Enthusiasm, flow, freedom, passion, love, zest… the harmonious energy at a workplace can be described in many terms. It is wonderful to see that lately it has been widely acknowledged that degrees and grades are not the only things that matter when recruiting or educating employees. It is a well-known fact that a satisfied staff increases customer satisfaction more than any other factor. Air Asia's CEO Tony Fernandes regards employee satisfaction as the most important measure of any company’s success. Enthusiastic staff is indeed far more devoted and satisfied than a staff who just works to get their paycheck. In this blog post we will talk about what enthusiasm actually is and how it can become the most important factor in increasing your company's customer satisfaction! Why is enthusiasm at your workplace important for your company?
Imagine these two different companies: in company A, the staff is bored with what they do, they don’t find the company’s vision important and they only work in order to get their paycheck.
In company B, on the other hand, the staff is super enthusiastic about the company’s vision. The future seems bright and all doors are open. The whole team is working wholeheartedly and thinks about how to do everything in an even better and smarter way. You can feel their zest and strong belief in their future.
This enthusiastic staff is far more willing to give their best at work than people who just work to get things done. They feel good and proud about going the extra mile, challenging themselves and putting all stakes in. Enthusiastic people feel that giving 110% to everything they do enables them to improve and do things in a smooth and nice state of flow.
What inspires your employees?
Everything is about people – us, the individuals. Everyone needs to get personally inspired. Having a clear, common dream and purpose that every employee can identify with is the best way to motivate. Enthusiasm requires courage, even child-like energy, to keep your eyes on your goal and do all you can to achieve it.
This is exactly how you should see your staff: as individuals and, first of all, human beings. As a leader, your task is to inspire and encourage positive attitude rather than to be a mere supervisor.
Why should you measure enthusiasm?
What you can’t measure, you can’t lead! This well-known fact also applies to enthusiasm. If you want to see enthusiasm as one of your goals, you also need to decide how you will measure it.
One main reason to measure enthusiasm is that is inspires the whole staff to rethink their level of enthusiasm. When the staff’s focus is on enthusiasm and on how to increase it, the level will increase for sure. Soon the whole staff will start to think new ways to strengthen their enthusiasm together.
How can you measure enthusiasm?
The goal of an enthusiasm survey should focus on these questions:
- Measuring the present state of enthusiasm
- Understanding the factors effecting enthusiasm and prioritizing these factors
- Increasing enthusiasm and passion at the workplace
Measuring enthusiasm should be attached to already existing processes. In practice, this means that measuring is continuous, results are followed in some common meeting and the points for improvement are actually put into practice.
Every company can decide the most suitable cycle for their measuring. It is important, however, that measuring is continuous. In general, the survey is worthwhile to complete at least once a month to actually keep track of how things are going. As the whole staff answers the survey once a month, the survey should not be too long. Questions should be considered precisely.
What to ask?
The target of a survey is always an individual – that is, the survey measures every individual’s enthusiasm separately. Good themes to cover are employees' passion for their work tasks, and their sense of freedom, responsibility and inspiration.
- Does your staff feel energetic and passionate at work?
- Do they work on tasks which bring them joy, accomplishments and challenges?
- Do they have the chance to work in a flow state, without disturbances and giving their whole effort?
- Do they feel proud of their work, the company’s vision and future?
When the results are ready, the first thing to focus on should be the factors increasing enthusiasm: the ones that are best fulfilled and are considered to be the most important factors by your staff. You should try to focus on understanding why those factors have such an impact on enthusiasm.
When you have the facts on which factors increase enthusiasm, and why, it is time to consider the obstacles standing in the way of inspiration. You should choose one or a maximum of two challenges and aim at solving the reasons for why they decrease enthusiasm.
The best way to gain true understanding is to have a discussion about the results openly with all of your employees. The discussion should be held in an open and trusting environment without blaming anyone. It is the only way to make progress and take steps forward, as a one motivated, harmonious and enthusiastic team!
Time to measure your staff’s enthusiasm! Download our free survey guide. It includes all sorts of best practices and professional tips for creating and analyzing a survey that can genuinely help you to measure and improve:
