For years it has been the common belief that money was the key and source of employee happiness and longevity. Although money is important, it can’t buy employee happiness and your customers and business livelihood suffer the most when your employees are unhappy with their job.

It’s true. Many studies have confirmed that employee happiness has a direct correlation to customer satisfaction. Although money may keep an unhappy employee coming back to work everyday, an employee who does not feel engaged in the workplace, is going to deliver less in service and productivity. For most companies these are the individuals interacting with their customers and representing their business everyday. Bottom line, if you take great care of your employees, they will take great care of your customers and your customers will keep coming back, again and again.

Need to see this concept at work before you change your management position? Take a look at Google. This search engine giant made the list on Fortune Magazine’s Top One Hundred Places To Work in 2007 and 2008. What makes Google such a great place to work? This was not based on pay scales for employees, but on Google’s continuous efforts to support a healthy work environment for all employees. Now, most businesses can’t afford to pamper their workers with on-site laundry facilities, massage rooms, free gourmet lunches and a virtual college campus of relaxation and fitness, but Google has some programs that can help any business. Take their Innovation Time Off policy. Using this motivation technique, which encourages employees to spend 20% of their work week on a project that interests them, Google has not only given their employees the space, time and confidence they need to be themselves and be happy, but they have benefited from the plan as well, with great programs like Gmail and Adsense being the results of such freedom. You can learn more about Google’s Innovation Time Off policy at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google#Innovation_time_off, but in the end a workplace built on great employees leads to even greater business.

Poor leadership and challenging workplace cultures are among the many reasons quality employees leave. In addition, environments that are constantly monitored are stifling. Employee engagement means making your employees believe they are part of something pretty special. Employees are seeking to be treated with respect and allowed to grow and be a part of the business. Acknowledge a workers worth to you and your company. Invite your employees to share their opinions and allow them to become active participants in discussions and business matters.

Start by instilling an attitude of care and respect for your employees. Discuss expectations, goals, and future plans and keep your employees in the loop. Demonstrate that they are a part of the whole picture and the success of your company and business depends on their satisfaction with their work environment. Your business is only as good as the people working for it and if you want happy customers, be a great employer.

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