Tag: Employees

How to Increase Employee Satisfaction

A key focus of my blog is Organizational and Management Discussions. In any organization, if you’re a part of management, you have to consider your employees’ satisfaction in you want your organization to continue operating at peak efficiency. Happy employees will do that for you. The following contributed post is entitled, How to Increase Employee Satisfaction.

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No matter the size of your business, a collaborative team of satisfied employees is without a doubt a worthwhile goal. By increasing your employee satisfaction, you’ll be able to create a workforce that is motivated, productive and loyal, all of which are essential to your success. When raises and bonuses aren’t in your business’ immediate budget, there are many effective alternative paths to choose when building employee satisfaction and creating a happier workplace.

Keep the Work Environment In Check
Technical issues such as slow servers and physical issues like broken equipment can inevitably occur in the workplace. However, when they happen frequently enough, employees can become frustrated and increasingly demotivated with the quality of their work output. To avoid dissatisfaction, identify issues and deal with any staff complaints as quickly as possible. This will demonstrate your commitment as an employer in providing an enjoyable work environment.

Offer Flexibility
Any business that gives their employees the opportunity to have greater autonomy and responsibility for their own time at work is vital to increasing satisfaction levels. This is because offering control allows employees to achieve a suitable work-life balance. Try offering flexible work arrangements such as telecommuting, flex time, or even seasonal flexibility such as “summer” hours.

Recognise Achievements
Acknowledge your employee’s achievements and reward them in innovative ways alongside any financial bonuses. This could include their name in an internal newsletter, applauding them in a staff meeting, or even offering the best parking slot for a month. These small acts of recognition can be powerful incentives that propel other employees into following the acknowledged employee’s example and increase overall workforce productivity.

Training
No employee wants to stay stagnant in the same place – help drive your employee’s career development by offering professional development opportunities, such as valuable online courses, mentoring, coaching, lectures, or knowledge transfer plans such as with https://stevetrautman.com/learn/knowledge-transfer-plan/. All of these ideas can help your employees progress in their role as well as engage with your business.

Wellness Benefits
A company that is invested in its employees’ health is made instantly more desirable to employees as a long-term job. Promote and drive good health with the likes of nutritious food options in the cafeteria or break room, educate employees with wellness seminars, and offer discounted gym memberships. To combat work related stress, ensure that your employees are taking regular breaks as well as their annual leave, and encourage them to be open about their work worries with you. To get your team together, why not try organising a spa day or a rewarding charity run on the weekend?

Encourage A Sociable Workplace Culture
A team that attends regular social activities outside of office hours such as work lunches, celebrations, and fun events is a strong team. Fostering a sociable workplace culture through encouraging teamwork, socialisation, and communication will result in greater contentment in the workplace and can give employees a sense of belonging. Where applicable, employees should be given the opportunities to voice ideas, collaborate together, and create strong bonds with one another.

The Most Important Tests You Should Give Potential Employees

Two of the focuses of my blog are Organizational and Management Discussions and Career Discussions. One of the most important decisions you can make as an employer, running or managing an organization/business is choosing the right employees. How do you properly vet potential employees? The following guest post is entitled, The Most Important Tests You Should Give Potential Employees.

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Finding the right employee to hire is essential for building a company that can perform effectively and have a trusted network within that can gear it toward progress and innovation. Often, the downfall of businesses that would otherwise be successful comes at the hands of poor management and bad hires who take away from the company in one way or another. While you can find ways to root out these offenders, the best course of action is to avoid hiring them in the first place.

A vital tool in finding the best individuals who can contribute to the workforce is by conducting a test (or a number of them) before employment. With platforms like Aptitude that create comprehensive online assessments for potential hires, it all comes down to what specific sectors you want to filter.

• Integrity

This factor is an essential one when figuring out the character of the individuals you will be bringing into your workspace. Employee theft and fraud have been on the rise in recent years, with the statistics showing alarming numbers. In general, companies lose 5% of their revenue to fraud annually, over 50% of employees have stolen company equipment or supplies at least once, and around a fourth of workers falsify their work hours.

