When serious problems begin to appear in a company, the simplest thing is to blame the workers for all the evils.
A terrible example of this can be when the employer discovers that his workers rob him. We are not going from here to deny the part of the fault that the employee capable of such an act of disloyalty has, which also constitutes a crime. But it will be more productive to focus on what the employer could have done to avoid situations like this. And that in turn will also help us to avoid them in the future.
Something goes wrong when
Although we do not want to see it, there are some signs that are alerting us that things are not going well in our company:
- Workers never volunteer for any task. Staff are frequently late, or leave early, or are absent without explanation. The breaks lengthen until they become an excuse to work less. There is an increase in overtime without an increase in production; that is, normal work is increasingly delayed. There are more and more complaints from workers about minor issues. There is a bad atmosphere among colleagues. The company regulations are not complied with.
If we see that several of these situations are continuing in our workplace, it is time to sound the alarms.
Selection of personnel
Investing in selecting the right staff for the needs of the company has proven to be one of the best employed resources. No one would think of hiring the first person who came to our office requesting a job as a product manager. We are clear that investing some time and money in a good selection will bring us long-term benefits.
Unfortunately, some employers are often not so clear-minded when it comes to filling positions that do not require special skills or knowledge. There are positions for which we think that “anyone is worth”. We must not forget that a chain is only as strong as the weakest of its links. Within a company, all jobs must be cared for and valued equally.
Sometimes a simple in-depth interview would be enough to discard that worker who does not know the meaning of what is foreign or who has a low sense of morality.
Another aspect to take into account when selecting our workers is the offer we make. If what we offer is a position with little or no prospects for the short term, we should not place someone with a burning desire to reach more and promote themselves quickly. We would only make him feel more demotivated every day with the work done.
If we want our worker to stay motivated we must try to adjust the job to their abilities or level of knowledge. Sinning by excess is as harmful as it is by default. In other words, a position that far exceeds the capabilities of our worker is as bad as a worker that far exceeds the requirements of the position.
Let us remember that savings when hiring our staff can end up paying dearly.
Salary policy
Some companies, when they must save costs, or when they simply want to magnify the benefits, are often tempted to pass this change on the wages of the workers. Without realizing that, as the saying goes, it is bread for today and hunger for tomorrow. When employees are considered underpaid, this is directly reflected in productivity. Salaries must be fair, not necessarily high, as there are other ways to motivate staff. But they must be worthy and proportional to the effort made and the demands of the position.
It is more likely that, if our worker feels mistreated by the company, they will fall into the temptation to betray it than if they feel respected as a person and recognize that their position and the work they perform in it are valued.
In many studies on the work environment carried out in companies, the same conclusion is reached: money is not the only thing that motivates us to stay in a job and links us to it. In fact, emotional aspects such as those we have mentioned above (feeling respected and treated fairly) carry more weight when deciding on one or another job.
These are values that every company should take care of. In business policy, what we collect from what we sow is also fulfilled and if we maintain a policy of respect for our workers, there is a greater chance that our workers will feel respect for the company.
Even doing things well as entrepreneurs, we can never be 100% sure that we have prevented our workforce from having someone who loves illegality, or someone else's property. But the more impediments we put to them to access our company, the safer we can be from having gotten rid of them.
