While starting a business may be challenging for a variety of reasons, it is dealing with your employees that will often prove to be the hardest. Even if you have excellent people skills, being in charge of them is a whole other ballgame. You will have to make some tough calls, and you might often be hated for it, but such is the burden of leadership. Still, that does not mean that you shouldn’t make an effort to keep your people satisfied. If you improve employee happiness, you will have employees that do their best work.
These creative tips will help you improve employee happiness around the workplace.
A ton of studies have been made on this one, and they all show that the average employee is often stressed about their daily commute to work, whether that is driving or using public transportation. As an employer, you need to make your people as happy and comfortable as possible, and you can do that by helping with their daily commutes. You need to get creative with this one, so do whatever it takes to ease that stress on your people without jeopardizing work. A lot of companies are using ‘work from home’ in this day and age, and it works brilliantly. So, if your people can take a day or two a week to get their work done from home, do it –– you’d be surprised how efficient and motivated this makes them.
Flexible hours also work like a charm. It will let people be in charge of their own schedules so they could arrange them to avoid rush hours, and you will eventually get your working hours, one way or the other.
One of the most important and efficient tactics for making employees happier is relinquishing control for a bit. This isn’t to say you will not be a manager anymore, but instead you would give them more rein to do their jobs as they see fit. In other words, assign tasks, and ask them to do them as they see fit. You will get the task done, with much better quality, and your people will get to play to their strengths and accomplish tasks according to their own rules and mindset. This sense of ownership significantly improves employee satisfaction and yields great results in the workplace.
An employee that feels appreciated for their efforts and hard work will give you their best. A major reason why many people quit their jobs is that they don’t feel appreciated, even if it is a high paying job. You can read more here to understand different ways to show your appreciation for your people’s hard work. A simple thank you note goes a long way to improve employee happiness and their mood. Additionally it gives them the boost they need to continue giving 100%.
Nobody likes having a million things to do with ridiculous deadlines. You need to streamline your employees’ efforts and avoid wasting their time whenever possible. If there are tasks that can be automated and would save your people a lot of time and tediousness, invest in those. Instead of conference calls, hold meetings so you could get the agenda out of the way as soon as possible without mindless chatter. Keep thinking of creative and reasonable solutions to increase their efficiency, which will save them time to do other things that might be more important for them.
This might sound a bit weird, but yes, it falls on your shoulders to promote good health and look after your people’s physical well being. This will improve employee happiness as you show you care about more than just work. A lot of the health issues they face in life are because of work, from stress and high blood pressure to back pain. So, it is up to you to try and look after them in that regard to make them happier. Strike deals with gyms to give your people discounts, promote sound practices in the workplace and educate them on things like proper posture while seated, and so on.
Some studies show that having close friends at work improves an employee’s happiness by 50%! This is something you need to invest in, but understand that it takes time and effort. People won’t be friends overnight. You need to have social events and promote as well as encourage socialization and collaboration in the workplace. Your people will be much happier for it.
At the end of the day, the happier the employee, the better they will perform. Never think of effort, time, or money spent to make your people happier as wasted. On the contrary, it is an excellent investment in your employees, and in turn your company.
