How To Encourage Employee Satisfaction In The Workplace
For any employee in the workplace, keeping them happy is important. It can be challenging to do this when there’s a growing team that all need looking after. However, if the basics are covered and the department heads or managers know what they’re doing, then it’s easier to achieve.
Employee satisfaction matters more than anything else in business, especially as the workforce are the ones responsible for providing results. With that being said, let’s look at how to encourage employee satisfaction in the workplace this year and beyond.
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The importance of keeping employees happy
Why is it important anyway to keep employees happy? What’s the big deal if they don’t always come to work in the best mood? Well, it has more of an impact than many businesses think.
With unhappy employees, there’s a lack of productivity. That lack of productivity or willingness to work hard can impact the general success of a business. Unhappy employees are also going to be more inclined to look elsewhere for that happiness they’re lacking, which affects retention rates.
Only 42% of employees are happy with the recognition and rewards they get from their companies. With that being below half, it’s an improvement that clearly needs to be made by many business out in the world currently. Its not just about giving giving gifts to the employee, moreover, its about happiness cultivated in the workplace!
10 ways to encourage employee satisfaction in the workplace
There are many ways in which a business can inspire satisfaction and happiness within the workplace. With that in mind, this guide will share ten of the best ways to encourage employee satisfaction so they’re more likely to stick around and work harder as a result.
- Listen to their concerns.
First and foremost, it’s important to listen to the concerns of staff. This will help greatly when it comes to addressing any problems in pinch points within the company itself.
Employees will always be willing to share their concerns, especially when it comes to their own working experience. For those that don’t necessarily want to share those concerns publicly, then doing it anonymously through feedback forms is likely beneficial in getting those individuals to talk freely.
Always take feedback and concerns seriously when it comes to the employees as showing interest and making change, does give employees trust in the business.
- Encourage peer recognition through rewards and bonuses.
Sometimes a simple act of kindness can go a long with in making an employee’s experience the best it can be.
Something that can help contribute to their experience is peer recognition. What is peer recognition? Well, it’s an expression of appreciation between co-workers. Having a peer recognition system in place that not only allows co-workers to reward one another, but the company too is beneficial.
Encouraging peer recognition through rewards and bonuses is important.
These small rewards or gifts to the employee in question can be a great way of congratulating them on a job well done and an encouragement to keep up the good work in progress.
Try to give every employee the opportunity to be rewarded with something every year as it really does help instill employee satisfaction and an appreciation that they matter to the company.
- Stomp out workplace bullying.
Workplace bullying should be stomped out as soon as senior members of staff are alerted to it. Nowadays, bullying in any sense of the word should be frowned upon and taken extremely seriously.
It’s a shame but workplace bullying has been found to be on the rise. This type of behavior that is typically seen in the school playground, doesn’t belong in an adult-working environment.
As a business, it’s important to be the leaders of others in getting rid of bullying and coming down on those who choose to bully in the workplace.
Whether that’s suspension or firing them from their role, take workplace bullying with the upmost seriousness.
- Provide career paths for those that want it.
Not everyone is looking to stay in the same job for the rest of their lives. For some, that might be exactly what they want and when it comes to some businesses, that can be perfectly fine to expect. However, if there are those individual employees that want to progress, then it should be supported and entertained where possible.
Of course, it’s not always a guarantee that a business can cater to the expectations that some employees may have when it comes to their dream role. However, it’s important to try and cater to it where it’s psosible, whether it’s through promotions, the addition of responsibilities and experience to training that will help them progress onto new roles elsewhere.
Providing a career path route for the employees that want it, will encourage them to stick with the business for longer.
Even if ultimately leads to them leading as they’ve hit the ceiling of the company, it’s better to have driven employees working for the business.
- Develop a healthy working culture.
A healthy working culture is improtant within any business but sadly this isn’t the case for many. From working long hours, to no overtime or flexiblity. Moreover, it can become soul-crushing for those employees who are working for the organization.
Over time, it can cause distaste for the job and it may result in them leaving or taking the company for a ride by doing as little work as possible, for as long as possible.
Healthy work cultures will help improve the reputation of the business too, which is just as important nowadays.
- Offer remote and flexible working & DEI Training!
Due to the pandemic and the growing popularity of remote working, there are many businesses now that are offering remote and flexible working, as standard. It’s important that if it’s possible, a degree of flexible working is offered.
There are always going to be employees that need this, whatever size or industry the business is in. Of course, there are a few exceptions to this rule, such as the healthcare industry and anything customer-facing. However, there are lots of businesses that could offer this as an opportunity for staff.
Don’t make it mandatory, but definitely offer dei training to your employees as an option. Diversity, Equity & Inclusion is important to some!
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This is valuable for many employees and can provide the flexibility that they need to allow their personal lives to fit in around work when it’s needed. A great deal of respect and loyalty can come from employees by offering this to them regularly.
- Invest in the right business tools and equipment.
Any business is only as good as its employees and with that, the right business tools and equipment are paramount. If there are not the right business tools in place. Then it’s going to hinder the success and productivity of the workers.
From speedy desktop computers to online software that streamlines their business operations as a staff member, there are lots of ways that the business can make their job easier with the right equipment in place.
Some popular business tools and equipment include Hubspot for marketing. Or Hootsuite for scheduling social media, and Quickbooks for accounts, to name but a few.
- Have one-to-one meetings to check-in.
One-to-one meetings are a great opportunity to check in with employees to make sure all is well with their progress. Whether they’re brand new to the company and have only been with the business for a month or so, or they’re old-timers that have racked up five years with the company, it’s important to keep in touch with everyone.
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When it comes to one-to-one meetings, make sure that these are set up on a weekly or monthly basis and that there’s a record being kept that the employee also has access to.
- Always offer training opportunities.
Training opportunities are always a good way to help employees make progress in their careers. Any employee can benefit from some form of staff training, whether it’s related directly to their job or not.
These could be training sessions to help with particular areas of focus that the employees themselves don’t have much experience in. Allocate a budget that can be put towards regular training for all employees. This might be incorporated into the annual budget available for each department or offered as a separate opportunity.
- Be realistic with company expectations of employees.
Being realistic when it comes to company expectations is important. For employees, there’s only so much that they can get done in a working day. If they’re not getting all the work done. Then chances are, they might need some encouragement or it could be that they’re overworked.
Cramming their days in with too much work is unproductive and it will eventually lead to unhappiness in the workplace. With that being said, use those weekly or monthly one-to-ones to find out how their workload is doing and whether there need to be some changes to it.
Give employees the encouragement they need to exceed in the workplace
Every employee is different and individually important to the organization. It’s important to try and encourage employees in different ways to help them exceed in the business.
Take these tips and implement the relevant changes needed to help improve employee satisfaction in the workplace going forward.
