The first principle of my blog is Creating Ecosystems of Success and two of its key focuses are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. No matter what kind of business or organization you’re running, it will be very important for your operations to keep your employees happy and continually dedicated to your mission. The following contributed post is likewise entitled, Keeping Your Employees Happy.
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When it comes to running a business, the most important thing besides making money should be keeping your employees happy. At the end of the day, they help your business tick over, improve and become more successful. So what ways can you keep your own staff happy?
Make Work-Life Balance Important
We all want to have an equal amount of work-life in our lives. And not all businesses focus on this when it comes to their employees. By overworking employees and giving them little time for their own lives can end up having a huge effect on their mental wellbeing. They also might be more likely to leave the organization if they don’t feel like their lives outside of work are considered.
Find ways of bringing work-life balance into the business whether that’s through flexible working or offering overtime or lieu for hours worked outside of their contract.
Reward And Give Employees Incentives
Respect between the employer and employee can only lead to good things. So be sure to reward your staff when they’ve worked hard and offer employees incentives for projects and work that needs to be done. These don’t necessarily have to be cash related, but any sort of reward can have a great effect on your staff’s productivity and keeps them happy within the organization.
One example would be to offer bonuses in return for completing a project before the initial deadline or by completing a certain amount of tasks. You might also be in the position to offer a promotion, so always consider this as a reward or incentive to staff members.
Listen To Their Worries
Good communication between staff members and those in higher positions is hugely beneficial to employment mediation. Listen to staff concerns and do your best to recommend solutions or fix them if you can. It’s important to make staff feel valued, and if they don’t, then they’re more likely to leave. Being honest with them is also appreciated so if something is going on that affects them, let them know. Be transparent and open with your staff, and they’ll do the same if they have anything they’re concerned about.
Encourage Socialising With Staff
A strong team of staff is more beneficial than one who doesn’t spend any time with each other outside of working hours. That being said, it’s useful to organize staff parties and days out that can help staff members socialize with one another, especially if it’s a big organization.
Make sure your office space provides an opportunity for socializing too whether that’s in the form of a canteen or breakout space. If you can’t offer that, then maybe have a budget to organize a group lunch every so often.
A happy organization is a productive one so it’s always ideal to keep tabs on your staff and what can make them happier. If you don’t care about your employees enough, they’ll feel the same, and that can have a negative effect on the company.