Sifting out these potential threats from even getting into your business is the first step that should be taken. It necessitates a complete test of responsibility, trustworthiness, compliance, and transparency.

• Skill

Part of your screening, of course, needs to accurately show how reliable a person may be with designated tasks and performing well in their role. A survey of job interviewees revealed that the majority of candidates lie or manipulate parts of the truth to make them seem like the most viable choice for the position. Within this, 60% of those lie about their skills, saying they have proficiency in programs and services that they don’t have that level of mastery with.

To accurately assess their actual abilities, you can’t merely base it off of references and job history. You should provide a monitored test that can be timed and directly hits skills that should be appropriate for getting the desired spot.

• Personality

Although this factor is more important for titles that place the worker in charge of a team or department, it’s generally essential to figure out their work ethics and how well they can adapt to the environment in your business. A study of employees and their work habits revealed that, on average, more than eight hours a week are spent slacking off and doing other non-work related tasks on company hours.

Allowing this type of mindset in your workforce can affect productivity levels significantly and end up costing you crucial time and money. Testing this early on can also give you insights on how to best engage your employees and get them working efficiently.

Once you’ve covered all these markers, you can be more assured that you are getting the best fit for your business and that you can focus on operations.

What You Should Know About Your Employee Responsibilities For Health And Safety

Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. When you’re a business owner with employees, you have some responsibility for your worker’s safety but they share some as well. In each case you have to be transparent with them. The following contributed post is entitled, What You Should Know About Your Employee Responsibilities For Health And Safety.

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As a business owner, you will know that health and safety are incredibly important. Being complacent can be an extremely expensive mistake, the costs that come from injuries and ill health caused by poor health and safety and working conditions are staggering and can severely damage any company.

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With that in mind, it’s essential for you to know who’s responsible for what in relation to upholding the health and safety in the workplace, following your health and safety policy, and reporting any issues.

For the most part, it is the employer’s responsibility. You need to make sure your employees have the correct safety gear, for example, and you will also need to remain compliant with local laws. With regards the latter, you should check with the local government on health and safety laws in your state and follow them to the letter. Your electrical equipment will need to be certified safe, and if there is a risk of air pollutants, you will need to hire a specialist in Ambient Air Sampling.

However, health is safety is not only your domain. Your employees also have a level of responsibility. Regardless it’s imperative that anyone on site is kept safe, including visitors knowing the fire drills, contractors working safely at heights, or your employees learning the new policies.

Some of the responsibilities your employees have to include:

Take Some Responsibility For Their Own Care For Health And Safety

Your employees need to take an active approach when it comes to the care of their personal health and safety whilst in the workplace, They should be avoiding anything that could compromise this. There is certainly no size fits all for how you put this into action. How it works is going to depend heavily on the working environment you are working in. There are going to be different natural hazards that occur in different workplaces such as an office compared to a warehouse.

It’s best for you to carry out a risk assessment on each working zone in your workplace and with each individual member of staff. You can then discuss the ways your employees can help to look after their own safety with them on a personalized basis.

Cooperation With The Policies

A big part of your employee’s responsibility is to make sure they are following the instructions that you have set in place for health and safety. They’re there for a reason so, make sure they are following the rules. This includes them completing any needed training, communicating with you if there are any issues, and noticing any hazards that appear that are unusual.

It’s a good idea to make sure you keep track of any training your employees complete, this way you can put steps into place to give them the time to complete anything that is missing or updated.

Not Putting Others In Danger

Ok, so your employees need to be looking after their own health and safety, but they also need to be making sure they’re not putting others in danger too. In order to make sure they are fulfilling their duties, every employee needs to put into practice everything that they’ve learned through their training. This includes things like misusing equipment, not wearing protective equipment and taking unnecessary risks. If they see any dangers they should be reporting it straight away. Whether it’s wiring near their desk, drawers have been left open or fire exits been blocked, you can’t physically have eyes and ears everywhere at once. This means your employees need to think of health and safety as part of their job role.

