There are many jobs which require to do the same work everyday without having to learn anything new. What if you run a business where your employees have to stand near the counter every day and sell the goods of your company. Having personal experience in a hotel business where I had to stand for 9 hours and check-in/check-out on daily basis, I must admit that it was the hardest job I have ever done. It is a combination of several things: standing on your feet for 9 hours, where you are not allowed to sit down, having only 30 min lunch break, you have to smile for 9 hours non-stop no matter what is happening and how you are feeling, the guest are always right shouting at you and complaining, you get more complains from your manager, your low salary does not allow you to buy orthopaedic products and comfortable shoes, and you starting to have issues with your legs. Your employees carry an energy which is influencing your whole business. What I remember really well is that you had to do your job really well and no matter how your felt and if you had any psychical conditions. Now my question is: do you want your business to prosper?

If your answer is yes, then you should think about your employees, and I am not talking about adding an extra meal during lunch or having some bonus, I am actually talking about taking care of their emotions and needs, listening to your employees.

What can you do to achieve the balance?

If you are an owner of a hotel and you never had to stand on your feet for 9 hours, then you should go and experience this at least for a week. Having personal experience will make it easier to understand your workers. For many businesses their employees stand because it looks more professional. Maybe you should place some fancy chairs and allow your employees to sit when there are no guests, maybe you can allow your workers to go to back office during slow hours and rest and only one person remains at the front desk so they can change. Maybe you can check out the floor, some type of floor is better for standing than the other and can play a big difference. Maybe you can provide all staff members with orthopaedic shoes and products. Maybe you can provide free swimming as it helps people who stand a lot. I personally love interacting with guests and I would love to come and work for a few hours a day, but none of the hotels have 3 hour-shift. Maybe you should create alternative short shifts for whose you are interested. I can give some much more enjoying short shifts, especially this is good for mothers who can’t dedicate full time. Remember some of your employees doing the same job for many years and they might feel like robots doing the same thing every day. You might diverse their work experience by rotating them between different departments, or introducing some interesting learning courses which can be taken during their work hours. Remember there are many things you can do.

Maybe you should also hire a coach, and allow your employees to withdraw from work for 10 min and be able to express their feelings and emotions, as well as allow them to provide suggestions for improving work conditions and even your business. The Japanese, for example, have invented a “battering room,” located within the factory itself, where angry industrial employees can go and beat up human-size dummies with clubs to express their own aggressiveness, or anger. Imagine if your employees feel angry and don’t express it? Anger will grow every day and that energy that they carry will not do any good for your business prosperity. I mentioned above about sharing their ideas and suggestions for improving business, well you might be surprised how creative some of your employees are. The idea is not having a team of robots but rather uncover their talents for the mutual benefit.

The world is changing so let’s change together.