5 steps to keep your workforce happy (and retain them for the long term)

A workforce that genuinely feels well supported invariably has higher productivity and better mental wellbeing, writes Cathy Doyle.

The COVID-19 pandemic changed workplaces fundamentally, forcing us indoors and into a new world of remote work. Many businesses continue to embrace hybrid working, but now, several years post-pandemic, the sands are shifting again.

Earlier in August, the NSW government stipulated that government sector employees should work principally in an approved office, workplace, or related work site, with mandatory attendance required for those in executive agencies.

While this may be a logical step for government agencies, every individual workplace will have its own guidelines for where staff can work. Whatever arrangement your workplace chooses, one indisputable fact is that happy and motivated employees are those who feel their employer understands them and has their best interests at heart.

This means looking after both their physical and mental wellbeing. Recent studies suggest that doing this today is essential for businesses that want to retain and attract high-performing staff.

Mental health is now becoming a flashpoint for Australian companies. A study of over 2,000 Australians released by Sonder in May this year revealed that 49 per cent of employees were experiencing feelings of burnout or exhaustion. Additionally, according to Sonder, 35 per cent had taken leave from work in the past year to deal with their mental health and wellbeing

Further data from Allianz Insurance revealed the cost to businesses in terms of lost productivity, with circa 155,000 Australian employers losing more than 655,000 days of work due to mental health issues.

To combat this, we must ensure our people feel supported and have a manageable mental load. So here are five things we can collectively do to make employees feel valued and to cut down on the sense of overwhelm. And a caveat: as food for thought, I’m including a few initiatives we are undertaking that have made a difference.

1. Think family-friendly

It takes a village to raise a child, and supportive employees are part of that village. Having a newborn is a wonderful thing, but it’s also no picnic. Couple this rapid adjustment to life with soaring costs of living, and any additional benefits you can give parents will really count. We offer a 26-week parental leave policy for all staff, male or female, meaning the responsibilities of new parents can be shared equitably. Giving new parents an above-average period of paid childcare leave is one way to let them know they are valued.

2. Flexible work that puts choices in employees’ hands

As a business that has staff in 11 separate global locations, it is inevitable some will be travelling between offices, often for considerable lengths of time. We, therefore, offer the option for staff to work internationally for up to 60 days, anywhere in the world. This gives employees a sense of freedom and shows that the business is happy to put its trust in people to do their best work, wherever they are. Other initiatives we offer, which are generally appreciated, include the ability to purchase additional annual leave, take community service leave (three days paid and five days unpaid), and make use of grandparents leave.

3. Listen to your staff

Since the acquisition of Symbio by Aussie Broadband in March, we have been focused on listening to all stakeholders within the business. For companies in a similar position, taking the time to hear and reassure staff is a key consideration, as it underlines your understanding of what is important to them. Throughout our own process, what we heard time and again was that flexibility in working arrangements was the most important consideration for employees. Having these conversations has been a strong driver of the initiatives we have put in place.

4. Where possible, strive for best in class

Our approach to paid parental leave, for example, matches the best on offer for large corporations. If your business can set itself apart from others in the category, it helps single it out as an employer of choice, in turn helping your procurement teams recruit the best staff.

5. Cultivate happy staff to drive strong results

Happy staff often will be willing to go the extra mile to look after their customers and clients. Symbio recently recorded a record Customer Effort Score of 6/7. This score is a customer experience metric assessed by Gartner that enables service organisations to account for the ease of customer interaction and resolution during a request. It might be a coincidence, but this figure has lifted commensurate with our focus on elevating the employee experiences within the business.

But the biggest takeaway I can leave you with is this. While our business involves a lot of code, cables, fibre optics and the cloud, it’s our human workforce that powers our success. Whatever industry you’re in, and however big your tech stack, if you look after your human capital, you’ll be all the more competitive for it.

Cathy Doyle is the chief experience officer at Symbio Global.