Ultimately you need to make sure you communicate and train your employees to practice the health and safety policies at all times, the above areas will help you to make sure they are following their duties.

Your Business’ Success Depends on the Willingness of Your Employees to Help Each Other

Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. No matter what kind of business you’re operating, your employees working effectively with each other is critical. It thus falls on you the business owner to maintain a healthy work environment for your entire staff. The following guest post is entitled, Your Business’ Success Depends on the Willingness of Your Employees to Help Each Other.

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When was the last time you saw your employees laugh and bond with each other? When was the last time someone volunteered to help an intern or a new hire? Because we live in a hyper-competitive world, volunteering to help lift each other is not high in our list of priorities. But if you’re an office manager or a business owner, this is one of the things that you should focus on.

More than 35% of Americans feel overwhelmed because of their workload. Understandably, facilitative coaching is not on top of their minds. But research suggests that workplaces whose people are helpful and welcoming are more productive. They are also more cost-efficient and can increase sales effectively.

Create a Buddy System

Yes, your world is competitive. Your employees are trying to impress you. They want to be promoted on their merits and their accomplishments on the job. But this does not mean that they cannot help each other. Creating a buddy system will make them responsible for new hires and interns. Although you should facilitate an effective onboarding process, a buddy system is a great way to make the new hires and interns feel welcome. They will also have an easier time grasping the concepts of the job and what their jobs entail.

Host Office Parties

It wouldn’t kill you to treat your staff to coffee and pastries or whatever would make them happy. Why not surprise them with an afternoon of simply having snacks and bonding with each other? Your employees need a break. They will be better workers when they know that you care about their well-being.

If you see them hanging with each other and bonding over a cup of coffee, don’t try to break that apart. Your organization will stand to benefit from this camaraderie. Your people are going to help each other without you needing to push them. As a result, you’ll have a more efficient workforce.

Appreciate Everyone

No one will try to go after everyone’s throat if you can just throw little compliments here and there. When your employees know that you do not have a preference among them, they will all feel equal and safe. They won’t need to fight against each other for your attention. They will learn to share the spotlight and even help each other to make the company better. You should never be threatened by the camaraderie among your employees.

Take Ownership When Someone Fails

For a change, it would be nice for your employees to know that you have their backs if they fail in a task or assignment. Do you really need to shout at them? Do you need them to point fingers? You are only going to break their teamwork. Instead of letting your employees blame each other, take ownership for not facilitating the completion of the project more successfully.

Finding the time to help your employees takes a lot of humility. As a leader, this will help create a positive environment in the workplace. When your employees see how you treat them, they will be better colleagues, too. And what will benefit when your employees are contented, happy, and working well together? Your business, of course.

Tips For Dealings With Employees In Business

Three of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money, Business/Entrepreneurship and Professional Development/Skills. Whichever business setting/enterprise you’re in, properly dealing with your employees is essential. Effectively doing so and not effectively doing so will have far reaching consequences. The following contributed post is entitled, Tips For Dealings With Employees In Business.

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Dealing with employees within a business can be different for every boss or company out there. They’re dealing with different types of people, and every staff member can be different to the next. So being able to manage everyone with the same value and respect can be a constantly balancing act. Here are some tips for dealing with employees in business, and that will hopefully work for all the staff that work in the company.

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Create A Healthy Working Environment

A healthy work environment is important to get right for your employees because they’re spending most of their day working in the office or work environment. That is a responsibility that the business has ownership over, and staff can share their input on how things can be made better, which you should do if you’re finding that certain changes aren’t helping. The happiness and health of your employees is key because as long as they’re both of these things, they’ll continue working. If one of these is missing, it can affect productivity, and that’s something you don’t want to be sacrificing or lacking at any point during your company’s growth. So, create a space that’s healthy to be in, is clean and tidy, and that you’ve thought about the layout and features of the office that are going to help your staff feel good on a daily basis whenever they’re at work. From meth testing to ensuring there is enough lighting in the room, it’s all important.

