Employees are one of the most important assets of a company, and the ability to retain them is one common indicator of a company’s performance. But keeping employees engaged is not an easy task for a lot of HR professionals because it takes both motivation and satisfaction for an employee to want to stay with a company. Read on to understand three highly practical ways to motivate an employee while also having them feel satisfied about their job.
1) Giving a sense of belonging
One of the major reasons employees leave their job is because they do not feel like a part of something; they do not feel integrated into the organization or the community and that sense of detachment moves them to resign more than any other reason does. Giving employees a sense of belonging is crucial and at the same time, can be very hard to execute by the management especially for companies with diverse recruits because the company may not be in a capacity to cater a sense of belonging to each and every one of those. Most of the time, companies that recruit diverse employees fail to take into consideration how to make them feel included because at the end of the day, every employer can recruit for diversity but does not know how to strategize inclusion. The most common way employers can provide inclusiveness to their staff would be through a number of informal events such as holiday celebrations, volunteering events, and team building activities through which employees get a chance to bond with their co-workers and build greater rapport with one another. Facilitating team-working situations and team-friendly environments is also considered imperative for promoting inclusiveness and a sense of belonging.
Myanmar has long been a great destination for foreign workers and expatriates, and while it does not appear much of a problem for Myanmar employees to feel as if they belong to a company due to their innate collectivistic spirit, it could pose a challenge for these foreign workers to tend to feel a send of belonging to an organization mainly because of language barriers and partially because of cultural differentials. Myanmar companies with a high foreign employee population may not have a problem with handing their diversity and inclusion practices since they may always find others with their background for comfort and belonging. But Myanmar companies with a relatively low foreign employer population might have to dedicate more time to making sure that these employees have an adequate support system or someone on the payroll that they can turn to in times of hardship.
2) Know what incentivizes them
Successfully motivating employees is very important to retain them in the long run because employees without a good reason to work for a company may choose to walk away. So it is imperative for HR practitioners and employers to explore more about what kind of incentive gives them a reason to stay. Not every employee has the same incentive that is persuasive enough for them to stay with a company – not one size fits all. While it is true that monetary incentive is a common ground for most employees, for some, it might not be the number one reason. Some employees for example are looking for career advancements or growth opportunities. Some are looking for a good work-life balance. Further some are merely looking for happiness in what they do. Money alone cannot attract all of them to stay. So, employers can consider grouping employees based on their interest of incentives and design compensation and remuneration packages customized for each group. That way, employers do not have to consider a raise every time an employee does not feel happy about his or her job, and there are other ways to note a job well cone.
JobNet Myanmar’s career portal is home to thousands of job opportunities that highlight all the different incentive packages that a company offers to its prospective employees. Job seekers can conveniently take a look through them and decide which one makes them feel most excited to work for a company, and corporates can get an understanding about what works for comparable or competitive companies in their industry. JobNet Myanmar’s career website has been helping employers and employees match with one another for years, and its state-of-the-art algorithms have been positively impacting the retention rate of employees at many top companies.
3) Allow autonomy and flexibility
Micromanagement is one of the more common reasons why employees decide to leave their job. Employees should be given some capacity to make their own decisions and take ownership of them because decision-making allows employees to grow rapidly as a person and as a leader. Especially in uncertain times like these, it is imperative to have an employee know that they are trusted within the organization when they are working remotely, for example, to still get their daily tasks accomplished. Supervising them too closely, while ideal for painstaking situations and highly complex tasks, can wear them out in the long run. Micromanaged employees usually feel untrusted with the job they’re assigned to, which is not conducive for self-confidence and personal growth. Working hour flexibility can also be another important aspect of an employee friendly workplace. Many companies nowadays are opting to shift into flexible or reduced working hours without designating a singular starting time and ending time, which means employees can check in for work at flexible times so long as they work their assigned shift before leaving for the day. Flexibility of a workplace can feel like a welcomed bit of control in a world where everything might seem up in the air.
To sum up, there is no one-size-fits-all solution to get employees to stay. When times are uncertain, it is important to act with compassion to your team, who are likewise going through uncomfortable situations of their own. To be able to listen to their needs and understand what motivates them will keep them in their role and focused on their job for longer periods of time. Employees are different in many aspects and it is highly encouraged for employers to ensure that their employees feel belonged, incentivized, and flexible enough working at their companies.