When most leaders think of ways to make those they lead happier, their minds go to elements like pay, benefits, and perks. Perks usually include things like getting a new coffee machine for the break room, bringing in a catered lunch, or starting a rewards program. While these perks are certainly nice, they cost money and are quickly taken for granted. This often leaves leaders feeling frustrated and puts them back on the hunt for a new perk the next time morale drops. In my field, I often see clients who have come to counseling because of dissatisfaction in their work. Through working with them, I’ve found that there is one easy gift that you can give employees over and over that boosts job satisfaction and will cost you next to nothing.
Job control.
Job control is a measurement of how much control an individual has over the day-to-day tasks they are responsible for. This can include the time of day they do the task, the order in which they choose to do their responsibilities, as well as, a whole host of other changes. Job control has been found to both increase employee satisfaction and buy-in, and, also, increase the levels of personal pride in their work.
I saw a great example of a company that used this element to their advantage while I was working for a meat packing plant as a summer job my first year in college. The plant had a rule that if you found a better way of doing your job that saved the company money, you would receive a certain percentage of the savings each year. One of the examples the company touted was an employee who discovered a more efficient way to pack shipping boxes. While I don’t remember the exact amounts, this saved the company a large amount of money every year across their different locations. Let’s just say that his discovery saved the company $100,000 a year and the employee payout was 5%. This translates into a $5,000 a year bonus for the employee and a $95,000 savings for the company.
Not bad for something that required no financial investment from the company.
If you would like more great content sent to your inbox, join the Modern Inklings community by clicking above.In addition to the bonus check, this employee also got the pride of knowing that others recognized his hard work and competence at his job. He also got to see his system implemented companywide and likely helped teach others how to do it correctly.
Even if you don’t run a big company, allowing people to have some control over how they do their job benefits both the employee and the organization. Most of the individuals I work with, when asked about their best day on the job, describe a day in which they were able to do their work the way they knew how to do it best with little interference from managers. They never talked about company parties or catered lunches, but they did talk about the ability to work hard in a way that made sense to them.
If you’re looking for a practical way to implement this, try setting aside 10 minutes to ask an employee one thing they would change about how they do their job and why they think it would be better to do it that way. You won’t get the “thank you” that buying everyone lunch will bring but they’ll remember, for much longer, how you took the time to listen.
Field Notes 