Three Ways to close the Employee Satisfaction Gap

Frank Racioppi
Jul 27, 2017 · 3 min read

When employees (in focus groups, surveys, or coaching sessions) were asked, “How thrilled are you with your work? What’s great about it? What’s missing?” The answers include, “I love my work except for:

  • The lack of communication in the organization
  • the pressure — to produce, conform, innovate
  • the person I work with (or report to)
  • the lack of time for family, health, fun
  • the boredom, repetition, lack of opportunity

The answers are as diverse as the people. But there’s a commonality too. In every case there is either something wrong or something missing. If you hope to engage and retain your key people, it’s not enough to search for and close competency gaps. You’ll need to dive in, diagnose and work to close the satisfaction gaps as well.

Here are three steps for doing just that with your employees.

Define Satisfaction

One employee wants autonomy, and another craves recognition. Others want a promotion or work-life balance. What thrills us at work is as unique to each of us as our fingerprints. Spend time with your employees to clearly define what rings their chimes. In essence, you are discovering the key components of the ideal job or career. These questions might help them create that list:

  • What would make you jump out of bed in the morning, eager to go to work?
  • If you were to win the lottery and resign, what would you miss the most about work?
  • If you could go back to a job or organization in your past and stay for an extended period of time, which one would it be and why?
  • Which of your job tasks would you like to do more of?

The answers to these questions will help your employees identify those aspects of work that matter most to them. And their answers will also help you match their needs to the opportunities in your workplace.

Analyze the Gaps

If your employee wants a new challenge and has been stuck in a redundant, repetitive job for months, the gap is apparent. It’s not always that obvious, though. You’ll need to engage in real conversation to help your employees get very clear about the gaps.

In coaching Tom, for example, you’ll notice that his desire for autonomy seems to be well-satisfied, while there is room for improvement in the other two IJPs. In addition to discovering satisfaction gaps, many employees are reassured to find their jobs deliver just what they want in many areas.

Tom decided the biggest satisfaction gap for him is, just as it looks, in the work-life balance arena. In fact, he admitted that the lack of balance has had him wondering about his fit with this job. He said he’d love to brainstorm with his boss about ways to close the gap.

Close the Gaps

Once you’ve identified the satisfaction gaps with your employees, you’re ready to take the next and most important step. Team with them to create possible solutions to their dilemmas. Test drive a few. See what works and what doesn’t. Then try another.

Tom and his boss decided on two strategies to try immediately. The first was for Tom to delegate more of his administrative work to his assistant so that he could leave work earlier at night. The second was to declare “Blackberry-free”
weekends for one month. They scheduled a meeting in four weeks to assess these gap-closing methods and brainstorm others. Tom felt valued by his boss and supported in his efforts to move the needle on his own job satisfaction.

Coaching to close satisfaction gaps depends on a trusting relationship between you and your employees. If you have that, great! If you don’t, build it — now! Asking the questions in step one can get you off to a great start.

It sounds so simple, and of course it’s not. Humans are complex, and successful managing is part art and part science. Sometimes your most talented people must move on to be satisfied and successful. Often, though, moving out is not the answer. Talking it out is. Most employees can get exactly what they want, right where they are. You can help them do that.

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