It’s been proven — happier people make more productive employees! While having a happy workforce does make an office a nicer place to be, it can actually also result in monetary benefits for a company.
Think about what you’ve most liked from your past jobs and employers. Then, see how you might be able to apply something similar at your own company. What was important to you as an employee rather than an employer?
Honesty is the best policy. Employees really value transparency in a company. This doesn’t mean you have to tell everyone everything; it just means employees want to know what’s truthfully going on.
Make your expectations clear. This might be as simple having to produce a certain number of products a day, or it could be some more complex long-term goals. Either way, having clear expectations about what people are supposed to be doing makes it easier for them to, you know, actually do it.
Have work-life balance options. As an employer, you may not care too much about what your employees do outside of work. But ensuring that they are able to have lives outside of work is a key step in helping them feel satisfied on the job.
Reward a job well done. It doesn’t have to be a big rewards; something like a dinner coupon, tickets to a sports game, or a random Friday off can help.
Create a health program. Healthy people in general are happier and more productive, so brainstorm ways your company can help your employees to be healthier.
Make the big picture clear. Avoid flow charts and jargon, and just simply communicate to your employees your company’s values and goals, plus how their work is part of that. Help them to understand the company as a whole, not just their part in it.
Offer flexible working options. So many jobs can be done remotely now, so see if you can help your employees’ schedules become a bit more flexible. Maybe people with young children could shift around their hours a bit to help make picking up and dropping off the kids a bit easier, for instance. A study by Georgetown University Law Center says this is something 80% of workers would like.
Let your employees know why their work matters. It’s nice to feel like you are important and your work matters. Even the person with the lowest position in the company contributes something — so let your employees know that.
Don’t overvalue perks. They’re really trendy right now, especially in the tech world, but they should be used as nice extras rather than substitutes for a healthy work environment. If you can have a rock climbing wall in the office, that’s great – but it doesn’t replace have shoddy benefits.
Built a sense of ownership. If you can help your employees feel like they form a real part of a team and are really part of the product or service being sold, that’s the gold standard of them having a sense of ownership. In other words, if they feel like it’s theirs, they’ll be more involved.
Respect your employees. With the worldwide economy slowly teetering out of a very rough patch, a lot of companies are still operating on the philosophy that employees are a dime-a-dozen and can be replaced at a moment’s notice. This is a pretty disheartening way for employees to be treated.
