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Most successful businesses will find importance in ensuring their staff is happy and satisfied. Unhappy staff can lead to a lack of motivation and productivity, which could hinder the business. It can be easy to keep staff happy, even if it is a well-deserved thank you or offering them help when they request in. If you are looking for ways to maintain the happiness of your staff, here are some simple tips.
Show them you trust them
Trust goes a long way in any walk of life. From friends to the workplace, trust shows someone that you realize they are authentic and can be relied on.
Showing trust to your staff could be as simple as giving them a key to the workplace. Offering your staff a key shows them that you trust them and respect that they may want to enter and leave the building at random times. For instance, they may want to work later hours. If so, having their key can allow them to feel comfortable with when they leave instead of packing up early and not completing their work. Companies such as thepinfactory.com.au keyrings can provide custom chains for businesses that are looking to offer their staff their own key to get into the office building.
Offer personal meetings
You may have a large business with hundreds of staff. If so, you may lack personal connections with your staff members. If that is the case, or you simply forget to make time for one-on-one meetings, makes more time for them. Ask staff if they would like personal meetings, where you can chat about life or work achievements. This will help you get to know the staff on a personal level and build better relationships within the work environment.
One-on-one meetings will encourage your staff to chat to your about their concerns more often. If you never chat with your staff and show them that you have time for them, they will most likely avoid conversations like this. This can cause them to feel stressed and have nobody to talk to about work. Giving them a shoulder to lean on when they feel stressed will help them feel more relaxed and content at and about work.
Offer little rewards to show that you respect them
There are lots of little things that can increase the happiness of staff. Something as simple as offering them the day off on their birthday or rewarding the occasional lunch. Little rewards show them you respect them and how hard they have worked. They may want their birthday off every year but are afraid to ask. Thus, offering it to them will show that you acknowledge their needs and they will feel more comfortable with asking you for small favors that can improve their happiness.
Plan team activities
Your workplace may have an uncomfortable or unfriendly dynamic if staff never spend time outside of work together. Although your staff may be of different ages, there is no harm in offering team activities that they can participate in. Whether it be Friday afternoon games or a coffee hour, allowing the staff time to get to know each other will create a more relaxed and friendly atmosphere in the workplace. In time, people may start to build closer connections and feel happier coming to work with people they know on a deeper level.
Never assign responsibility
If you have a new responsibility that needs attending to, such as a new client or simply clearing up a file cabinet, then always offer the task instead of assigning it without notice. If you assign tasks and hand over responsibility there, the staff member may have enough on their plate and therefore feel overwhelmed. Before you dedicate the task to the member of staff, always ask if they have time to. This will show them that you are willing to negotiate and understand their needs.
Encourage a healthy work-life balance
A good work-life balance can make anyone happy. Instead of filling up your staff’s schedules every day and not allowing enough downtime, offer them longer lunch breaks or early leave when they complete their tasks. Allowing your team to have a healthier relationship with work reduces their stress levels and enable them to have more personal time, which is bound to make them happier.
The next time you doubt yourself and question whether you do enough to make your staff happy, refer back to this guide and see if you are doing enough. It could be as simple as rewarding someone for their time and efforts to make them happier at work.
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