Taking the “Whole-Person” Approach to Employee Satisfaction and Retention
It’s hard to believe, but we’re almost halfway through 2023. Caught up in the frenetic, day-to-day work of running a business from one quarter to the next, it’s easy to lose perspective and feel a bit of burnout creeping in at this time of year. But that’s what summer is for, right? It’s the season to devote some time to unwinding and maybe getting away from the office and/or the computer screen to shake off that mid-year slump and gain a bit of perspective.
The summer months offer up great opportunities for some productive team building with a generous helping of fun on the side. In fact, as old-fashioned as it might sound, it might just be time to bring back the company picnic, that bygone, summertime gathering of employees and their families. Whether it’s a picnic or some other fun, warm-weather activity, bringing everyone together for some R&R outside of the office celebrates your team’s hard work and fosters a genuine sense of belonging among employees.
The fact is your employees are more than cogs in a machine. They are unique-and-complex individuals with physical, mental, and emotional needs. Taking the “whole person” approach with employees is a key element in creating a thriving culture of understanding among team members. With employee retention becoming a bigger issue every day, showing employees that you care isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s smart business.
Scott Behson, author of “The Whole Employee Workplace,” believes that taking the time to care and to take a comprehensive view of employees is important to the long-term success of any company in the post-Covid workplace.
“Supporting employees as whole people is the key to long-term, sustainable business success,” Behson says. “Creating a whole-person workplace helps you attract the best talent, who then want to stay, become increasingly engaged, and then treat your customers as whole people as well.”
Burnout is a common affliction among employees at this time of year, and it can leave your team members feeling overwhelmed and uninspired. The summer months offer a chance to re-assess how your business is going and to reorganize and reset your goals. Bringing team members into the process so they feel engaged and appreciated demonstrates your commitment to your employees and to their happiness.
Ensuring that your employees feel included, valued, and understood is more essential than ever in an evolving and increasingly competitive marketplace. At FocusWorks, we are certified experts in the use of Ntrinsx, a uniquely effective social intelligence tool that will help you understand and relate to the temperament of those you engage with in your business. Ntrinsx fosters a natural process that will instill respect, based on understanding, within the culture of your organization.