Employee satisfaction - How to motivate and retain your employees

Employee satisfaction is an important parameter for motivating and retaining employees and is crucial for successful company management.

But what does employee satisfaction actually mean? And how can motivation be increased and employees retained by the company?


What is employee satisfaction and how is it measured?

Employee satisfaction is the attitude of employees towards their working environment.

A reciprocal internal process takes place here - a so-called target/actual comparison. The employee has certain expectations of their employer and always compares these with the actual situation.

There are various methods for companies to determine employee satisfaction. Direct measurements using employee surveys or 360-degree feedback provide information about possible deviations between the target and actual situation.

In an additional step, suggestions for improvement and ideas can be asked for.

Other important indicators for determining employee satisfaction are absenteeism, complaints, fluctuation rate, sickness rate and error rate. This indirect approach requires continuous examination of the data. The evaluation and interpretation of these figures is rather subjective and should therefore be used with caution.


Satisfaction is good, motivation is better: How to increase your employees' motivation

If employees are satisfied, there are three levels on which to strive for greater motivation:

• The first level is the material environment, e.g. workplace conditions or salary.

• Management style and cooperation belong to the second level, the psychological environment.

• The last level, the private environment, includes the compatibility of professional and private interests.

The following tips will show you how you can reach your employees on the different levels and thus promote motivation:

#1 Stronger together: Team events strengthen cohesion and improve communication between colleagues. This has a positive effect on everyday working life and employee performance.

#2 Transparency: Make transparent decisions and communicate them openly. Regular meetings with all team members pick up on each individual, reduce misunderstandings and prevent frustration.

# 3 Allow mistakes: A culture of error encourages creativity and the courage to innovate, especially with the complex problems of today's working world.

# 4 The work-life balance makes the difference: Flexible working hours, home office, remote work and other options give freedom to think and act and make it easier to combine job, free time and family.

# 5 Appreciation: Appreciate your employees' commitment to the company. Through individual reward systems, such as bonus payments or premiums, you create incentives for individual goal setting.


Employee retention: How you can keep satisfied and motivated employees

Retaining satisfied and motivated employees is essential for the company's success. A strong bond between the company and its employees has many advantages for the company. Increased productivity, a willingness to work harder and show more initiative, and reduced absenteeism are just some of them.

However, further measures are required to build a sustainable employee-company relationship and a good working atmosphere. The following points help to retain employees:

• Invest in employee leadership.

• Encourage independent work.

• Conduct regular feedback meetings.

• Offer workplaces with modern equipment.

• Create further training opportunities for your employees.

• Provide challenging working conditions and meaningful work.

The success of a company stands and falls with the satisfaction of its employees. It is therefore particularly important to review the well-being of employees at regular intervals and to react appropriately in the event of negative feedback.

At Trenkwalder, we regularly look at the satisfaction of our employees, attach great importance to their feedback and ideas and work continuously to improve it.

Interested in finding out more? Then stay tuned!