Make Your Staff Feel Valued

Your staff feeling valued is one thing that some businesses don’t do often enough. As an individual, we’d all like to be valued a lot more, especially in the workplace and when we’re given that recognition it helps. It can help improve our attitude to work and how we can change as individuals for the better. A simple thank you and praising in the company newsletter can end up going a long way, and further than most companies would think. So try to make your staff feel valued on a daily basis and do this through a number of ways. You can hold more staff meetings to bounce around ideas and to make praises to those who’ve worked hard over that week or month. It could be treating a department to a free lunch for putting in the extra effort where it’s been needed. You can also show appreciation by small tokens like company gifts for employees. This will show that you have realized their hard work. You can accompany the gift with a small card that says, “thank you for all you are doing.” The little gestures can make a big difference.

Offer A Better Work-Life Balance

Work-life balance is one that might take some time to achieve for most of us. It’s not until we’ve got ourselves into a role that we’ve defined ourselves in that we usually get benefits from work. However, it’s important that no matter who it is within your company, everyone deserves to have control over their work-life balance, and demanding more of someone that creeps into their life, needs to be reimbursed. They should be able to decide whether they do that overtime, and if that overtime is done, they should get given that time back in lieu or in payment. Nothing in life is free, and it’s never right to put someone in the position when they’re working for a company, where they need to work longer hours for nothing. Give them the flexibility where possible to take time off or to work from home. It’s only going to better your relationships with the employees themselves.

Encourage Them To Take Their Lunch Break

A lunch break is another important element to your staff’s working day because it gives them an hour to do something different that what’s being done at work. Whether it’s sitting down for an hour to watch their favourite television program while eating their lunch or going out for a walk. That hour or however, much time they have for a break should be honored at all costs. If you’re not encouraging breaks, then it’s only going to reduce their work productivity as a whole.

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Help Provide Further Career Progress

Career progression is important to some people and when they enter your company, they might be at the point where they’ve joined to rise up through the ranks. And as a business, it’s important to provide the further career progression where you can. If you’re not able to offer certain positions or it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen anytime soon, you can still help boost their experience through training and relevant courses. As a company, you should have a staff training budget that can help your staff gain more knowledge and skills that will not only benefit the company but will help your employees become more elevated in what they can achieve.

Sit down with each staff member on an annual basis to run through their hopes and career prospects. Some may have changed what they want to do and where they want to go, and some may not have. It’s good to stay up to date with what they’re up to and what they’re thinking of doing next. Regular meetings can be helpful in most cases to get more of an understanding of your staff and who they are as individuals. Any concerns or worries they may have can also be addressed through this too.

Recognize And Reward Improvements

Improvements and successes within a business are critical to recognize firstly but to also reward. When your company is going well and making financial progress, some of that profit needs to filter back down to the people who made it happen. Rewarding your staff is one thing you want to do to help encourage them and others to continue the great work that they’re doing for the company. It adds a level of respect that they’ll give back to you in return. So whenever you can, reward people’s hard work.

Dealing with employees in the business is one to get right and maintain. Without it, you could end up losing staff or suffering as a company with the growth and success you could be getting.

3 Ways You Can Become a Better Boss

Two of the focuses of my blog are Career Discussions and Professional Development/Skills. Many individuals want to be the boss, but it comes with a great deal of responsibility and risk. In many instances it requires constant learning and evolution. The following contributed post is entitled, 3 Ways You Can Become a Better Boss.

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Looking after your workforce can have many benefits for your business. If you have a high turnover rate, this could possibly mean that staff morale could be low due to the frequent number of employees that have been replaced amongst other things.

