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When you have good employees working for you,they are the lifeblood of your business. Without them, you wouldn’t be able to provide the great service or products that you currently do, and you would have to work a lot harder on a personal level to ensure that your business kept thriving; it might be that it just wouldn’t be possible. This is why it is so important to keepyour employees as happy as possible when they are working for you. This will foster a sense of loyalty, plus if people enjoy their job, they will be more willing to go ‘above and beyond’ when it is called for.
Unhappy employees are simply not productive, and their unhappiness is something that customers can easily pick up on. Here are some great tips on how tokeep your employees as happy as possible, and increase your workplace productivity at the same time.
Define Your Vision
You may have exactly the map of how your business is going to grow and where you are heading next in your head, but if you don’t communicate that to your employees they are not going to know what the plans are – they might feel frustrated by this, and perhaps even feel as though you simply don’t trust them enough to let them in on the future of the business. They might start to make up their own rumors, worrying that you are planning to sell the business or make people redundant. By defining your vision and keeping everyone working for you abreast of any progress (or otherwise), you can keep them happy and motivated.
On top of this, you might find that your employees are able to come up with new and exciting ideas that can help you move forward faster; the only thing they need to be able to do this is an idea of where you want to go.
Train Them
Just because you have hired people to do a certain job doesn’t necessarily mean that you can leave them to their own devices and hope for the best. In fact, this can make them very unhappy as having guidance from their employer is something that many people want – they need to know they are doing the right thing in the right way. Giving your employees periodic additional training either in their current position or in something new that you want to introduce to the company will help them to feel part of the whole, making them more productive and excited to work for you. Plus, the more training they have, the better they will work and the more quickly you can grow your business.
Pay Them Right
Of course, employees who are paid well will generally be happier (although this is not always the case), so it is important to pay everyone who works for you what they deserve. This could mean that you need to wait for longerbefore you hire anyone because once you have done so and contracts are signed, you need to be able to continue paying them monthin, month out, no matter what. Until your business is definitely in a position to be able to do this, you should continue to do the work yourself, orperhaps outsourceto a third party who you don’t have to pay unless you need to use them.
When you are about to hire someone, make sure that the salary you are offering is on par with what other people pay. Far too little and you won’t get many applicants, giving you little choice on who to hire (plus they may not be as well qualified as you would have liked). Paying too much means you will get excellent candidates, but you may not be able to sustain their wages.
Give Them What They Need
If an employee is frustrated because they don’t have the equipment they need to do their work to a high enough standard, they won’t be happy to work for you. They will either do less work to a lower standard (either on purpose or because they have no choice because they don’t have what they need to do anything else), or they will leave altogether, heading to a company that can offer them more. Either way, you will be left with agap to fill.
It is imperative, therefore, that you call regular meetings to ascertain what it is your employees need from you. It might be additional training, as mentioned above, or perhaps specific equipment for a project they are working on. It might be as simple as needing better office equipment such as a new printer or photocopier, and you can learn more here about the importance of these machines and what to look for when buying a new one.
If you can help your employees by giving them what they need,then you should do so. Although there might be an initial financial outlay, the happy employee doing better work at a faster pace will soon make up for the money you needed to spend.
Communicate Well
Communication is key in business when it comes to your customers and suppliers, but it is just as important when it comes to your employees, and this is a fact that should not be forgotten. Keeping your employees up to date on what is happening within the business is a great motivator and something that will help to keep them happy and working hard. It can be done through arranging regular meetings, sending out internal newsletters, emails, memos, or perhaps training sessions. Whichever method you choose, make sure that the information you give is clear and concise and that you take the time to answer any questions your employees might have.
This is also the ideal time to praise those employees who deserve it. Simply saying thank you, or acknowledging a job well done can be enough to boost morale and make all employees happy to work for you.
Set An Example
Keeping your employees happy means setting an example to them. This kind of leadership can be enough to show those working for you exactly what you expect. If you are working hard, they will also work hard, for example.
