A Happy Employee Is A Good Employee...As Long As They Don’t Turn Bad!

By: Lisa Pinkard, VP of HR and Our Resident Happy Employee Guru

I recently read an awesome article on how important it is to have happy employees. While I agree with this idea, I think it is also important to know that you have to keep them happy! There is nothing worse than a happy employee gone bad. Just think about all the problems the post office has had with this one…happy employee suddenly going postal? Just kidding…going postal doesn’t happen suddenly, it slowly sneaks up on you.

Let me paint the picture for you. You hire Sally, it is a bright sunny day, all is good on the farm, and you have a productive, efficient, effective and happy employee. Then one day Sally comes to you (By the way... you're her manager – welcome to the circus) and asks you for some time to talk about her performance. You, like most mangers, hate to do performance reviews, let alone take an hour out of your day to pat people on the back. So, you put her off.

Then Sally notices that she is the only employee staying late, putting in time on her days off and working her fingers to the bone. She also sees that her manger is not setting clear expectations, nor is she receiving acknowledgment for a job well done. Sally’s work environment has become dull and unfulfilling. Her co-workers are no longer communicating amongst each other, nor are they bothering to service their customers. Can this picture get any more grim?

The answer is "yes". To add insult to injury, her boss took all the paper towels out of the bathroom and installed hand dryers, this really pissed her off. No not only does she not like the company culture, but she has to deal with wet soggy hands and the sound of a 747 landing every time she goes to the restroom.

After 4 years of providing excellent service, open communication, long hours and a lot of shut up and put up, Sally decides to resign. She walks into her manager’s office and drops the bomb that she is leaving and is not giving notice.

This once happy employee that has all the right skills and abilities is walking out the door. We as managers and owners tend to focus on problem employees trying to make them work, rather than focusing in the happy productive employees that add value to the company. So, the lesson learned here is to hire happy employees and make it a priority to keep them happy!

To learn some great tips for keeping your employees happy please contact your Emplicity HR Consultant at 877.HR.MADEZ (476.2339) ext. 6