Question: Organizations: Create Moments That Matter to Employees

In the past, employers might have shied away from discussing some more personal subjects with employees like health, family, or finances. And we all know the reasons why. Because we don’t want our biases to negatively impact our relationship with the employee. So, we’ve adopted the policy of work is work and home is home and the two shall never meet. The less we know, the better.

However, if the past couple of months have taught us anything, it’s that our work and personal lives are very intertwined. During last year’s SuccessFactors conference in London, one of the themes that speakers talked about was that organizations need to provide moments that matter to employees. The five areas that those moments should cover are (in alpha order):

  1. Family. I must admit that when I decided to alphabetize the list, I’m glad this was first. Whether we’re talking about an employee’s biologically connected family or the group of people who help the employee when they need it, we all have people that are important to us. Organizations need to realize it.

  2. Financial. Not going to lie, money is important. Employees want to feel they are paid fairly for the work they do. They want competitive benefits. Employees also want to work for organizations that think about their future in terms of retirement and offer opportunities for saving. 

  3. Career. In addition to money, employees want to work for organizations that invest in their career. It could be by offering training programs. Or through mentoring. And even by receiving feedback from their manager and coworkers about their performance. 

  4. Health. Organizations want employees to be healthy. It allows them to do their best work. As a result, organizations need to create wellness and wellbeing programs that encourage employees to be healthy and give them a way to seek the proper attention when they’re not.

  5. Time. While our work and personal lives are very interconnected, it’s important to realize that we need moments when we can shift the balance. There will be times when we’re asked to make work the priority. Employees also want moments when their personal lives are the priority...