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As the owner of the business, the last thing you want is for this to reflect badly on your company. For this reason, you will need to be proactive in making sure you are giving your employees what they need to be able to the job well. And also enjoy the job they are being employe to do and want to stick with you.

A happy workforce has the potential to totally change your company’s fortune. After all, chances are, if you have people working for you, you realistically can’t do this all yourself. So what can you do to change the fortunes of your company by focussing on your employee’s needs?

Staff Training

Are you taking the time to properly train employees when they start work with your company? It can be tempting to rush training, especially if you need to replace employees quickly to keep things ticking over. But in short, this could harm you in the longer-term rather than help you.

Sending an under-qualified, under-trained member of staff to do something they are confident doing could have a detrimental effect on your company. Resulting in poor customer service, flouting of health and safety regulation and again, poor staff morale. Invest in their future with you and make sure they have been thoroughly trained to help them do what they need to do well.

Look After Their Emotional and Physical Well Being

Have you taken the time to get to know your employees and what they require to be able to work? A lot of people have different physical requirements to help them be able to do their jobs. Being able to accommodate this or make allowances or adaptations will make you feel that you care about them and have their best interests at heart.

Contracting a company such as Jobfit Health Group can help you provide healthcare for your staff including pre-hiring checks and workplace injury assessments. Making the health of your staff a priority will instil trust throughout your workforce.

Provide the Correct Equipment

Sure training the team is highly important, but so is making sure they have the correct tools for the job too. Employees can’t expect to do their jobs well without the correct equipment for what they need to. From the right, suitable safety clothing, to stationery, or even company cars to keep in touch with clients. People work better when they have everything they need to do their job easily. Unsure of what they need? Ask them! After all, they are the ones performing the job day after day, they will know what will make things easier for them.

At the same time, if what they need is more flexibility, can you see how you can offer this to. From the working parents who need to start at slightly altered working hours or even the option to work from home to reduce days taken off sick to those with health issues who struggle to do things able-bodied people take for granted.

How Can You Get The Most Out Of Your Employees?

Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. In any business, a key is getting the most out of your employees. Getting the most out of your employees will assure your business stays open for years to come. They are more than simply workers for your purposes. The following contributed post is entitled, How Can You Get The Most Out Of Your Employees?

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There’s no denying that your employees are right at the heart of your business. Without them, it’s likely that the entire thing would come crumbling down pretty quickly. Far too many business owners simply think of their employees like one of many resources to be used to improve their business. But the problem with this attitude is that it forgets one very simple truth: your employees aren’t machines, they’re people. This might seem obvious, but it’s amazing how often it gets overlooked. People have needs and limits, and they can’t simply be expected to deliver amazing work time and time again with no support or reinforcement. With that in mind, here are some simple ways that you can get the most out of your employees.

Give them a positive work environment

One of the most common mistakes that a lot of businesses make is that they simply don’t think about the ways that they can really help their employees feel as happy and comfortable at work as possible. There are plenty of ways to do this. From making sure that your office space is as spacious and well lit to incredibly simple things like installing glass doors so that you break down some of the barriers between the different areas of your office. Creating an environment where your customers actually want to turn up and work is going to not only increase productivity but is also going to make sure that your employees are as positive as possible about your business at all times.

Provide clear goals

Nothing is more dangerous to productivity than employees who don’t know what they’re actually working towards. You need to make sure that your employees always know exactly what their goal is. Once they know that it’s their duty to figure out the best way to achieve it. Rather than focussing on hand holding and guiding them too directly, by providing them with clear, achievable goals you’ll be able to create an environment where your employees are able to take the initiative and find the best possible solutions. Over time, you may find that the best employees begin setting their own goals as they come to better understand the business and their place within it.

Support them

As previously said, your employees are not machines, they’re people, and people have their limits. You can’t only ever expect your employees to perform without also understanding that they require your support. It’s so important that you create an environment where your employees feel comfortable talking to you about things that might be bothering them, whether it’s in regards to their work, the people around them, or something about the company as a whole. By adopting an open-door policy then you create a culture of trust and camaraderie that will help to build incredibly strong bonds between you and your employees.

