Taking into consideration today’s economic landscape, right now it is more important than ever for companies to have happy and productive employees.
Most employers want to make sure their employees are productive and professional at work. But companies should also worry about whether their employees are happy at their place of employment. Happier employees are more likely to be creative, stay with their job longer and be more energetic and effective at their workplace.
You must make it a priority to create a friendly and energized office culture. After all, the overall health of any business is measured by the satisfaction level of its workforce, because passionate employees are an essential pillar of how to build a successful business.
We know for a fact that a happy work environment attracts better and more skilled employees and helps the people who work there already be more optimistic about the future and the work they do on a daily basis.
As such, in this article, we put together a number of tips and tricks to make your employees feel good every time they come to work. Here are a few easy and effective solutions to help keep your employees happy and productive in the long run.
Recognize Employees’ Progress and Success Stories
Recognition of employees’ progress is important for reinforcing and rewarding your workforce for creating value for your business. Acknowledge your top performing employees individually and prove to them that you value their contributions to the overall success of your business.
Not feeling appreciated can directly affect employees’ motivation and productivity. So whether you do it verbally, in writing, or monetarily, show appreciation for employees’ efforts to enhance their sense of satisfaction and make them feel like valued. This will go a long way towards keeping your employees satisfied with your company.
On the other hand, if something goes wrong or someone makes a mistake, try not to “punish” the person. Instead, talk to the employee, help them improve to avoid making the same mistake in the future, and offer encouragement and, when needed, further teaching.
In simple terms, by offering consistent praise and recognition, your employees will be excited and eager to contribute to company-wide initiatives.
Don’t forget to celebrate certain milestones employees hit or challenges they have overcome. Make sure employees feel their contributions are rewarded. A simple “thank you” and “good job” goes a long way towards making employees feel appreciated at work.
Get Out of the Work Routine Occasionally
Humans have a tendency not to focus on the big picture when they are really busy. This prevents us from enjoying work perks or planning events that make a particular workplace and work culture fun and rewarding.
From time to time, employers should consider planning out team building activities such as social gatherings or games. Employers must realize that their business is like a community. And most people spend more time each week with their co-workers than they do with their own families. As a result, it is the employer’s job to help their workers build meaningful relationships with at work.
From time to time, employers should rewards workers with exciting and fun experiences so they get out of the boring everyday routine. Sitting at a desk all day or conversing with customers for long periods of time, day in and day out, can no doubt become mind-numbing. Many employers organize field trips for their workers to amusement parks, movie outings or even spa days.
Bottomline: helping your employees get out of their daily routine, feel special and interact with other co-workers will lead to team members becoming uber productive over time, energized and refreshed and more ready to tackle projects.
Get Custom Branded Apparel and Merchandise:
To energize employees and encourage friendly feelings towards each other, company owners should also seriously consider buying branded apparel with the company logo for all their employees.
According to Codrin Arsene, CEO at Digital Authority Partners, a Chicago design agency, there are many amazing benefits for employee morale that come with buying branded apparel for everyone at the office.
Branded apparel can help make employees more united with the vision of your company. It can also help promote or strengthen the company culture. Everyone likes free clothes, especially if they are coming from the company they work for. Custom apparel makes employees feel happier, generates a sense of community, improves morale, and even makes people more productive.
Branded apparel it is also good for a company’s image because it makes employees proud of the place they work for.
Every company wants their employees to be proud of their workplace because pride leads to commitment and a sense of belonging within a corporation or institution. It also leads to mutual trust among employees and happy feelings. So consider printing out high-quality T-shirts, polos or sweatshirts with your company logo and motto. And give them out to your workers. They deserve it. After all, the success of your business relies on their performance!
Offer attractive office perks
One of the biggest secrets to developing a successful business is fostering an office culture around productivity.
There are a number of ways to achieving a productive office. And they have to do with how you decorate your office and the amenities you provide to your employees while on the clock. Below are a few ideas on how to improve your office and make employees happier at their place of employment.
Employees need enough room to work, access to appropriate supplies and materials, and a comfortable and pleasant environment. So ensure that all equipment in your office is designed ergonomically so that it positively motivates employees by having their personal needs met. To help with the office morale, some employers invest in giving employees two monitors, buy very comfortable chairs and make sure the office setting has appropriate lighting fixtures (more light is always better!)
When possible, we also suggest making sure the work environment has live green plants around the office. Humans feel better about themselves and more energized when they experience a connection to nature around them.
In addition, see to it that healthy food choices are offered in the cafeteria or break room because healthy food helps people think better, improves the office mood and increases energy levels. Especially in Silicon Valley, many companies now offer fully stocked refrigerators with suppliers ranging from peanuts to Red Bulls, cheese strings to jelly beans, and everything in between.
One final element that will make your employees love their workplace is is letting them personalize their work space, within reason, and taking time off for school events and occasionally working from home. So consider offering all these perks when appropriate.
Show That You Care About Your Employees
Last but not least, it is important for you as an employer to always be open and available to your employees.
Take an interest in who your employees are, what they like to do in their free time, where they travel and what their hobbies are. Make your employees feel like they are a part of a community.
Try to pop around the office periodically and see how everyone is doing. Ask your workers how their weekend was, and check in to see if anyone needs assistance with ongoing projects.
Give them a little nudge in the morning with a smile that says, “I’m happy you are here and I want you to love your job.”
Summary
Your employees are your biggest asset.
Which means you need to make it a priority for them to be happy.
The cost of replacing an employee is significantly higher than making them happy. So instead of losing amazing people, take the time to make the office enjoyable and put policies in place that are flexible, fair and conducive to improving the overall productivity of your workforce.
From the office perks you provide, to the customer apparel you can give your employees, to taking an interest in your workforce, we’ve covered the easiest and best ways to really make your employees happy.
I hope you’ll follow our advice. It’s designed to ultimately maximize your profits and productivity while keeping everyone happy.