Team Partners Telecommunications

Happy staff means happy customers

Posted on Feb 23, 2023

Last month this blog highlighted the difference between sympathy and empathy and went on to suggest that, at a time of universal belt tightening, having an empathetic understanding of one’s customers’ problems and needs would probably be a good way to go about maintaining or increasing sales. This month we’re changing the empathises, looking at how we can best help our own staff, knowing, as we should, that happy staff means happy customers.

What would you say that construction, nursery and restaurant workers have in common? Forgive us not waiting for an answer, but it’s this, they are amongst the professions that reportedly have the highest rates of suicide and depression. Who knew?

It’s at this point that many readers will turn off from this blog. These sorts of topics make us uncomfortable. They’re sad in themselves and provoke sadness in us. Few of us are able to read about them dispassionately because most of us know at least someone who has been affected by either one or other of these. Indeed, who amongst us can hand on heart say that we have never suffered from anxiety, let alone depression? We suggest that you’re brave if you do…in fact between 5 and 19% of all children and adolescents in the UK admit to anxiety; let me just repeat that…admit to anxiety, and it’s that admittance that is the crux of our message this month. Mental health problems, with anxieties being the most common symptoms, exist all around us and as responsible business people we should be amongst the leaders in acknowledging this and helping overcome it. The more open and ready to engage with anxiety (and other mental health issues) we are, the happier our people will be and the better our businesses.

(and other mental health issues)…in writing those words in the last paragraph we very nearly wrote “mental health problems”, evidence that we are ourselves guilty of the sort of negative thinking that causes us to distance ourselves from something that might not be touching us personally. We can’t do that anymore. In the same way that Covid became something that none of us could ignore and went on to become something that changed all of our lives, so it will be with mental health and the sooner we engage and think of it as a new version of ‘normal’, the sooner we’ll cope and overcome it.

So, as business owners, what can we do? The first thing is to normalise conversation about feelings and emotions. Brits are notorious for concealing their feelings  as if they are somehow unhealthy, whatever they are. We have to learn to ask people how they are and not let them get away with telling us that they’re “Fine” or “Good”. Spending time with those you work with and getting them to tell you about themselves and their home life, in fact just getting to know them, will repay every moment you put into it. Many people just need to be listened to, many just need to know that someone cares, and if that someone is the boss, then much the better. Anxiety is always fear based and most people’s fears arise from either home or work. If you can remain one, or several, steps ahead of your staff’s work-based worry, and show a constructive interest in what’s going on at home, you’ll have a team that will always go the extra mile for you.