The reality of running any business is that without the right people, you’re never going to be able to get the most out of it. Your relationship with your employees must always work in both directions.

Are You Ready To Hire Your First Employees?

Two key focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. Once your business is ready to go to the next level, you have to decide if you’re ready to hire help. It’s a critical stage for any business. When hiring employees for your business, there are few keys to consider. The following contributed post is entitled, Are You Ready To Hire Your First Employees?

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Hiring your first employees is a big step. Before you start recruiting, you need to be sure that you and your business are ready. While employment verification is critical for onboarding new employees is important for example, there are other important steps as well. This is especially true for new employers. Here are just a few ways to equip yourself for becoming an employer.

Hone your leadership skills

Few of us are born leaders. If you’ve never been in a leadership role before, it could be worth taking a course to develop your leadership skills. On top of building your confidence, such courses could teach you important skills for motivating and organising your team. You can also read self-help guides and watch YouTube videos for leadership tips.

Get registered and insured

You’ll usually need to register with your state and apply for an Employer Identification Number (EIN) to be legally classed as an employer. On top of this, you’ll need to apply for worker’s compensation insurance, which can help to provide compensation if workers are injured or become sick at work. Make sure to shop around for insurance rates.

Set up a payroll

Next, it could be worth downloading payroll software to help manage your employees’ wages. Alternatively, you could outsource an accountant to handle your payroll. Both are better options that trying to manually manage your payroll, which can be time-consuming.

Work out all the costs

There are lots of expenses that come with hiring employees. On top of their wages, you may want to consider employee benefits such as annual leave and bonuses. You may also have to pay to supply employees with equipment – this could be anything from a PC to a company car, depending on how generous you’re feeling. Make sure that you have a clear idea of all the costs that will be coming out each month so that you can budget effectively.

Create an employment contract

An employment contract isn’t compulsory, but can be beneficial when hiring employees. It can help protect your rights as an employer and outline the duties that are expected. Such contracts are best written up with the help of a legal professional.

Write a winning job ad

To help attract applicants, you’ll need to put out a job ad. This advertisement should list all the requirements needed to work at your company, the duties you expect of that employee and the perks that they will gain by working for you. There are plenty of platforms that you can use to post job ads – consider using multiple platforms to attract a variety of talent.

What Meaningful Things Can Businesses Do To Safeguard Their Employees’ Health?

Three of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money, Business/Entrepreneurship and Health/Wellness. A major consideration for any business with a staff is the health and wellness of its staff. Healthy employees will continue to help your operations thrive, with unhealthy employees will do the opposite. The following contributed post is entitled, What Meaningful Things Can Businesses Do To Safeguard Their Employees’ Health?

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Your vision, strategy, experience and insight may be the framework for what makes your business. But it’s the everyday interactions, efforts and endeavors of your employees that add flesh to its bones and help your business to live up to the brand’s promise. Every time an employee renders outstanding customer service, every time they go the extra mile and every time they grow in operational proficiency they’re helping to embody your brand.

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They are the driving force behind your success and worthy of your respect… and with that in mind, the very least you can do for them is to make sure that they’re healthy, happy and comfortable at work. With that in mind, here are some meaningful ways in which SMBs just like yours can help to safeguard the health and wellbeing of your employees.

It starts with the right insurance

No matter what you do to keep your employees healthy at work, it’s highly likely that somebody in your team will get sick to the point of needing medical attention. That means finding the right Group Health insurance Quote is of paramount importance. You need to have a policy in place that gives them the cover they need to give them peace of mind at a price that’s equitable and affordable. Put in enough research to be able to walk this line and you’ll be able to give your employees the peace of mind that comes with good healthcare when they need it.

