By Sweta Srivastava

Every individual has certain goals which they want to achieve in their career and personal life. It is no doubt that when we are more focused, energised and appreciated we are more productive and give our best at work. Employee development and training are one of the most valued benefits for employees these days. It is valued by them more than monetary rewards. And, retaining the best employees and sustaining their interest in the company is the biggest challenge for HR managers. However, the responsibility of keeping employees motivated and engaged does not just limit to the domain of HR, but to, all the departments.

The dilemma, that is often faced by managers and leaders, is how to identify their employees’ needs and aspirations and make them feel motivated and satisfied. It is a huge responsibility to ensure that people working for them do not feel stagnant and unhappy at work. Identifying employee goals is as important for an organisation, as achieving profits. It will, not only, encourage them to bring creativity and innovation to their team but also, will add value to the team.

Here are few points that managers can consider to understand the needs of their employees better.

Communication:

It happens often, when managers presume that the employees are happy with what they are doing and it is something they really want to do just because they are good at it. However, it may not be the case. The key questions, which as a manager you need to ask your employees are what they want from their career, what are they passionate about, what interests them, and most importantly, what they expect from their employer?

Constant Feedback:

Discussing with employees through feedbacks and meetings can be meaningless if not done frequently. Individual needs keep changing from time to time, depending on their social scenario and priorities. Feedbacks should never be in the form of close-ended questions with simple yes or no answers. A more open discussion, with open-ended questions will help you understand better what your employees value or what they expect from the company and how you can facilitate their growth and development at work. All these answers can, not only, be helpful in aligning company’s goals with theirs, but also, in engaging them and sustaining their engagement in to the company.

Appreciation:

We need to understand that transactional or monetary factors can never be enough to motivate and engage employees nor it can provide them job satisfaction.Their emotional needs are to be considered as well. They need to feel secure and appreciated at work. We all work harder and are more satisfied when we love the work we do. It provides a sense of happiness and security at workplace. Work is done faster and quality of work is higher when we are contented with what we do.

Sense of Achievement:

Employees need to feel that they are achieving something at personal level too whilst achieving company’s objectives. It will make them more enthusiastic about their job and improve their skills and creativity, eventually, improving their productivity and performance.This can, further, help the organisations in creating a more positive and less stressful workplace environment.

There is a positive correlation between employee engagement and profitability. And adding their needs in the list of company’s objectives can certainly help you achieve it. Therefore, do not plan your people strategy, based solely on monetary compensations and benefits as there are many more factors that trigger employees’ interest.