Last Updated on Apr 15, 2020 by James W
Besides keeping your clients satisfied, you also want to make sure your employees are happy if you’re going to run a smooth and successful business. You want to minimize the amount of turnover to maintain a good reputation and not waste your money continuously filling open spots.
You can’t treat your employees poorly and expect great results from them. You’ll love how well your business starts to function once you dedicate time, money and energy to working with them in a positive light on a regular basis. Use the following ideas to help keep your staff happy and feeling motivated to do excellent work for you at the office.
Offer Fair Rewards
Rewarding your employees is a sure way to attract the right kind of talent and have your current recruits feeling good about themselves and all the hard work they put in. Compensate them, offer benefits and provide additional surprises now and again to make each member of your team feels appreciated. Be mindful when you’re cutting budgets or looking for ways to save money that you’re not doing anything damaging to hurt your employees and turn them off. You want people to want to work for your company and spread positive feedback about you.
Pamper them with occasional treats
One way to guarantee you win over your employees is by feeding your team meals occasionally and providing coffee to help keep them awake. Make it easy on yourself to cater to their needs by using a coffee delivery service Chicago and guaranteeing you always have fresh products to serve to your employees. It’s possible they’ll be working early mornings or late nights and will appreciate being fed and having coffee available to them around the clock. Another idea is to take your staff out for team lunches or dinners once in a while to thank them for all their efforts. This is also a good chance for you to pick their brain about whatever is on their minds regarding the business or their jobs.
Listen to their Feedback
Being the one in charge doesn’t mean you have to boss people around and flaunt the fact that you’re in command. Be open-minded and listen to what your employees have to say to improve the office environment and the business so everyone benefits. In addition, have an open door policy, hold regular brainstorming meetings and provide a feedback box, so employees always feel like they have an outlet for expressing themselves. This will help keep you in the loop of what’s going on with your daily operations and not be clueless about what your employees do each day at work.
Encourage Work/Life Balance
Your employees will be a lot happier and healthier when you encourage a work/life balance atmosphere. For example, you could allow flexible hours, have a work from home policy and offer discounts at local gyms to please your staff members. Get their input on the topic and see what would allow them to perform their job duties to the best of their ability and feel like they have more balance in their life. Set a good example by role modeling and demonstrating habits that show you’re in support of this type of environment if you want to make work/life balance a reality at your office.
Foster Open Communication
Communication is key to running a successful business and having employees want to do a good job for you. Playing politics and fostering an environment of side conversations will only hurt your company and culture in the long run. Promote open and honest communication and collaboration by making this a guiding principle your employees are encouraged to practice. This will ensure you and the leadership team exhibit these behaviors as well. Remind everyone that it’s better to address a person or situation head-on and clear the air early then it is to let a circumstance fester and keep bothering you.
Keep them Informed
Employees don’t want to be in the dark regarding important information that they feel they should know about. While the decision is ultimately up to you, it’s good practice to make sure the right people are informed of important information at the right time. Hold companywide meetings, send out email updates and have individual conversations with people when a situation involves them. Your staff will hold it against you if you’re always surprising them and making rash decisions without any input from others, especially when it directly affects them and their job. Your business will thrive, and employees will stick around longer when you’re good about updating them with important information they should know about.
Stop Micromanaging them
If there’s one habit that will drive away employees almost instantly, it’s micromanaging and constantly telling them how to do their job. Know that you have to have trust in your staff and believe in their abilities if you want to keep your employees happy. Remember why you hired your workers in the first place and let that give you the confidence you need to see them in a positive light and know they can execute on the expectations you set for them. Put yourself in their shoes and realize they will be able to do a much better job when you back off and let each person show you what they have to offer. Even if they make mistakes, view the incidents as a learning curve and use these situations as a chance to teach your staff new skills and guide them to being even stronger employees.
Conclusion
Having a good product or service doesn’t mean you can go around treating your workers badly. You need them if you’re going to grow your business and succeed long-term. Use these suggestions to help you build an inviting office environment and culture and keep your employees happy. You’re both investing in each other and should work hard to please one another and get along if you’re going to thrive as a company.
