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Compensation And Benefits Still Matter
Improve Employee Productivity, Efficiency Through Engagement
BY Nick Bullock
Servicon Systems, Inc. employees play bocce ball at the company鈥檚 bocce court Photo courtesy of Servicon Systems, Inc.
Do You Have A Great Team At Your Facility in Painted Post, NY, 14870
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Sewell鈥檚 approach to employee engagement is a little different. Servicon doesn鈥檛 have an employee engagement program, per se, but rather a company philosophy that breeds loyalty and creates what she calls 鈥渘et promoters鈥� 鈥� employees who are happy enough with their jobs that they advocate for the company in front of customers and potential employees.
Creating this culture starts with training supervisors to better interact with frontline workers and be flexible to their personal needs. To ensure these practices, Servicon has a supervisor certification program that teaches situational leadership, conflict management, positive discipline, performance improvement and respectful communication.
Once supervisors are properly trained, other aspects of creating a culture of employee engagement begin to fall into place: providing employees with the proper tools to do their jobs; providing appropriate training and continuing development for frontline cleaners; and, often overlooked, creating an environment that fosters positive peer-to-peer interaction.
鈥淏y and large, if they like the person they work directly for and they feel valued, if they enjoy their coworkers, if they have the tools, equipment and the training to do the job 鈥� those are usually the keys to an engaged workforce,鈥� she says.
It鈥檚 also important to remember, says Sewell, that all workers have a hierarchy of needs. That鈥檚 also human nature.
鈥淵ou鈥檝e got some people so worried that maybe there鈥檚 an illness in the family or significant things going on in their personal life, or they鈥檙e worried about making their rent payment, things like that,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be hard for them, because the focus isn鈥檛 going to be there.鈥�
This is why Sewell was careful not to omit the value of more traditional worker benefits when citing Servicon鈥檚 success.
鈥淲e鈥檝e always had really low turnover relative to the industry, and that鈥檚 for a number of reasons,鈥� she says. 鈥淲e treat our people well. We鈥檙e a union employer, so the wages and benefits tend to be higher. We鈥檝e provided health benefits to our work force before it was a requirement in a lot of our areas.鈥�
In fact, in order to preserve a fair wage for its employees, Servicon even refuses to bid for jobs against competitors that pay minimum wage.
After all of these needs are met, says Sewell, then it鈥檚 time to add in the fun stuff: the potlucks, the company picnics with employees鈥� family members. Servicon even adopted an office dog, Laverne, after Sewell read an article about how dogs reduce stress in the workplace. (She says it works.)
But all of these extra things, she says, should be just that 鈥� extra.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a little like the dessert, if you will,鈥� says Sewell. 鈥淚t feels good and it鈥檚 great while you do it, but it鈥檚 not what鈥檚 going to be the underlying factor for you remaining engaged and happy.鈥�
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