Make healthy eating easy

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, however, and when it comes to protecting our bodies, absolutely nothing is as important as a healthy diet. Even exercise pales in comparison to what we use to fuel our bodies. But employees often struggle to eat healthily because they lack the time to prepare healthy meals at home. By providing a wealth of healthy options in your lunchroom and vending machines you can take the effort out of healthy eating.

Encourage cycling to work

Cardiovascular exercise doesn’t just help keep the body healthy, it also helps to sharpen the mind so that employees arrive at their desks energized and refreshed with good mental acuity. And because cycling is one of the best forms of cardiovascular exercise out there, encouraging your employees to cycle to work can go a long way towards safeguarding their health.

Just make sure you also have shower facilities.

Reach out to local gyms

Of course, not all employees will be able or willing to cycle to work, so it’s a good idea to give them affordable access to other forms of exercise, too. Try reaching out to local gyms to see if you can get special rates by referring your employees. It may give them just the push they need to get more active.

Give them a culture of social acceptance and peer recognition

Finally, we mustn’t overlook the importance of mental health in employee wellbeing. Employees are happier at work when they feel that they are in a safe, supportive and socially accepting environment that values peer recognition and celebrates achievement and endeavor in ways other than simply paying bonuses for hitting targets.

When your workplace culture is conducive to social cohesion, you know that you’re onto a winner.

Why You Should Always Respect Your Employees

The first principle of my blog is Creating Ecosystems of Success. Three key focuses Business/Entrepreneurship, Career Discussions and Professional Development and Skills. No matter what kind of organization or business you’re in, respecting your employees is critical. Your employees are doing the work on the ground level and your operations can falter if they aren’t giving it their all. The following contributed post is entitled, Why You Should Always Respect Your Employees.

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Being respectful of your employees is vital if you are to maintain a cohesive team that buys into your business vision in order to help your startup thrive. Without a team with high morale, you may walk into the office every morning to view a sea of yawning faces and twiddling thumbs. You need to ensure that your staff are happy, positive and that there is a purposeful buzz in the office. As an employer, it is up to you to facilitate this. Mutual respect between boss and employee is crucial. Take a look at how you can foster a productive working relationship with your employees.

Training

It’s important that you invest in your team. By putting up some money and helping them improve their professional skill set, you are showing them how much you value them. Conduct professional development meetings with each staff member and construct a career plan. This may mean that they eventually leave your company to move to pastures new. This is natural. However, while they are your employee you can ensure that they are skilled up and apply this knowledge to your company. This means that you have the best staff working for you. Being valued means that your staff will feel more committed to your business vision because they will care more about your venture.

Environment

As a boss, you need to create a great environment in which to work. You may find that your newly leased office is a little drab, the beige carpet tiles are uninspiring and the walls are scuffed. In this sort of environment, your employees will lack the motivation to work. Whip out the white paint, get some local artwork on the walls, and add a splash of greenery to your workplace. This brings the outside in and can lift the mood of your team. Get rid of the old school desktop booths and swap these for collaborative meeting pods. Banish the tower computers, and allow your team to enjoy the luxury of neoprene sleeves for a swanky new set of high powered laptops. Giving your staff the equipment and tools to be productive as well as the environment in which to thrive will benefit the reputation of your business.

Communicate

Don’t be one of those elusive employers who is never seen in the office. Get out on the metaphorical shop floor and converse with your staff. Have a weekly briefing every Monday to discuss goals for the week and to allow your team to air their views. Ask their opinions on issues and act on great ideas. Send out a Friday email every week to celebrate successes and to namecheck those individuals who have gone the extra mile. This positive praise shows your team that you value them. Use a reward system of extra days off and meals out to incentivize your team.

Making the transition from employee to employer is tough. However, by following this guide, you can ensure that you get the most out of your team by fostering an environment of mutual respect. If you do ever experience any problems associated with any of your employees, remember there is help out there. Professionals like The Law Office of David H. Rosenberg can offer advice on further actions!