When it comes to rising operational costs, small and medium sized businesses see greater impacts to their profitability. Customer facing businesses are also facing a talent shortage as entry level positions become less financially viable. Business owners and managers are prioritizing operations and are adopting leadership methods that maximize efficiency and productivity from their existing frontline teams. One area of highlight is the individual’s experience while working which can boost morale and productivity while also reducing costly staff turnover. Small and medium sized organizations have a distinct advantage in their ability to pivot and make changes quickly to improve and maintain a positive work environment for their frontline teams. Workplace culture and worker experiences are defined by the business’s leadership and owners / managers can set the tone with a defined plan and consistent execution.
Recognition and Feedback Drive Job Satisfaction
Frontline and entry level positions have drawbacks but for many, it is a way to get the foot in the door and gain valuable work experience. Maintaining individual job satisfaction and employee happiness is crucial for frontline teams as their efforts can greatly impact business costs and profitability. Managers have somewhat of an uphill battle with customer facing teams when it comes to driving productivity as workloads are on the high end and compensation is on the low end. But driving workplace satisfaction is still possible as these frontline workers place receiving recognition and feedback in regards to job performance as top drivers to job satisfaction. Engaging in feedback is another challenge for managers as time and resources are usually in short supply but creating strategies to maintain the flow of feedback and recognition can reap short term and long term benefits in several ways.
- Positively impact the workplace environment and enhance individual employee experiences
- Increase productivity with opportunities for improvement and skill enhancements
- Decrease costly and time consuming staff turnover and hiring processes
Maintaining a consistent channel of feedback and recognition can also elevate the individual’s sense of owners within the business which creates even more opportunities for higher performance.
Open Door Policies Promote Transparency
For frontline teams, effective and accessible lines of communication will have positive impacts on individual job satisfaction and happiness. Managers who adopt an ‘open door’ policy regarding communication will create an atmosphere of trust and confidence among the frontline team. Setting the tone for communication will always start at the top and managers can play a key role in planning defined communication and transparency policies. Managers who are more ‘approachable’ in regards to communication are better positioned to actively listen to employee’s concerns and address opportunities in an appropriate time frame. Open and consistent communication about financial performance, challenges facing the brand and business operations will also provide much needed transparency and can encourage ‘ownership’ of the business among frontline staff.
Prioritizing Growth and Development
Development and training stands out as a core tool for increasing productivity, elevating morale and reducing or eliminating employee turnover. Learning new skills is also a key demand or want for new employees who are hungry to learn about the business. The realities of business means increasing workloads for managers and supervisors and less time and resources for training but ongoing development will deliver short and long term benefits in several areas of the business:
- Learning new skills will increase the individual’s capability
- Consistent training will promote ‘ownership’ of the business
- Increased individual capabilities drives productivity and efficiency
- Investment in the individual increases job satisfaction and elevates worker experience
Maximizing each opportunity is critical for small and medium sized businesses and operations that rely on frontline teams to deliver products and services would see positive impacts in all facets of the business by prioritizing training and development and engaging individual workers on a consistent basis.
The Bottom Line
Small and medium sized businesses have an optimistic outlook for 2024 but economic uncertainty and rising operational costs could put a damper on the rosy scenario. Creating efficiencies and maximizing productivity is the mission for business leadership and elevating their worker experience can result in both cost savings and sales growth for customer facing organizations. Defining business culture and employing strategies for individual engagement will reduce costly attrition and hiring processes as well as potentially increasing revenue generated by frontline teams that take ‘ownership’ of the business. Workplace environment and tone is set by owners and managers and leadership plays a key role in elevating and maintaining highly motivated and enthusiastic teams. Consistent engagement and communication as well as recognizing development opportunities are major factors in directing and establishing a business’s workplace culture. The challenges of finding quality candidates for entry level positions highlights and prioritizes the need to cultivate and embrace existing staff to ensure operational smoothness.