A key component of running a successful company is ensuring that you have happy employees. Happy employees can lead to an increase in sales, higher employee retention, and higher productivity. But sometimes, keeping employees happy is more than just offering a raise.
Here is everything you need to know about keeping employees happy.
1. Show Their Importance
Business owners often forget what a crucial part their employees play in the bigger picture. You’re more likely to sacrifice an employee at the low end of the stick when it comes to budgeting time. While this may seem like just one employee, letting them go without consulting first is a great way to bring down the rest of the crew.
When it comes to holidays, busy times, or even harsh times, show that your employees are important. This can be as simple as a thank you letter that addresses the company. The key is to show that without them, the company would not be able to function the way that it does.
2. Management Is Key
Employee satisfaction also stems from the managers that they are under. The idea of trickling down typically happens often, where the manager at the top treats those underneath them poorly, till it reaches the base level employees where they are treated the worse.
Ensure that the managers you have are there for leading, not bossing around. Rather than delegating tasks to employees while the manager slacks off, see if that manager is out on the floor helping the employees or customers.
High turnover typically occurs when there is poor management. It is easier to hire a good manager that can keep employees, rather than spending money worthlessly on new hires that leave left and right.
3. Ensure Upwards Momentum
Another great way to keep employees happy is the sign that there is upwards movement happening in the company. This means being able to start at an associate level or entry-level position and work your way to management.
It can feel disheartening for employees and cause higher turnover rates when you’re constantly hiring from outside the company. While it may benefit the company to hire someone qualified from outside in the short term, hiring one qualified employee at the risk of losing five experienced and good employees is not worth it.
The other benefit of hiring from within is the lack of training times. Rather than having to go through an onboarding process, they’ll be accustomed to their role and crew, leading to a higher satisfaction rate with your employees.
4. Benefits Are Important
Giving out benefits can seem costly, but the extra productivity that arises from it can be worthwhile for companies. Often, companies assume that their employees are lazy for not attending work at all times and using their vacation time.
When companies offer benefits and sway their employees from using them, you lead to an increase in burnout. Burnout can lead to lower productivity times, poor quality of work, and higher turnover. While you may save money in the short term by not having to pay for vacation time, you will lose money in the long run when your employee’s rate of work has diminished.
Simple benefits can also go a long way for employee satisfaction. This can be as simple as providing lunch once a month or allowing them to get an already made drink out of the fridge. These little benefits also start to stack up so that employees are happier.
5. Transparency About the Company Is Useful
While it may not be important in the day-to-day life of the employee, being transparent about company issues is a great way to increase employee happiness. Rather than being left in the dust to figure it out themselves, quickly and accurately conveying important information can lead to less stress on employees.
A good example of this would be working retail and a popular item goes off the shelf because a vendor is back-ordered. If you leave the employees to guess what is happening, it can then turn into customer dissatisfaction and they’ll look elsewhere for the product. By explaining the situation to employees, they deal with less of a headache and it can lead to returning customers, as everyone knows what is going on.
6. Keep Work-Life Away From Home-Life
Employees should be happy away from work as well, so try to get work-life away from home-life. This means keeping unnecessary emails, texts, and phone calls at work, rather than bugging employees at home. It doesn’t mean that they aren’t committed to your work, but rather than need time to focus on something that isn’t work-related.
Emergencies do happen and let them know if that is the reason for contacting them after hours. For the sake of their job and yours, you may need to contact them in certain cases, but just apologize and go about business after the emergency is handled.
7. Show Gratitude
Showing gratitude is a little different than showing their importance. Showing gratitude is the act of rewarding or thanking for hard work when it is even not needed. This could mean staying extra hours, merchandising more effectively, or go above and beyond what is needed to take care of a customer.
Another key to showing gratitude is not to raise expectations unreasonably because of employees working harder. By increasing expectations without reward, you are leading to faster burnout and dissatisfaction.
Here are some factors to consider when deciding to show gratitude.
Happy Employees Equal a Happy Business
Keeping happy employees staffed is a great way to ensure that your business will continue to thrive. Happy employees can lead to more productive work and higher customer satisfaction. Hearing someone say that they love working at your company can mean a lot more than having someone say they love shopping there.
If you want to learn more about running a successful business and how to help your employees, be sure to check out the rest of our blog. If you know someone in charge of a business, be sure to share this article with them.