7 Things Your Employees Will Never Tell You. | POST A RESUME HR Consultancy

What your employees won’t say could be what you most need to hear.
Your employees have a lot of thoughts. Most of those thoughts they don’t share– especially with you.
At times their silence is a good thing, especially where your ego or their employment status might be concerned, but their silence also may keep you from understanding what your employers really think and what they really need from you.
Consider whether your employees might be thinking one or more of the following:
1. “Please don’t talk to me about your personal life.” Talking about subjects that aren’t work related helps build a personal relationship, but many people fall back on talking about themselves when they don’t know the other person well. Employees, especially new employees, have no interest in hearing about your go-to topics like your last vacation or your antique collection or your beach house.
New employees want to feel like they belong, but more importantly they want to know how they’re doing. Long-term employees want to know you care about them; talking about yourself only shows you care about yourself.
2. “Can’t you see I’m really busy?” Here’s what happens. You stop by to talk, the employee stops what they’re doing to chat with you… and when you walk away they’re behind and have to catch up. Employees want to talk to you, but they have work to do, too. Sometimes there’s an easy answer, especially if the employee’s job involves physical tasks: Help out while you talk. Not only will your employee appreciate a little help, your conversation will be less forced. In other settings, pick your spots carefully.
Never interrupt an employee who is busy simply because today you’ve decided to “check in with the troops.”
3. “I can tell you really don’t care about my personal life.” Walking up and asking an employee a generic question like, “Hey, how are your, um, kids?” or, “Are you doing anything fun after work?” or, “Hey, who do you think will win the cricket worldcup this year?” comes across as forced and insincere, at least to your employees. Either take the time to get to know your employees well enough so you can have a decent conversation or just stick to work-related subjects. (Employees definitely prefer “all business” to “pseudo-personal.”)
One way to show employees you care about them as people is to follow the 20% rule: When you’re talking to employees, never talk more than 20% of the time. The single best way to show you care is to listen.
4. “You claim you respect me… so give me something important to do.” Assigning an employee a critical task is a definite sign of respect. Do it as often as you can.
5. “You claim you trust me… so give me something important to do and let me decide how to do it.” It’s only natural to tell your employees how to do their jobs; after all, it’s your business. Still, when you assign a project without providing a lot of direction your employees instantly know you respect their abilities and trust their judgment.
Employees appreciate respect; they love trust.
6. “Actually, I would like to work here a long time.” The average person switches jobs a number of times before they’re 30-years-old. Some leave for money, but many leave because they can’t stand their boss. No matter what your industry, high employee turnover doesn’t have to be a fact of employment life. Find out why employees leave and address the causes. It’s stressful to change jobs, so most employees won’t start job searching until you give them a reason to.
Watch, listen, take smart actions… do your job right and most of your employees will stay.
7. “That gift card is nice, but a simple ‘thanks’ is really all I need.” Sure, every time you hand out paychecks you’re implicitly saying thanks, but not really. Find reasons to thank your employees as often as you can. Look for an accomplishment, however small or fleeting, and express your appreciation. “Thanks for taking care of that difficult customer.” “Thanks for jumping in and helping Ms. Sweta.” “Thanks for letting me know we have a problem in the warehouse; I hadn’t realized orders were consistently shipping late.”
Say thanks benefits both of you: The employee feels appreciated, and you get a great way to start a meaningful conversation.

30 Replies to “7 Things Your Employees Will Never Tell You.”

Lane Ringdahl May 30, 2020

I just want to mention I am beginner to blogging and truly loved you’re page. More than likely I’m want to bookmark your blog post . You actually come with impressive posts. Thank you for revealing your web site.

Lane Ringdahl May 29, 2020

Chantel Siket June 6, 2012

Hi there, You have done an incredible job. I will definitely digg it and personally suggest to my friends. I’m sure they’ll be benefited from this site.

Jeffrey Satiago June 5, 2012

Pretty nice post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I’ve truly enjoyed browsing your blog posts. After all I will be subscribing to your rss feed and I hope you write again soon!

Chantel Siket June 5, 2012

Hi there, You have done an incredible job. I will definitely digg it and personally suggest to my friends. I’m sure they’ll be benefited from this site.

Jeffrey Satiago June 5, 2012

Jack Flavin June 1, 2012

I’m really impressed with your writing skills as well as with the layout on your weblog. Is this a paid theme or did you customize it yourself? Anyway keep up the nice quality writing, it is rare to see a great blog like this one nowadays..

Jack Flavin June 1, 2012

Kayla Ferrini May 29, 2012

Hello. remarkable job. I did not anticipate this. This is a great story. Thanks!

Kayla Ferrini May 28, 2012

Hello. remarkable job. I did not anticipate this. This is a great story. Thanks!

Jessie Holzmeister May 28, 2012

Heya i’m for the first time here. I came across this board and I find It really useful & it helped me out a lot. I hope to give something back and aid others like you aided me.

Danny Dumaine May 28, 2012

I do not even know how I ended up here, but I thought this post was great. I do not know who you are but definitely you are going to a famous blogger if you aren’t already 😉 Cheers!

Shanta Burbano May 28, 2012

Of course, what a splendid website and informative posts, I will bookmark your site.All the Best!

Fredrick Dingus May 28, 2012