10 Signs Your Employees Are Unhappy
10 Signs Your Employees Are Unhappy
By Cheryl Cran
In these busy times leaders and teams are so focused on getting through myriads of tasks and projects that often signs of discontent can be missed or ignored.
Leaders that focus on employee ‘happiness’ in addition to productivity and bottom line results have a greater competitive advantage. Happy employees are engaged employees.
Here are ten signs your employees are unhappy:
- There is a lack of energy
Energy is the secret behind success – when there is a palpable collective energy in an organization it is like a ‘buzz’ where people are eager to contribute, eager to provide ideas, eager to share. When there is a lack of energy it indicates apathy.
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There is a sense of everyone ‘going through the motions’
Unhappy employees show up with an attitude of simply getting through the day and doing the minimum to keep his or her job.
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There is no creativity or innovation
Studies have shown that creativity increases energy and synergy among a team. When a company does not have a focus on creativity it creates a ‘flat’ and non dynamic vibe with the company.
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There is a higher rate of turnover
People don’t leave their jobs – they leave their leaders. Unhappy employees often cite the leader they were working for as the reason they had to go.
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There is a higher rate of absenteeism
Unhappy employees don’t want to be in a workplace that does not provide growth, recognition and opportunities. When employees increase their absenteeism its due to lack of a desire to be at work – they are no longer engaged.
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Your employee surveys repeat the same feedback without change
This indicates that as a culture you may actually do employee surveys BUT you don’t do anything with the feedback you receive from the employees. Therefore the message to the employees is, “nothing is going to change”
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You are having a challenge attracting new talent
When a company does not have a culture of innovation, growth, energy, inspiration and purpose it’s not easy to attract new people. Unhappy employees are a result of an environment of status quo with no desire to grow.
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Your leaders ‘blame’ the employees for lack of results
If this is true in your organization it means that your company is in need of leadership skills development that focuses on the leadership required for the future of work. Fantastic leaders create happy employees.
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Your employees do not care about customer satisfaction
If you have employees that are not providing excellent service to your clients it is because they are unhappy. Something is needed – that employee may need training, coaching or both.
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Your company is not growing as it should
Typically stagnant growth means that something is ‘off track’ within the culture. Getting to the root of the cause includes being focused on having happy internal customers (your employees) which in turn creates happy external customers.
The future of work is about creating a focus on ‘sharing’ and sharing creates engagement and greater happiness.
Cheryl Cran is the CEO of Evolutionary Business Solutions where leaders enhance their abilities to lead change, transform people and grow business. Industries that Cheryl has worked with include agriculture, health, pharma, finance, insurance, associations, medical, retail, manufacturing, pest control, funeral, entrepreneurs, education and many more. The common elements among all industries is the need for leaders to effectively deal with ongoing challenges such as attracting and retaining top talent, leading multiple generations, leading change in traditional organizations, transforming people to perform at higher levels and ultimately to grow the business.
