Keeping your employees happy brings in multiple benefits. If your employees are happy, they are going to perform better, it’s as simple as that.
Many businesses will assume that just a pay rise will keep their employees happy, and although this is important, it won’t be what keeps them feeling passionate about the business for a long time. It will keep them satisfied for a short time but once the honeymoon stage is over with their pay rise, they will lose that feeling again and start looking for something more.
Your employees happiness should also be a high priority as it will do wonders for your business, so we are going to introduce what you can do to help ensure your employee’s happiness.
Ensure They Have a Good Work-Life and Balance
When someone is working too much, it can lead to them not doing what they love out of work, either because they don’t have the time or the energy. For example, not being given the time they need to complete all their work could result in them missing out on the gym or go for a drink with their friends, both of which can be vital for helping to keep people mentally healthy. Too much work can also lead to stress and a lack of sleep, which will inevitably lead to them underperforming.
So, as an employer, you need to make sure that you are not overworking your staff. They need to have realistic goals set throughout the month and regular reviews with a manager to make sure they are able to cope with the workload.
Allow Work Time To Be Flexible
Work schedules can be demanding which can also impact how an employee works. Having a 9-5 job is great, however, if they have an appointment for the doctors, have to do the school run or need to leave early for some reason, then you should let them. Another thing to consider when you have a city centre office is how busy travelling during peak hours can be, so perhaps offer the opportunity to start work slightly later and finish slightly later, or to start slightly earlier and finish slightly earlier. Employers are now beginning to take on a newer view of working hours, believing that as long as the work gets done, they don’t mind when their employees work.
The same goes for working from home, as it can make a huge difference to the employee and no difference at all to you as an employer. An employee needs to build the trust of their boss, which we understand. However, if they are performing and are always on time, allow them to be flexible with their work if they are reaching their goals.
The best thing you can do when it comes to flexible working is to ask your employees what will work for them. Everyone is different, so what works for one person could be completely disruptive to another. So, have individual meetings and find out what your employees want and need, and do what you can to help them achieve it.
Allow Your Employees To Have An Input
An employee’s voice matters and it can be so helpful for a company of any size to gain input from their employees to help the business to improve, continue and progress, which there is always room for. During their reviews, you should always ask if they are happy and whether they want or need anything, either to help them do their job better or to help them to be happy. Employees will often say they are happy just to keep the peace, so you should make the effort to directly ask them and give them the opportunity to speak up.
This might be a better way to sort particular documents, more team meetings, a more supportive desk chair, the list goes on. It could be something to make their commute easier if you encourage workplace working, so discuss how many people would make use of parking and then use an organisation like Care Park who will offer to work with businesses to hire out slots for a company.
One way to do this is to have an anonymous suggestions box, as people may feel too nervous to make suggestions out loud if they are slightly critical of the current working situations. You could then have group meetings to see what everyone thinks of the ideas, how they could be implemented and how things will change moving forwards. Or, you could arrange one on one meetings with people if they have a suggestion, so instead of having to discuss anything in front of the group, they have the opportunity to talk honestly about the changes they think would work in an open space. Simply be open to hearing what your employees have to say and take their suggestions seriously, as they are the ones who are deep in the business working hard everyday, so you should be listening to what they say and taking it on board where possible.
Reward & Benefits
Rewards and benefits are something else you need to ensure you are providing for your employees. Benefits could be an extra day’s holiday, a bonus for the month or regular payrises. A benefit doesn’t have to be too extravagant, just something that shows you acknowledge their hard work and are paying attention to their needs.
From an employees point of view, they will receive this reward and notice that it shows you are recognising their hard work. However, if you are not rewarding them for their efforts, they are being treated the same as someone who works less than them.
If the overall team has performed well, a company should reward them. There are so many things you can do to reward a team. One of those team rewards could be a team lunch where all expenses are paid. Another way would be to pay for a trip out to a formal event, like the races. Maybe you could organise a team day out to a theme park. All of these things can improve team morale, which again, improves their efforts with work.
To Conclude
Keeping your employee happy is essential for a thriving workplace. You will notice the benefits when an employee is happy. They bring a better mood to the rest of the team as well as work harder to get better results. Improving their quality of work and assisting them with work issues will only have positive effects on them, you and the company.