Does it really matter if an employee is happy when they show up to work? They showed up on time, the work is being performed at a mostly satisfactory level, they are taking the scheduled breaks and leaving when the work is done or the shift is over. That’s enough, right?

Wrong. Employee morale impacts every aspect of your business. Distracted and unhappy employees are more likely to cut corners to perform the minimum to get the job done. Attitudes are contagious, whether the unhappiness or grumpy attitudes are being spread to other employees – or your customers – unhappy employees are a problem. So how can we make our companies a place that employees come in with joy to share with everyone they interact with? It’s simple, invest in your staff with compassion and open dialogue to reap rewards.

We don’t know what we don’t know and if you aren’t having open and honest dialogue with your employees about what makes them happy at work, chances are you are missing an opportunity to create engaged, happy employees. By engaging with your crew, you are bringing them into the conversation around what is important to them from a workplace. Sometimes small changes can have major outcomes that leadership can miss without that open conversation. By investing in your employees’ overall happiness, you will see returns through improved relationships and communications with your external customers and your internal customers (other departments and staff). Could something as simple and small as providing a coffee machine for your crew to stay amped up impact your overall employee happiness? If you don’t know, you can ask!

Compassion is underrated by many employers, and by society in general. Humans can’t just leave their emotions at home or the door when they walk into work, no matter how great they are at compartmentalization. When you are in pain (emotional or physical), you carry that with you. Emotions live in your hands as you write a work order or turn a wrench, the tension is there. Life’s struggles are in your face as you engage with a customer that is stressed about their boat not working or unsure about the part they need. Creating space in your dealership for people to experience their humanity and emotions can have minor disruptions to a short period of time, yet not addressing a pain point for one of your staff when it is happening can turn the current problem into an enduring problem.

“The way your employees feel is the way your customers will feel. And if your employees don’t feel valued, neither will your customers.” says Sybil F. Stershic, author of Taking Care of the People Who Matter Most: A Guide to Employee-Customer Care. By making your employees feel as important as the customers, you will see the customer service experience improve. When I enter the marketplace as a customer, I can usually tell which companies are invested in their employee through the way I am treated while at their business. If the service staff treats me like I am an old friend (even if it is my first time at the establishment), I walk away feeling that the leadership and owners care about their business and all their stakeholders equally. That is what drives my loyalty, spending my dollars at companies who care about their crew.

Why does this matter now, when the marine industry is in the busiest time of the year? This is when you have the most interaction with your customers and leaders need to find time and energy to ensure employees are happily engaged to “infect” your customers with happiness while at your dealership. The sales could happen due to the demand for summer fun on the water, however, will the customer be loyal and return to you for service and storage if their sales experience was lackluster and flat? Maybe. If the customer service experience exceeds their expectations because the employee was excited to serve the customer, that is where loyalty is created.

If you’re still reading, by now you may be wondering, “what can I do to foster employee happiness and engagement at my company?” Great question and good news, MRAA and the MICD program have designed the template for engaging your staff to inform leadership on how to shape a meaningful workplace for your crew. Interested in learning more, contact Nikki at MRAA.