Did you know that only 49% of U.S workers are fully satisfied with their
jobs?
As the famous saying by Sir Richard
Branson goes, “Clients do not come first. Employees come first. If you take
care of your employees, they will take care of the clients.”
It may seem extreme, but one of the
secrets to being a successful leader is prioritizing employee happiness and
satisfaction.
If you're keen on learning how to do
make sure your employees are beyond satisfied, then keep reading.
1.
Create a Friendly Environment
It's almost certain that you have
that one acquaintance that says, "I don't come to work to make
friends." And this may be true, but it's very important that employees
have cordial working relationships with their colleagues.
Putting together regular, casual
meet-ups for the staff like a social happy hour or gatherings simply for the
purpose of gathering can help to foster a positive working environment.
2.
Give Your Employees a Voice
Making executive decisions can be
tough, especially when they can have an effect on the workforce. One surefire
way to increase employee happiness is by involving them in some of the business
decisions.
Perhaps there's a strategic
marketing decision to be made and your customer service department may have
valuable insight that can help with this decision.
Give your employees a chance to
share their feedback, they'll feel important and valued as a result of this.
3.
Ask About Training And Career Goals
Some of your employees may feel that
they're lacking in certain skill areas and this may be affecting their
performance or ability to fulfill their roles. Create an open platform where
employees can share with the management team if they feel they need additional
training.
Perhaps employees feel a course may
add to their ability to do their job whilst also aligning them with their
career goals. By focusing your training on both what their job is, and where
they see themselves in the future, your employees will likely feel motivated to
advance themselves within your organization, as opposed to considering external
opportunities.
4.
Give Recognition Where It's Due
Many organizations host monthly
awards ceremonies where employees are publicly recognized for going above and
beyond the call of duty.
A great way to foster this is by
building a system where employees can nominate other employees when they feel
that they're deserving. This can be as simple as an Employee of the Month or
initiative, or you can branch out on this and hand out awards to numerous
individuals if the month warrants it.
You can even incentivize this
program by offering small rewards, the more appealing the reward is, such as a
day off, the higher the feeling of fulfillment will be for the employees that
are participating.
5.
Fostering Work-Life Balance
Many employees will say that they
don't get enough time to live their lives, as they give too much time to their
workplace.
Management can help by fostering
work-life balance programs where employees can request flexible working hours,
or one-on-one sessions with their managers to discuss their concerns.
It also means that there may be a
need for a slight culture change, if someone needs to be at their daughter's
dance recital, then giving them this opportunity can create a feeling of
gratitude and promote a sense of loyalty.
6.
Promoting Financial Wellness
Organizations may find that their
employees struggle more so financially than they may realize. Management has an
opportunity to create an atmosphere where employees can talk about, and ask for
guidance with personal financial matters.
If an employee is constantly worried
about how they're going to make ends meet, their distraction level during
working hours will most likely be very high.
Financial wellness can be beneficial to the
productivity of your workforce, consider even bringing a professional financial
advisor in that your staff can schedule a time slot with.
7.
Prioritize Open Communication
Many employees may feel that they
are hindered from approaching management and talking about their concerns.
Alternatively, some employees may have some great ideas for adding value or
increasing productivity in a certain area of the business, but they won't share
this if open communication is not encouraged in the workplace.
A great way to do this is to have an
open-door day once per month, where employees can schedule time with executive
management and bring up things they'd like to share.
8.
Include Everyone At All Levels
It's often an opinion in the
workforce that salespeople have more opportunity to bring in extra income than
the rest of the business does, and in a way, this is true through commission
structures and alike.
Consider other incentives that you
can implement in other departments throughout the business, not only will they
appreciate the opportunity to make some extra coin, but it will rid the
business of hostility towards the sales department.
The working relationship between
these departments and sales will become a positive one.
9.
Measure Employee Satisfaction
In order to tell how happy your
employees are, you need a way to measure this. An employee satisfaction survey,
done anonymously, can help you understand the general feeling of your staff.
Another idea is to put up an
employee feedback box, where people can submit concerns or suggestions
anonymously, and management can give feedback on what's been put in the box
regularly. This way, employees will feel like they're being heard, even if the
matter seems small and trivial.
Promoting
Employee Happiness
Any organization that prioritizes
employee happiness will find that their workforce displays loyalty almost to a
fault. Employees that feel appreciated, relaxed, and happy, will most likely
treat your business as if it were their own.
Pride in their own work will be
evident once your programs begin to take shape.
Need more great employee-related
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