Gone are the days when all that employees focused on was a decent salary from their organization. Instead, they spend most of their time in their workplace. Hence, they expect a better workspace environment where they feel comfortable and motivated. Your employees make your company, and to retain them, you have to ensure that these basic expectations of employees are met.
But, if you do not know what your employees expect out of you, how will you take care of those requirements?
How to set employee expectations
The goals of your company and the employees needs and expectations have to align well, and that is only possible if you allow both to relate well.
You need to be more attentive to your employees’ frequent challenges, things they require to be more productive, and what they expect from their managers.
Here are ten standard employee expectations examples that are mandatory in every organization:
Ten employee expectations from the company
Ownership of their tasks
As much as your employees require proper feedback from you, they want ownership of the tasks too. Therefore, train them to be accountable for their tasks, even if the outcome is not good enough.
This is also known as employee empowerment. This will instill a sense of leadership within them as well. But remember that this will only be effective if you assure your employees that you have their back even if they fail on a particular task.
Growth opportunities
It goes without saying that every employee expects growth in the organization they are working in both in terms of monetary value and the position of responsibility.
Every employee wants to learn and get hands-on experience in their fields. Passing on the expertise is in your hands as a manager. You need to offer practical learning and development opportunities to them and make sure that they have the freedom to pursue their interests. Utilizing startup tools can enhance this process, providing innovative solutions that support employee growth and engagement.
Meaningful communication and engagement
Especially if you are in a remote company, you need to offer the best engagement practices for your employees. Your employees need to be able to communicate with their colleagues without any hesitation. Yes, it takes time to break the ice, but that is where engagement tools help out.
Take care of their well-being
An organization has to take care of it all, whether physical fitness, mental well-being, or often even their family’s well-being.
If you think these kinds of employee expectations are too much, let’s see how this can benefit you. It is proven that better mental health support in the workplace can save UK businesses up to £8 billion per year. Hence, if you focus on these factors, you automatically ensure high-performing teams and employee collaboration. When the well-being of your employees is prioritized, their productivity is higher.
Employee Recognition
Recognizing employees is one of the key ingredients of a healthy workspace. Without recognition for their tasks, employees will not have the motivation to ensure the best performance and outstanding quality of work. The employees need to feel valued within their organization- they need to feel like an important part of it.
Work-life balance
Without effective work-life balance, it will be difficult for employees to sustain themselves in the given workspace. And the easier option might be to instead leave. Hence, if you want to retain your employees, ensure that they know that work is not what should be in their schedule 24*7. Acknowledge that you understand their priorities and personal life as well.
Promoting work-life balance is crucial in guiding staff towards their ikigai, safeguarding against exhaustion. By valuing their time both inside and outside work, employees can discover joy in every moment, boosting their productivity and commitment. This not only improves their well-being but also deepens their engagement with work as a meaningful part of life.
This employee expectation often becomes twisted, especially among freshers who just entered the corporate world. They are willing to work every hour of the day in organizations that pioneer the “hustle culture.” In this case, you need to ensure that your employees are made aware that it is unhealthy and will eventually lead to burnout and lack of productivity.
Encourage them to take time-offs from work.
Enough organizational transparency/honesty
Let’s say you work in an organization where you are not provided with the clarity of either your or the organization’s goals. You do not know how your tasks are contributing to organizational growth and success. Will you be able to work in such an organization? No, right?
This is exactly what your employees might face if you do not offer that transparency and honesty to them. There should be a clarity between the value each employee’s role holds within the organization business plan. It is only then that the employees can work in harmony. In addition, organizational transparency extends to areas like finance and documentation. For instance, ensuring that freelancers have access to the right tools, like freelancer invoice receipt templates, can simplify financial processes and keep everyone aligned with company practices. Similarly, businesses that deal with cash transactions should maintain clear financial records using a cash invoice receipt template to ensure accuracy and accountability.
Regular feedback
There is no way an employee can improve their performance until he is given effective and regular feedback.
You, as a manager, need to keep scheduling regular 1v1s with them, give them regular feedback on how they can improve each task as well as their overall performance, and have meaningful communication. They need to assure the employees that they can come to you with any sort of guidance.
A safe space for failure
Feedback is necessary, but accepting that a task might have not given the desired outcome is more important. An employee goes through a lot of phases from learning, implementing, to finally gaining the expertise.
Until they pass each phase individually, they expect the required time, ownership, and guidance from the organization.
Avoid micromanaging
The biggest thing that drives an employee off is micromanagement. If a manager tends to interfere in every single task of the employee, track their schedule, and does not allow any creativity from their side- all these actions add up to micromanaging.
Hence, it is important to ensure that no organization pursues these practices in order to get the job done.
Ensure these employee expectations in the workplace and you will definitely build a healthy, productive workplace.
FAQ
What are the 7 expectations of employees from management?
Here is an employee expectation list:
- Good workplace culture
- Meaningful communication
- A path towards growth
- Recognition
- Work-life balance
- Zero micromanagement
- Transparency
What are the expectations of both employer and employees?
We already mentioned what employees expect from their organization. Now, here are a few things which an employer might expect as well:
- Have a positive outlook
- Reliability
- Basic hygiene like punctuality
- An urge to learn and grow
- Meaning communication
What do you expect from your team members?
We talked about employers and employees both. Now we need to focus on the expectations from team members. When working in a team, an employee expects their teammates to be more cooperative and fully updated.
Apart from that, an engaging nature towards each other is a cherry on the top.
What is most important to an employee?
Overall employee well-being with special focus on healthcare benefits is highly looked upon when candidates search for a job.
According to a study,
- 58% of companies offer health benefits making it the most common of all perks.
- 91% of Gen Z think companies should have mental health benefits.
- 83% of companies are looking to increase their wellness benefits in the future.
