Nearly every company has faced unprecedented challenges during the COVID-19 crisis. Established processes and procedures were changed or suspended overnight. This also has an impact on the people working within a company. What effects has over a year of pandemic-related exceptional circumstances had on employee satisfaction within companies? In the interview, Anjana Ahnfeldt reveals what companies need to focus on now to retain their top performers and how this can be achieved.
Anjana, at last week’s persolog Trainer Day, I attended a workshop on “Recognizing Employee Satisfaction,” and I found your statement particularly intriguing, emphasizing that organizations need to refocus on employee satisfaction now.
Anjana: Absolutely. The organizations that have struggled through the pandemic in recent months, those that have survived and can now hope to have weathered the crisis, have quickly realized what the market needs and have demonstrated their resilience and willingness to change. Now it’s time to once again focus on the long term. And this is where the employee needs to be brought back into focus.
What do you mean by that exactly?
Anjana: While organizations rightly focused on short-term solutions to secure their revenue, many organizations neglected their employees. Processes built over years were suddenly abandoned. Decisions were made more quickly—employees couldn’t always be adequately involved.
Did organizations fail in properly leading their employees?
Anjana: No, it’s not fair to say that across the board. I know many organizations that have done great things for their employees in recent months. This ranges from ergonomic office chairs for home offices to regular updates via digital communication channels to team events with VR glasses or virtual wine tastings.
And the differences between organizations in how they treat their employees only become relevant—hopefully—at the end of the pandemic?
Usually, it’s always the case that top performers have the choice of which organizations they want to work for. If these top performers do not perceive that their individual values, motives, and needs are being met within the organization when the market stabilizes again, then the organization will not be able to retain them. So, it’s precisely the values, motives, and needs of their employees that organizations need to focus on more strongly again.
Why specifically values, motives, and needs?
The persolog® EnergyFactor model actually makes the connection quite clear: values, motives, and needs together form so-called energy factors. If my values, motives, and needs are adequately met, this gives me energy. In return, I lose a tremendous amount of strength and energy if I have to act against my personal values, motives, and needs.
Do you have an example?
Anjana: Suppose I place a great deal of importance on there being a strong sense of community within the organization. But if over the past few months, selfish behavior has been encouraged because there was a lack of interaction and each individual had to prove themselves to avoid possible dismissal, then I lose energy in precisely that work atmosphere.
Or another example: If I normally enjoy thinking analytically, thinking in visions, and being able to make strategic decisions within my area of responsibility, and if this is also a strong need of mine, then I lose energy in a work environment where decisions are now made dictatorially and my voice is no longer heard. The problem with this: loss of strength, loss of energy, lack of satisfaction of values, motives, and needs—this leads to dissatisfaction.
So, if an organization fails in the long term to satisfy the values, motives, and needs of its employees, they will lose their top performers soon.
Anjana: That’s right. At least that’s how I would forecast it.
So, what can organizations do? Where should they start, or how can they recognize whether employee satisfaction still exists?
Anjana: Of course, organizations can now, for example, conduct individual discussions or develop large-scale surveys. However, in my opinion, with the persolog® EnergyFactor Organizational Profile, there is already the ideal tool to uncover where deficiencies exist. So, where the fulfillment of employees’ values, motives, and needs falls short. Employees fill out a questionnaire, and the organizational energy chart from the employee’s perspective is automatically created, and measures can be derived accordingly.
Does the model generally lend itself to recognizing employee satisfaction, or is it really limited to the pandemic?
Anjana: Not at all. On the contrary. Employee satisfaction is one of the key performance indicators for organizations. It must always be considered, and EnergyFactors is always suitable here. In the current times, it simply becomes more relevant to explore the possibilities of the model to uncover needs in a short amount of time and become actionable. To not only get through the crisis in the short term but also to be able to assert oneself in the market in the long term.
Thank you, Anjana, for the new thoughts and for pointing out this sore point in today’s world.
Anjana Ahnfeldt works as a trainer, is an expert in time management, and is a product developer for the persolog® EnergyFactor model.
