Five Tips for a Happier Workplace
Employee happiness and retention rates matter. They’re critical factors when it comes to customer satisfaction, sales, and the bottom line. A satisfied, long-term employee represents an irreplaceable source of organizational, product, and historical knowledge. A happy and healthy workplace motivates and inspires. A motivated employee is a productive one.
Most business leaders and middle managers understand these facts, but they don’t always behave in ways that cultivate a happy workplace and keep top employees. Over the coming decade, employee retention will become even more critical as the Baby Boomers exit the workplace and there will be far fewer people available for work. Are you doing what you can to encourage a happy and healthy work environment?
Here are some of the key ways to retain great employees:
1. Empower -- Don’t Micro-Manage
A good leader doesn’t micro-manage what everyone else is doing. Rather, they empower people around them to do their jobs. In the long run, letting employees err and correct the mistake themselves will result in a wiser, more confident, more effective, and more capable workforce. And companies that offer more flexibility when it comes to break time, work hours, and vacation have a happier work environment and more honest working relationships.
2. Listen
Many personal relationships end when one member doesn’t listen to what the other is saying. The same holds true for work relationships. Employees want to feel seen and heard by their direct supervisors, managers, and company executives. This could be as simple as a casual conversation in the break room to a formal program to solicit employee feedback company-wide.
3. Appreciate
Appreciation, praise, and respect are the key ingredients for positive morale and job satisfaction. Management and business leaders should always be on the lookout for opportunities to recognize employees and good work. Such positive reinforcement does wonders to boost motivation and productivity. In addition, the potential for upward mobility is one of the most important factors in the job market, Offering career growth opportunities, continued education, and on-the-job training can yield a more motivated, qualified, and knowledgeable employee pool.
4. Be Clear
A satisfied employee knows exactly what is expected from him or her every day. Be clear about both individual and company goals. If employees aren’t sure what’s expected of them, they can be on edge, insecure, and less motivated to succeed. Clear, definable goals should be set on a day-to-day basis, as well as for the big picture. And when job responsibilities or priorities need to shift, managers need to not only communicate the new goals, but the reasoning behind the change as well.
5. Support
We’ve all heard ‘the customer is always right’ mantra. And while I believe that’s 100% true, I’ve also seen some managers who are so focused on supporting the customers, they forget to support their employees as well. Good employees need to feel that they have the backing of their managers and company. Customer satisfaction is key. But just remember: unhappy employees produce unhappy service and unhappy customers…
These five steps aren’t rocket science. In the end, they all boil down to one simple idea: treat your employees like they matter. Because they do matter…a lot.
