Employee Happiness: 9 Ways to Keep Employees Happy and Engaged

 

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.

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