People want to work where they feel like their employers have their backs. After all, there are plenty of chances for being thrown under the proverbial bus in life. Knowing they won’t be while in the workplace makes showing up every day better.
Multiple studies have shown that when employees feel happy, secure, and supported, they’re more productive. They’re engaged, motivated, and work well with both management and team members. Above all, they trust their employer to do right by them and deliver on promises made.
Being a supportive employer doesn’t occur by accident. You will need to actively pursue that goal by making it a vital component of your culture. If you succeed, your employees will repay the favor. Here’s how you can give your staff the support they need and at the right time.
Track Employee Needs and Timing
Perhaps the major challenge of providing timely support is dealing with the reality that every person you employ is different. Their needs are unique, so the type of support each one needs is as well. Moreover, what needs each individual has will dictate when related support is welcomed and when it’s not.
To eliminate the guesswork, create a map and follow it where it leads. It won’t be in a straight line. But the path will be marked clearly. Employee journey mapping is a remarkable tool that looks at employees holistically. It charts their work-related journey — from recruitment, hiring, and onboarding to promotions and exit interviews. But it also includes significant personal life events that should be recognized and celebrated, like birthdays and community involvement.
Once you plug in potential work and life events, you have your roadmap. You also have reminders of when those events are occurring so you can anticipate providing support. For example, employees expecting babies need support as they prepare to be absent from work, then again when they return. But they’ll also need it as they adjust to such a monumental personal life change.
Indeed, there’s no handbook for getting through life. But there are tools you can use to know what events will precipitate a need for support and when they’re occurring. Employee journey mapping may be just the guidebook you need.
Keep Communication Flowing in Both Directions
There are very few things in life, if any, that aren’t improved by effective communication. But too many times between employer and employee, the effort works in only one direction. The employer tells employees what to do without providing ways to converse about it.
Communication is as communication does. There’s no doubt that if your company’s culture engages in and encourages open communication, your employees will appreciate it. Plus, they’ll tend to become better communicators with managers and co-workers as well, and that will increase productivity and job satisfaction.
The first step to providing the support employees need when they need it is to ask the right questions. The second step is to truly listen to their answers as well as their concerns. Finally, you’ll need to commit to following up with them in a supportive manner, so they know you heard them.
You should also bear in mind that your employees are not monoliths. The initial questions you ask them may be the same, but follow-ups should be individual. For example, most employees may tell you they need flexible work arrangements. But you can’t truly support them with those arrangements unless you understand why each one needs them.
You may believe you are communicating openly with your employees. However, you need to make sure you’re listening, then engaging in dialog with every single one of them. That’s the hallmark of a corporate culture where conversation is key.
Continuously Review Compensation and Benefits
It’s easy for employers to categorize employees by position, then offer identical compensation and benefits categorically. Although this method makes sense on multiple levels, strict adherence to it fails to recognize employee differences and therefore, individual needs. For that, you’ll need to be vigilant with each employee’s compensation and benefits.
Two employees with the same position sharing virtually the same experience, tenure, and performance should not receive radically different packages. However, you can use compensation and benefits to support their individual needs and priorities.
For example, one might be going to school to qualify for a promotion. More flexible scheduling or tuition assistance will support that employee. The other might receive bonus pay for covering additional shifts or projects for that co-worker, which would support that employee’s extra commitment to the job. Help with student loan debt may provide substantial support to both.
You also need to review the pliability of your benefits. Providing health insurance offers enormous support to some employees. Other employees may have a better plan through a partner or spouse, so replacing that unused benefit with one they need will support those employees.
For certain, employers have to maintain a baseline that ensures employee compensation and benefits are equitable. But that doesn’t mean they have to be equal in every way. To provide the right support to employees at the right time, your package needs to limber up.
Prop Up Your Staff with Punctuality
It seems that everyone needs a little extra support these days. Employees spend so much time in the workplace, and they’re struggling to find a healthy work-life balance. Employers who find ways to provide timely support will help them achieve that balance. And that will benefit them and your business.