We’ve known for some time that happy employees are good for the bottom line. The real challenge is taking that knowledge and putting it to work with practical tools and changes that make your team feel both valued and like their work has meaning.
Employee satisfaction goes beyond Friday donuts and jeans. Though those don’t hurt — as they can satisfy at least two (physical and emotional) of the four core needs uncovered by The Energy Project and Harvard Business Review in their survey focused on understanding happy employees.
Another survey we’ll pull into this conversation is Lenovo’s recent examination of how technology can build employee connections and productivity. When we meld the findings of these two surveys together, we get a nice roadmap of both the needs to meet for happier employees, and the technology that will get us there.
Happy employees use technology that meets their needs
As discovered in the first survey we mentioned, employee satisfaction and productivity improves even if you’re only satisfying one of their four core 
needs:
- 1. Mental
- 2. Spiritual
- 3. Physical
- 4. Emotional
Technology (done right) can easily satisfy mental and emotional needs for your employees.
Let’s look at one example. What percentage of your employees have kids? Lenovo’s survey found that 78% of working parents appreciated the emotional connection they enjoyed with their kids through technology. And 83% felt emotionally confident about their kids’ safety and security because of technology that allowed them to keep tabs on them.
Many employees like to use their phones and personal social media accounts to stay connected to their children (and homes) while at work, but this can be a huge time-waster. So as far as work policy goes, here’s a clever way to help them feel connected to their families without falling into the dark hole of endless scrolling.
Consider giving your employees your blessing to use an app like Life 360 or GeoZilla at work,
which will send them a simple notification when their children get home from school.
Boom! You’re satisfying an emotional need without condoning social media at work.
Foster co-worker connections through technology
Happy employees spend the same eight-plus hours at work every day as their dissatisfied counterparts, but one of the key differences is that the happy ones have better in-office relationships.
Consider this finding (last study, we promise!) from Pew Research Center: 78% of people use personal social media accounts to solve work-related problems, and build connections to co-workers! Social media, then, is another area where you can leverage technology your team is already using.
Take advantage of this by using your company’s LinkedIn page to create relevant groups, post articles, and congratulate employees on their achievements. Employees can use LinkedIn as a professional learning tool and networking platform to build better in-office connections.
This can satisfy core mental and emotional needs. The same study found that social media met a mental need by providing stress relief.
Connection (through technology) is everything
I’m sure you already noticed that connection is an overarching theme for happy employees. Sanctioning apps and accounts that connect your employees to their families and co-workers on a casual basis is a great step, but there’s another way you can use technology to build bridges.
If you don’t already, it’s time to start using a platform that allow instant communication, collaboration, and sharing of data via the cloud. Microsoft Teams and Slack are two great tools for this.
With either service your employees can bypass clogged email inboxes and tune in clearly to the channels and messages that are most relevant to their work. Plus, they’ll sidestep the hassles we used to experience back in the stone age — erm, I mean before we had instant cloud-based document sharing. These tools give you an instant productivity boost and satisfy acore mental need.
Let Varay make your team happy with IT support in San Antonio
If you’re in San Antonio or El Paso, Varay is here to help you create a secure work environment as you work in these new, connective technologies. We can help educate your employees on safe social media and internet use so their brain breaks won’t create areas of vulnerability for your business.
We also provide trusted IT support in San Antonio for organizations looking to upgrade their technologies to improve collaboration. If you’re ready to step your efficiency up to the next level, contact Varay and let’s talk about how Office 365 (with Teams) can meet several core needs for your happy employees.
Don’t waste time with outdated technology that does nothing to connect your team. Contact Varay today.
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