Employee wellbeing: how to solve situations which make pool professionals unhappy

82% pool professionals find it difficult to recruit new employees. Perhaps you are one of them? We have already discussed this problem and the right arguments to use when recruiting new talents. There is yet another big obstacle to negotiate, namely stopping your staff migrating to your competitors! Employee wellbeing is important and was the subject of a conference at Piscine Global Europe 2022.

Watch the full conference on YouTube

Pool professionals are particularly affected by the talent drain

Pool and spa companies are trading in a very favorable economic climate due to Covid-19 lockdowns and a long, hot summers which built strong demand for private aquatic facilities. Order books are full and pool professionals are recruiting massively to replace employees retiring and face the ignorance of young people about training programs for this sector.

In his conference entitled “Workplace wellbeing: what are the key levers?” work psychologist Laurent Romefort encouraged pool professionals to become aware of the situations and chronic behavior patterns which can, in the long term, push employees to see whether the grass is greener elsewhere.

In his foreword, Laurent Romefort highlighted the 4 obligations of every employer:

• Provide work
• Provide pay
• Provide the means for doing the job
• Provide a secure environment (as regards the social, mental and physical aspects)

To solve the most frequently encountered problems which generate suffering at work, Laurent Romefort proposed several action plans.

Lack of consideration of pool employees’ lives outside work 

“You cannot separate work from reality”. Accept that external factors can have positive or negative effects on your staff:

• multiplicity of work places: working in a coworking space or at home with an infant, for example.
• multiplicity of psychosocial situations: interactions with other members of your workforce.
• the real situation outside work: the employee may be confronted with disease, a divorce, grief, etc.

Finally, Laurent Romefort insisted on the durable traces left by the Covid-19 crisis. Showing understanding and sympathy for the personal situation of each member of the workforce — within limits — is a powerful lever for building employee wellbeing in your company. 

Your corporate values have (silently) changed

When the corporate values are not those lived on a day-to-day basis, employees lose confidence in the pool company which they perceive is “lying” to them. Management coherence is essential to propel everyone towards a shared goal and avoid discord in the corporate culture which is likely to generate frustration, incomprehension and disengagement.

The meaning of work can also be questioned over time and lead to existential questions like why are we doing what we do? What does what we are doing do for the company and for the customers? What can we be proud of? To obtain commitment, Laurent Romefort advised his audience “not to give meaning but discover the meaning that is already there”, and to abolish absurd and unproductive tasks.

You no longer communicate

Laurent Romefort pointed out that “to communicate you have to be in the same place at the same time as the other person. Telephones are for exchanging information!” Find time to meet your employees in person, including those who are on building sites every day. He also added that there is always a link between aggressive behavior and a failure to communicate the message you want to convey, a difficulty in finding the right words, incomprehension, a feeling you are not being heard, etc.

Here some tips to ease communication: 

• Silences are important: do not interrupt in when someone else is speaking and take the necessary time to formulate an appropriate response!
• Develop sincere attention: define a meaningful time for discussions with the other party. 
• Give the word: define a framework for the discussion and… be prepared to hear things you don’t want to!

When relationship with the other employees is painful 

Everyone must be able to come to work thoroughly convinced they are in a secure and stable environment. This is an essential factor in corporate wellbeing. What’s more, happy employees correlate directly with high customer satisfaction!

To eliminate potentially toxic situations, Laurent Romefort advised managers to take the time to observe behavior patterns, in particular during coffee breaks. It is good to take stock proactively. As for safety at work, all companies must provide the right tools and Personal Protective Equipment and do everything possible to protect staff from chemical, electrical, physical, etc. hazards.

To detect problems that could threaten employee wellbeing in your pool company, think of the quality of life and working conditions approach. This should stabilize your human resources over time!

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