Why Should Managers Be Interested in Their Employee’s Attitudes?

As a manager, you have a lot on your plate. No matter the type of business you’re in, there are many moving parts to keep in order. Ultimately, the responsibility to make sure everything runs smoothly falls to you.

It can be easy to let seemingly non-essential tasks fall by the wayside with so much to keep track of. But paying consistent attention to some of these forgotten responsibilities can make or break a business.

One of the most common aspects of a company left unexamined? The attitudes of its employees.

The demeanor and thoughts of staff may seem to rank low in importance compared to other issues, like sales and marketing. Paying enough attention to employee attitudes has the massive potential to help your business. Here’s how.

Gain Insight from Other Perspectives

You aren’t on the ground floor day in and day out the same way your employees are. As a manager, much of your time is spent in the background. While you’re busy overseeing operations, your frontline staff experience a very different day-to-day routine than you do.

The more interest you show in the attitudes of your staff, the more likely you are to learn from their experience. If everyone is exhausted and grumpy at the end of a shift, this may be a sign that they need more frequent breaks or are understaffed. If employees constantly argue and don’t get along, designating time for team-building or conflict resolution may be a good idea.

Additionally, you may be able to gather ideas about how to improve service for customers through the experiences of your employees. The more you pay attention, the more insight you can gain from a shift in perspective.

Better Predict Employee Behavior

The more attention you give to employees’ attitudes, the better manager you can be. Understanding employees’ attitudes can be instrumental in predicting how they will behave in any given setting. That understanding can be a beneficial insight when scheduling, establishing job expectations, and considering staff members for promotions.

For example, if you observe employee attitudes while on the job, you may learn that specific individuals are friendlier and more productive when working with specific colleagues.

This can influence how you schedule staff members so that everyone gets along while on the clock. That camaraderie improves job satisfaction for employees and can positively boost the experiences customers have interacting with your staff.

Additionally, employee attitude is an essential factor to consider regarding someone’s growth within your organization. For instance, if someone is routinely distracted, sluggish, or starting conflicts while at work, they may not be the best candidate for promotion to a leadership role.

The more closely you observe, the easier it is to predict how a person will behave in the future.

Motivate Staff Effectively

Believe it or not, respect is an essential part of employee motivation. Studies have shown that employees that feel respected by company leadership were 55% more engaged in their work than those who did not feel respected by their bosses.

A big part of respect is seeing and trusting the experiences and knowledge of other people. If you show genuine interest in the attitudes and feelings of your staff, you are more likely to earn their respect. That alone can help keep staff motivated in their work.

It’s Good for Business

A study showed that employees who felt satisfied with senior leadership, compensation, and work/life balance at their place of work performed better. Respectively, this positively impacts overall business performance.

When a manager pays close attention to employees’ attitudes, they are more likely to notice if someone is unsatisfied with their job. It allows the manager to investigate any issues that may hinder that satisfaction, which can positively impact the company’s performance.

Additionally, if an employee feels heard and valued by their manager, they are more likely to feel satisfied with their job. This helps to promote loyalty to the company’s mission and increase staff retention in your organization.

Minimizing job turnover is an excellent way to save money and allows Human Resource professionals to focus on employee wellbeing instead of constantly scrambling to hire new staff.

Conclusion

It may seem like paying attention to employee attitudes is just too much to manage, on top of everything else.
But you can gain essential insights — and build trust and respect — by doing so. For individuals and your company as a whole, the payoff will be well worth the time.

When it comes time to hire a new employee, always trust ScoutLogic to be your background check expert.

Spend your time keeping your current employees happy; we’ll take care of helping check out whether your new candidates are a good fit.

Reach out today!

David Garcia

David Garcia is the co-founder and CEO of ScoutLogic. David is also a senior operating advisor for Norwest Venture Partners. David is a member of the boards of ScoutLogic, YipitData, and Supplier.io and was formerly on the boards of Infutor and Avetta. He has over 25 years of B2B commercial leadership experience in data & analytics companies.