A quick guide on...... How to keep your employees happy

Common sense would suggest that the happier your employees are, the more productive they’ll be. And the good news is that evidence suggests the very same thing. All that leaves is the tricky challenge of making them happy in the first place, and this guide offers a few tips and ideas to get you started.

Make employees feel like they own your business

To be happy, employees need to care about what they do, and more importantly, about your business. But if they feel like a cog in a machine, why would they be interested?

There are a number of ways of approaching this, and you’ll need to think creatively. But as an example, you might try to organise meetings or times for employees to suggest ideas for other departments. Ask for finance’s marketing ideas, and get IT’s view on sales. Not only will they feel more involved, but you may even generate some new initiatives.

Give employees responsibility

Show your employees you trust them by granting them new and bigger responsibilities. And more importantly, don’t micromanage them through the process. Offer advice and support, but show that you trust them to get the job done.

Don’t keep secrets

You need to tell employees what the bigger picture is for your business, and you need to do this regularly.

The more your employees know, the more they’ll feel that they’re part of the business’ future. People by their very nature get suspicious if they think information is being hidden from them. Create transparency and your employees will be happier.

Creative incentives

All employees care about money; that’s undeniable. But actually, many don’t care about money as much as you might think.

And as for other benefits, employees expect a decent holiday allowance and a pension; it’s not necessarily something they’ll get excited about. The trick is to get creative with your benefits.

The benefits employees shout about tend to be the unusual ones. How often do employees brag about getting a free breakfast with their job? It’s not nearly as expensive as a basic pension scheme, but it captures people’s excitement. Think creatively and introduce some benefits that might surprise your staff.

Offer flexibility

Employees love flexible employers.

Some flexibility is compulsory, but you’ll need to do more to really impress your staff. Look at what you can do for working parents, or people wanting to study. Think about how you could help those people that have longer and more expensive commutes. Are there some people who could benefit from compressed hours leading to extra days off?

Offering flexibility won’t ruin your business, and it will definitely motivate your employees. It shows you trust them, and more often than not, they’ll repay that trust.