Ensuring a positive employee experience for both men and women begins from day one and to helps reduce workplace conflict, raise staff morale and increase overall productivity. From the point at which an employee is onboarded into a new organization, it is imperative to communicate the vision and mission that drive it every day and how the employee is an integral part of that growth. Inclusion and ensuring that the employee knows their input is valuable will go a long way in increasing morale and the company’s success.
During the orientation process it is also essential to get feedback as to how the employee prefers to be communicate with, how they wish to be recognized (publicly vs. privately), understand their professional development goals and what challenges they wish to overcome. Why? Because if you do not ask you run the risk of demotivating the employee, increasing employee turnover and being ill-prepared for how to manage your overall workforce. Employee relations are different for men and women and vary from generation to generation. What motivates a Millennial may not motivate a Boomer, so understand this by asking.
One helpful tool that I have used in the past when managing a team is an employee recognition questionnaire that is completed during the registration period that may include some of the following questions:
- What are some achievements or job performances that you would most like to be recognized for? (Some examples include customer service, exceptional job performance, taking on additional job duties, etc.)
- How would you most like to be recognized for the behaviors and job performances listed above? (Some examples include verbal acknowledgment, lunch with a supervisor, a gift card, etc.)
- How do you prefer to receive recognition? (Some examples include in a private setting, small group, formally or informally, etc.)
- What are your favorite hobbies/ interest or favorite things? (Like reading, cooking) This helps so if you wish to provide a personal type of recognition, you know what they like and value.
Lastly, have a tracking mechanism to ensure that each employee has been “touched” at least twice a year if not more!