Editor’s Note: This post is part of the series “Workplace Morale,” a weeklong effort co-hosted by Switch & Shift and the folks at SmartBrief’s SmartBlog on Leadership.
How are your colleagues and team members feeling about their work? When is the last time you took the time to find out – and to do something about it if the answer was “Not so great”?
Daniel Parent, director of field human resources at video game retailer GameStop, is one of those rare, enlightened leaders who does just that. He has a clever way of finding out how his employees are feeling about their work – he asks them. Regularly. And then he makes every effort to address their concerns so they can be happy at work.
Daniel has learned over the years that simply asking that question and showing that he cares about them makes his employees feel supported. Furthermore, he learns what their real issues are so he can provide them with meaningful direction.
By knowing what motivates his team, he can help boost their performanceand their satisfaction on the job. His questioning also serves as an early warning system, allowing him to head off issues before they become intractable problems. Take Jennifer, for example. She so desperately wanted to be a good employee that she struggled in her new role as a working mother. Daniel recalled his conversation with her shortly after she returned to work from her maternity leave as one of the most poignant he’d ever had. When he asked Jennifer how happy she was at work, she confessed that trying to juggle both roles left her feeling like she wasn’t a good person.