We’ve written often in the past about the importance of employee engagement. This topic is important to us because we know employee morale is a crucial factor in a brand’s success. When employee morale is low, it can have a detrimental effect on the company’s bottom line. Gallup has estimated that the cost of low employee morale is between $450 billion and $550 billion annually, mostly due to wasted time and a lack of innovation.
In most cases, employees won’t feel comfortable letting their managers know when they’re unhappy on the job. They may worry about being let go, or that their efforts to improve the workplace culture will be shrugged off. That’s why managers should keep an eye out for the signs of employee disengagement. Here are a few places to start.
Your employees are doing the bare minimum
Are important, but non-essential, tasks constantly being left for tomorrow? Perhaps they aren’t getting done at all? This might be a sign of employee disengagement. Employees that aren’t happy at work won’t be productive. They’ll do what they need to do to get by, but never aim higher. This is problematic because they’ll never bring new ideas to the table, they won’t provide stellar customer service, and certain tasks won’t get completed.
Your employees aren’t showing a desire to grow
Engaged employees will naturally want to learn new skills and grow on the job, even if there is little opportunity to move up the chain in their location. In contrast, employees with low morale won’t make an effort to take on new roles or responsibilities.
Your employees keep quitting
According to the National Restaurant Association, turnover in the restaurant industry was more than 70 percent in 2015. There are many reasons that employees choose to quit. They may feel they are underpaid, or they may have found a better position elsewhere. But chances are, the reason has more to do with workplace culture. A strong workplace culture that encourages employees to grow, holds them accountable for performance, and fosters good relationships between team members is key to keeping employees engaged.
Your guests complain about poor service
An increase in guest complaints is another sign that something is amiss in your workplace. In some cases, it could be due to scheduling issues or a shortage in stock, but guests are most likely to have low tolerance for poor service. In fact, 66 percent of consumers stop doing business with a brand due to a subpar experience. The attitude of your employees has an impact on how guests perceive your brand. Whether they intend to or not, employees who don’t care about the work they do will have a difficult time putting on a cheerful face for guests.
How Loop can help
Our Loop solution, built specifically for the hospitality and restaurant industries, helps brands connect with their guests and gamify the workplace for employee engagement.
With Loop Pulse, brands can get their guests to fill out a three-second survey and glean important insights about the health of their business. These insights can be used to improve the guest experience and coach employees on performance. The real-time nature of the solution means that guest ratings are immediately displayed for employees to see, helping them understand where their performance falls short and encouraging them to improve.
Want to learn more about employee engagement? Download our white paper, Gamifying Your Hospitality Business for Employee Engagement, for all the tips and tools you’ll need to enhance the culture in your workplace.
How do you keep your employees motivated on the job? Let us know in the comments, or on social media: LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram.
