IS YOUR WORK ENVIRONMENT FRIENDLY?

Kiden left work that evening – her eyes were soaring out and she was looking frazzled. She looked like she had swallowed 2KGs of razors and now looking for a convenient environment to concentrate in order to digest the swallowed content. She didn’t say anything to anyone when she entered. Not even cuddling with her teddy bear that’s lying miserably on her well tidy bed, nor did join the rest of the family members for the six o’clock tea. She was on her phone. Probably, that’s the solace she found to create the Whats’App group; rather, her tired friends who did not like how the boss was harassing her often created the group. Kiden, that same evening, had been writing sad statuses on her Whats’App’s daily story. Which, to most people with her number, knew that something must have gone wrong because Kiden is always Kiden and Kiden is always the brand ambassador of happiness.

Though she was afraid to tell her mother and brother that she wanted to quit her job, Kiden had already got tired of working with her boss, a lady; Mrs. Rebecca, whom they have been working for three years now. So she was going to do it, anyway, without telling anyone and maybe when the right time comes, she will break the pot to her mother. That night, she remained in her dark mental closet; where she dressed herself free to express her feeling and that’s when she called it quit. When she came back to reality, she wrote a resignation email in the middle of the night. It’s a risk but, to her, it worth taking. And this brings us to a question. Is your working environment friendly?

Do you ever sit and wonder what your employees or workmates look at you? Like supposed you’re to work or you invincibly have a desk in one of their offices, would you be proud of what they’re telling each other about you? These questions don’t just go straight to the bosses’ desks, no matter how much they might be blamed, but also everyone in your working premises. Do you think you would be proud of yourself if you ever hear what people say about you?

“Customers will never love a company until employees love it first ” ~ Simon Sinek once wrote about it in one of his popular writings. Now you, you’re a customer internally, within your company and we are here to buy your characters. If you leave that company today, and maybe, there is one or two things that need your expertise; can you stand a chance to be recommended by us, without injecting in your feelings?

What we’re too lenient to see is that; we’re all marketers by nature. Marketing, in this model, won’t just be about finding the right buyer for the product that’s available in our hand, but the ability to display our good traits so that we get that love and support from our line managers and our colleagues from the team play prime roles in our daily business dealings. Meaning that, everything and we’re not saying shall hold you accountable for petty things like how you sip your coffee, which don’t really matters to us, at all but rewarding you when it’s your due. Let’s say, this is the tutorial of your CRM (customer relationship management) classes.

Another thing is how bad it sound when the boss has notorious employees: one, they gossip about you when you’re not around or in a serious meeting with some visitors. Whether you like it or not, they will do that. Two, you will be nicknamed, whether by how you sip your coffee, chew your food, or how you walk in the corridors. Worse, if you’re a lady in heels. And third, workers sometimes develop some reluctance attitude. That mean they will only do work just for the sake of completion and not because that’s up to their standards. It’s bad, right?

A good employee or a boss would always be remembered. My friend, Chol, (we called him Giroud because he is a committed and an ever disappointed Arsenal fan), recently wanted to resign from his job and seek other fresh pastures. When he approached (though he love his job) his boss and explained what he feels is not in place or what he should be improved on his working parameters, the boss understood him and promised him to put it into consideration. Chol is working now comfortably. If he had any other reason of not gaining more weights, then his job is not part of it anymore.

When employees open up, not with bad intentions, but good ones, then there is always a room for growth. An employer that’s feared by the employees is a bureaucrat manager and the problem of that leadership style is how it denies employees the chance to be creative and innovative.  

The truth of the matter is still the same; in an environment where workers don’t open up to management and express their feelings may results into many other things, including not giving definite customer satisfaction or going around telling their best friends and friends of friends things like low payment, toxic environment among other things, they might even make up the stories just to hurt your company’s reputation. We said employees are the best first customers that an organization must serve in order to approach the public appropriately. Employees must be motivated in so many ways, not necessarily through monetary means. Meaning, a pat on the shoulder, standing with them when they’re unable so that you give them morale support, rewarding them when they do well in training or awarding them scholarships to go for studies is also part of being a better society.

Now, here is the thing, the old narrative that bosses are always right should find a space on your shelf. Like it won’t work like that anymore. A technical person who knows how to place good functional Search Engine Optimization (SEO) need a full concentration and maybe he or she should not be pestered around here and there. This person might quit his or her job in your company today and start his or her small-scale business or join your competitor. Learn to understand your employees better; they’re the first people to decide the future of your company, what to bring in and how best they can take the company to realizes the intended goal.

Engage your internal marketers with workshops, appreciate when they win, encourage them when they don’t make it on time and reward them when necessary. Make your hands dirty when they’re handling some huge tasks to show that you’re always there for them. You might know it all but no car that moves without a fuel in it. Employees like Kiden and the rest are the one to do the company greasing, lubrication and fueling it to run smoothly every day and night. Now, as an employee, is your working environment toxic or friendly?