The Bottom Line Contribution of Satisfied Employees

Do you know what's most important to your employees when it comes to job satisfaction? Here's a quick, fun, way to find out.

Why does it matter to you whether or not your employees are 'satisfied?' You just want them to do their jobs. You don't care if they like it or not. Right? Well, you should care. It matters to your bottom line.

Your employees -- producers, customer service representatives, marketing staff, assistants and clerks, accounting staff, and your receptionist --all contribute to the bottom line in very tangible ways. They help you find new customers and keep the ones you have. Knowledgeable, personable and satisfied employees are a very real asset. When you fail to nurture and protect this asset, the cost is high . . . perhaps higher than you realize. 

If employees aren’t given the right tools to do their jobs effectively, for example, or if they’re treated unfairly or are overworked and stressed out, they can become frustrated and unhappy. This has a negative impact on their productivity. 

More importantly, disgruntled employees can be disruptive to the entire organization, sharing their discontent with whomever will listen. Their attitude rubs off on others and brings the morale of the entire organization down. 

Low morale also takes its toll as your staff attempts to provide customer service. You can hear it in their voices. It shows in their attitude. A demoralized staff does not focus on looking for ways to delight your customer. Nor do they attempt to cross-sell accounts or upgrade coverages. 

There’s also a compounding effect. Studies have shown that increasing client retention by just 5 percent can boost an agency’s profitability by 50 to 100 percent or more. But the reverse is also true. Dissatisfied employees can cause retention to drop significantly. Lower retention equates to dramatically lower profits.

Last, but not least, when morale drops, turnover goes up, causing costs to go up dramatically as well.

And by the way... Take the quick management survey and see the number one satisfaction criteria for employees. That's the point of the last blog post. If you missed it, go here.