Why do some folks love working for certain companies?
Is it the beautiful office?
The lavish perks?
A generous vacation bonus?
We all know there’s more to it than that.
What matters most is the leadership style and the culture that develops as a result.
A significant realization has developed over the past decade: organizations with happier workers do better financially.
These workers have a “fantastic place to work” because they enjoy their employment, believe there is room for advancement, and respect their superiors.
According to data compiled by Glassdoor, businesses that invest in a motivated and inspired workforce often see a positive return on their initial capital outlay.
If you’d like to follow suit, let’s investigate why it would be beneficial to treat your employees like valued family members.
Then we’ll enumerate how you can go about doing so.
Let’s get started.
How It Pays To Treat Employees Like Valued Family Members
Family members want the best for each other.
Salesforce’s mission is to help humanity build a better tomorrow.
This cloud-based software business, co-founded by Marc Benioff in 1999, has experienced meteoric growth and has become the dominant CRM platform in the world.
Employees and clients alike are warmly welcomed into the Salesforce family.
Benioff has designated the “Ohana” floor (“family” in Hawaiian) of the San Francisco office as a space for employees to relax and get to know one another.
In keeping with Benioff’s dedication to its extended work family — the communities in which it operates — the Ohana floor is also available to nonprofits on weeknights and weekends.
Almost from its inception, Salesforce has followed the 1-1-1 model, which sees 1% of the company’s ownership, 1% of its product, and 1% of its employees’ time donated to local nonprofits.
People gain a greater feeling of meaning and fulfillment from volunteering.
This is why companies should encourage their employees to donate at least 1% of their time to charitable causes.
Benioff said this is one of the main reasons why Salesforce has such happy workers.
It humanizes the worker’s role.
Having employees who don’t feel appreciated and inspired at work will have a negative impact on productivity and loyalty.
It will also take a toll on their personal lives.
Lack of leadership support can make workers disengaged from their tasks.
Employees feel demoralized and underappreciated since they aren’t given enough opportunities to learn and grow in their roles.
When you invest in your team, a family-like atmosphere develops.
Dedicating some time to discussing their ideas shows that you value their input and are curious about how best to put their skills to use.
When you keep in constant communication with your staff, it will boost morale.
Your interest in them and concern for their well-being shine through.
It fosters positive family culture.
If workers aren’t clear on the company’s goals, they may get disillusioned.
Lack of familiarity with company norms can have an adverse effect on employees’ motivation.
Employees who have a bad attitude or don’t do their jobs properly may stand out to you.
There’s a chance they’ll start to feel disoriented and uncertain about where the business is headed.
They will be looking to you for direction as a leader.
The confidence of your team will increase when they see that you respect them as individuals and are willing to listen to and consider their points of view.
By doing this, you’re sending a message to your employees that they should share in the company’s vision and its fundamental concerns.
You’ll all be running in the same direction.
In the same way that every family has its own dynamic and set of norms for how they operate together, your team has its own framework and ways of working together.
People in the workplace can feel alienated if they aren’t allowed to express who they really are.
When given a forum for expression at work, employees feel valued and heard.
At the next meeting, maybe everyone can share a story about their weekend or what they have planned for the near future.
You may let your staff put up decorations to make their office feel more like home.
When everyone on the team is working toward the same objective with an open mind, it creates an atmosphere of togetherness.
It encourages fresh ideas.
Tensions can arise within a family when members have wildly different perspectives and methods for completing the same task.
The free flow of creativity is stifled by frustrations, disagreements, and politics.
Employees feel motivated to think creatively when given opportunities to interact in a variety of contexts.
Instead of dwelling on the disagreement, redirect thoughts to the shared goal by setting aside time during the workday for everyone to get together and discuss the latest developments.
You can use this meeting to emphasize the importance of everyone’s input and the value of their opinions.
Workers who feel muzzled into silence may internalize their frustrations and resentment.
The leader sets the tone for the team’s communication, which permeates the entire organization.
Related Reading: Are Entrepreneurs Risk Takers? Learn More Here
How To Treat Employees Like Valued Family Members
View your employees as people, not numbers.
Your staff members are not cogs in a machine or cells in a spreadsheet; they are human beings.
They are multifaceted individuals with many dimensions, including but not limited to their employment, relationships, and duties outside of it.
This idea was fully grasped by one of the most admired CEOs in the field of communications.
Xerox’s turnaround was masterminded by CEO Anne Mulcahy, who took the company from the brink of failure to a position of industry leadership.
The following comment of hers explains an important part of her philosophy:
“When workers have faith that their superiors care about them as people, not just workers, they tend to be happier, healthier, and more effective in their roles. Profitability depends on happy customers, who in turn depend on happy workers.”
Treat everybody with respect.
There isn’t a single person on any of our teams who doesn’t want and deserve to be treated with respect.
Even Albert Einstein said that “everyone should be recognized as an individual.”
He’s also famous for saying that he spoke to everyone the same way, whether it was a garbage man or the president of a university.
One of the truest kinds of respect is genuinely listening to what someone has to say.
When we pay attention to and value our staff members, they are more likely to want to collaborate for the sake of the business.
Instead of working out of a sense of duty, people now work together with a shared sense of pride in their accomplishments.
Provide protection.
As parents, we have a responsibility to shield our children from harm, both at home and in the outside world.
The same goes for a leader who cares about her team, as they will do what they can to shield them from workplace dangers.
I’m talking about extreme micromanagement, unjustifiable workloads, and unfavorable working conditions.
A leader that truly cares about his or her followers will also take steps to shield them from potential threats from the outside world, such as unfavorable economic conditions or unjust attempts to outsource.
Strike a balance between care and accountability.
By consistently demonstrating our concern for one another, we may create the kind of close-knit work environment we all yearn for.
We also need to treat our employees like members of our own family by holding them responsible for upholding our rules, values, and objectives.
When we show genuine concern for one another, those who work for us are more likely to accept responsibility and work with us to achieve their full potential.
Reward positive behavior.
Based on studies, we now have what is being called the “Greatest Management Principle in the World”: you get the behavior you reward.
Common sense dictates that people should be regularly and sincerely praised and rewarded for desirable actions.
Sadly, this is not a common practice in today’s work environments.
According to a Gallup survey of thousands of workers, 65% of respondents said they had gotten no such acknowledgment or praise in the previous year.
Set clear boundaries.
The more ambiguous a policy is, the more room there is for misinterpretation.
Make sure workers know what is expected of them during and outside of regular work hours.
Encourage your staff to take time off when they need it, and make it clear that you value their efforts.
Use shared calendars to keep track of vacation time and brainstorm new getaways as a group.
When this is emphasized throughout an employee’s time with your organization, they will feel more confident in using their voice to advocate for themselves.
Business leaders should set an example by taking time off themselves to relax and pursue personal interests.
If you set an example, your staff will be more likely to follow suit.
Related Reading: How To Run A Business Without Getting Divorced – Learn Here.
Final Thoughts On Treating Employees Like Family
It’s a win-win when employers show their appreciation for their staff by treating them like valued members of the family.
Staff morale, motivation, output, and loyalty all improve when workers are made to feel valued.
As a result, we’ll have better teams and a greater sense of personal achievement as business owners.
Just remember to set some boundaries. It will be better for everyone in the long run.
