If you want to take your company to the next level, you should be looking at employee satisfaction. Happy employees are more likely to show up excited to do the work and support a company that supports them. So how do you create a more welcoming workplace with less employee turnover and better productivity? Here are some tips.
Boost Your Benefits
If you want to attract the best of the best, you need to make the job worth their while. A good benefits package can help new employees feel like the company cares about their wellbeing and is eager to facilitate their success. Try thinking outside basic healthcare coverage. Can you put a gym in your building, or offer to cover gym memberships? Does your insurance package cover mental health needs and other areas that often get left out, like dental and eye health? What about mental health days? Also consider your stance on vacation time. Your employees will be far more likely to enjoy that Greece cruise and come back rested when they don’t have to worry about a pile of work that didn’t get done while they were out.
Allow Creative Expression
A drab atmosphere can kill motivation faster than you realize. A gray office full of cubicles may seem like an affordable and clean cut option for your office space, but you’d be amazed at what a few changes can do. Consider adding some plant life, color, and prioritizing natural light. Allow employees to embellish their spaces with photos and other decorations to make the office feel more welcoming and familiar. Include options like quiet rooms for those who don’t work well with a lot of common office distractions, and consider sprucing up the break room with snacks, games, and other items to encourage people to actually take a break.
Ditch Micromanaging
It can be tempting to micromanage employees, especially when they’re new, but this need for control often has more negative consequences than positive. If managers check in with people over every little task, they may begin to feel that they can’t complete or start tasks without manager approval, which can foster feelings of inadequacy and slowly chip away at people’s confidence. Plus, this behavior eats into manager time when it’s not really necessary. If you hire the right people for the job, it’ll be more of a hindrance than anything. Ditch the micromanaging and your employees will thank you for it.
Prioritize Flexibility
Different people work best in different ways. Having strict policies for how tasks are completed and when can hinder creativity and cause unnecessary stress. This doesn’t mean planning isn’t necessary, just that planning doesn’t have to be rigid. Come up with a system that highlights deadlines and levels of priority, then offer support to employees who need more guidance. Many people work best remotely because the combination of no commute and a comfortable environment keep their energy levels high. Consider experimenting with remote or hybrid positions, or even a four day work week.
Offer Support
No one expects smooth sailing all the time, but if deadlines and projects start to pile up, make sure you’re checking in and making sure everyone’s needs are being met. Then take some time to evaluate how teams got behind. It may be that you’re taking on too much work for your team to realistically handle. On the other hand, if an employee has a list of tasks that are uncompleted and this is unusual for them, they may simply be in need of more support from you. Offering to delegate work or assigning something different can help them get back on track.
Creating a welcoming workplace doesn’t happen over night, and different companies will have different definitions of an ideal work environment. By asking your staff what they need and implementing small changes over time, you’re likely to see big changes in overall morale and productivity output.
