One of my FB friends shared this article about the town of Seatac, Washington raising the minimum wage and how that effected the economy. For those who see the price of everything and the value of nothing this would be a disaster. However, I see tremendous value in the bigger picture.

The knock on effect starts locally as mentioned in the article.  Employees who have enough to pay the bills and find themselves with discretionary income usually spend it locally, which supports and benefits all the surrounding businesses. That’s the economist’s viewpoint. How about looking at it from an even bigger viewpoint though?

This changes things on many different levels. Here are just a few off the top of my head.

1) Employee Loyalty

The impact of caring for your employees can have a dramatic impact on your business. When an employee feels well looked after they put more effort into caring for the company in return.  They take pride in their work, care more for the customer, step up their efforts. They are also less likely to move to another company which dramatically reduces your staff turnover. As your reputation grows, the line of people wanting to be a part of your company grows.

2) Customer Loyalty

When companies and individuals from outside see you looking after your own people, not just the customer, they want to support you too. Not only does their experience improve when dealing with your company, because of your loyal employees at every level of the hierarchy but, these customers will sell your services for you to others because they want to see your company succeed. What goes around comes around.

3) Supplier Loyalty

Your company integrity doesn’t stop at customers and staff. Suppliers are also looking at how you play your game and when they see you looking after your own, they also will step up their game to look after you which improves your experience with them. We’re not just talking about Managers of the Supplier. Even the clerk with the menial task of processing your orders or the courier may put in the effort to make sure you get your supplies ahead of others because they want to look after you.

4) Employee Wellbeing

Yet another factor a price watcher will miss is the incredible impact of boosted Employee wellbeing. When each Employee has “enough” to cover their living expenses, they sleep better at night meaning they’ll be more awake and focussed on their work during the day. This results in less mistakes. With more sleep, their stress levels drop, so they can cope under pressure doing a better job for you. Lower stress increases their immunity so colds, flu, tummy bugs etc. occur less often saving you on sick days. Lower stress also improves relationships and communication amongst themselves and all those they deal with. Competition drops. Teambuilding improves.

5) Innovative Thinking

Lower stress, improved health and happiness means the brain gets to relax and allow in those genius ideas you’ve been pumping them for all this time.

• A relaxed mind allows all the solutions you need to fall effortlessly into their heads.
• Saying the right thing at the right time could make all the difference between keeping and losing a customer.
• Being completely in tune and focussed means your sales and accounts people will pick up the vibe of what a customer needs, virtually reading their mind and offering what they need even before they asked for it. Magic salespeople!
• New ideas about how to make the company processes run more smoothly, retain existing customers or what the next great marketing/advertising idea would be are more accessible.
• Being happy and loyal to you means Employees are more likely to share those ideas with you.

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So, what is all of this worth to you? Could you quantify what it’s worth each time a disgruntled employee takes a sick day, makes a mistake or is absent minded when dealing with your clients? What is it worth to have suppliers on your side? What would happen if everyone you deal with is marketing your company to everyone they know?

There is limitless potential in the positive effects of raising your minimum wage to a liveable standard. Don’t do your sums based on current customer and sales levels. Be prepared for benefits that are far reaching and allow you to sleep better at night knowing your employees are on your side.

Annabelle Drumm is available as a Consultant for improving employee relations, boosting company integrity and office culture in the Sydney Australia area. Contact her here to discuss your needs.

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