understand, but fully embrace that there is a direct correlation between measuring the satisfaction of both employees and customers.

Both need to be fostered carefully. Studies from various research surveys have successfully demonstrated that employee satisfaction guarantees higher profits because:

    1) Helps an organization to develop a positive and affable reputation that spreads and entices new customers.

    2) Retains more customers since happier employees tend to meet or exceed customer service expectations.

    3) Minimizes issues and enables customers to consistently receive the same friendly service, resulting in loyal customers.

“Satisfied employees translates into satisfied customers. Engaged employees translates into loyal customers. It’s not a complicated formula.”

Ensure a Good Quality of Life

It is the responsibility of the organization to ensure a high level of job satisfaction for employees. A motivating environment provides employees a sense of pride in what they do.

Leaders can improve motivation in the workplace by doing some basic things that costs nearly nothing to implement.

Provide a positive work-environment — Employers need to look beyond the call of duty and provide for the needs of employees at a more personal level. They need to inculcate a sense of belonging. This ensures employees feel like they can be their authentic selves without being afraid of disparate treatment or punishment.

Provide adequate reward and recognition — Personal recognition is essential in building morale. A simple pat on the back, a personal note from a supervisor, makes employees feel valued. Those who go above and beyond to assist their peers should be celebrated and rewarded to promote this attitude further.

Enhance employee engagement — Employees are more committed and engaged when there is a safe space for them to actively contribute their ideas. It provides them a sense of ownership and pride in the work they are doing for the organization.

Develop skills and train the workforce — Training and education encourage employees to be more productive and innovative. Well-trained employees are more enthusiastic about working and are more capable of answering customers’ questions, which results in better customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Measure job satisfaction — The primary aim of evaluations is to measure the employees’ attitude, morale, and motivation. This includes identifying problem areas and the effective implementation of improvement plans.

“Measure how successful the environment is, based on how proud people are to work there, equal to how a board of directors measures profitability.”

Happy Employees = Happy Customers = Profits

The real competitive advantage of satisfied employees is that a trained and motivated workforce proudly works together and contributes their energy to achieving the organization’s collective goals.

Employee satisfaction becomes even more critical in any business where employees are directly interacting with customers. Businesses like retail, hospitality, and B2C companies with customer service centers.

Traditionally such employees are massively underpaid and overworked — not a good combination towards achieving a satisfied workplace.

For these workers, it becomes a thankless job and gets worse when customers start complaining or yelling at them. It is precisely where employee experience in the workplace plays an important role.

One of the easiest ways to enhance employee satisfaction is to not only ask for and welcome suggestions and feedback, but to proactively implement them. They are sure to have the greatest insight into customer needs, being the ones who are directly engaged with them.

Employees can be the biggest contributors to organizations when it comes to customer satisfaction, if they are part of an active and motivating workplace.

It’s crucial to shift the mindset from employees working just for the sake of paychecks, to acknowledging that they are significant contributors to the success of the organization.

Employees need to understand how vital their role is, and how their consistent effort ensures the satisfaction and retention of customers.

Having happy customers implies better profits and growth for the organization, irrespective of the economic condition or market challenges.

Smiling customers and satisfied employees are undoubtedly the real indicators of the overall success of any organization.