A number of science fiction movies have considered the havoc that would be wrought if someone could read minds and hear people’s private thoughts.
However, it doesn’t take mind-reading for people to accurately perceive others’ level of job satisfaction. Your co-workers, your customers, and your family clearly understand, even if you haven’t directly said anything, how satisfied and committed you are to your job. Realize that in your tone, demeanor, and body language you are communicating thoughts you have about your job.
Michael Phippen runs a temporary staffing agency in Florida called Staff Leasing. When he took the top job in the company, he spent nearly all his time talking with sales associates. “Nothing begins until you sell something, and they’re the first line of folks who know what our customers want, what our customers need, and what we’re delivering.”
He learned that there was a disconnection between the different groups of the company. Sales and operations were not on the same page, and the customers were lost in the process.
Michael set out to bring everybody together in everything they do. “My success has been in taking disparate areas of the organization with different focuses and bringing them together, to see the common needs of the company and ultimately to create a winning scenario based on all the pieces of the puzzle, not just their focus.”
Michael adds, “Once we did that, we began to win those customers back who saw this is really one organization with one purpose.”
Co-workers and customers asked to rate the job satisfaction of retail store employees were three times as accurate as random chance. Customers were 70 percent more likely to continue to do business in the store if they found the employees satisfied with their jobs.
Hagan 1999