What Can You Offer Your Staff To Keep Them Happy?

Your staff are the beating heart of your business. They work for you. They work hard and they dedicate their time to working at your business. Without incentives, however, you may find a lack of ambition and motivation within the workforce. It may be that they are becoming sluggish, not hitting targets and feeling unappreciated. If you want this to change, then looking at rewards and benefits for your staff could be a great place to start. The first five things that could improve once you look at rewarding your staff may be:

1. Increased Productivity and Employee Loyalty – Your staff will be much more engaged and work to better targets as well as feeling more able to communicate their worries if you implement a great management team.
2. Stronger Customer Relationships – Your customers will feel happier and they will sense the happiness from your staff which is always a boon for business. 
3. Less Stress = Fewer Sick Days – They will feel less likely to call in sick if it is not legitimate and will feel a bigger connection to their role. 
4. Higher Employee Retention – Your staff won’t feel the need to leave their jobs and leave you in the lurch. You will be able to retain them for longer, as well as being able to offer them pay rises and promotions once you retain your success.
5. Greater Talent – You will get the most out of your team and they will be more likely to start showing their skill set and impress.

Why is it so important to keep staff happy? 

In the workplace, people should treat each other the way they would like to be treated and so if someone isn’t treating them well, they are likely to feel bad. If they don’t want to be at work they will not do their job properly. If your staff work hard with never as much as a thank you then it will make them feel as if they don’t have job satisfaction. But it’s their job to be good? You may think. Essentially, yes. However, incentives are always welcomed, think of yourself in that position, a little encouragement and gratitude brings out the most in you. 

Employers often make promises to their employees about pay, benefits, promotions, and responsibilities and may not follow through but if they do continue to do this, then their staff  will feel compelled to continue working hard. The first step in keeping staff happy is to implement a respect across the board that goes for everyone. Not just the people in charge.  Treat people with kindness, courtesy and politeness. Encourage other coworkers to share ideas, thoughts and concerns and always actively listen to others. Don’t interrupt and have respect for anyone, even if they are below you. This is how you create a positive team, and how people all feel valuable and worthy even if their job isn’t considered as important as others. 

How do I keep them engaged?

Well, by incentifying staff, you can keep them much more engaged. Any type of staff treat or employee benefits are going to go down well. They always prove successful because it proves that the management team values their workers and this will naturally keep them more engaged and willing to work more for further incentive schemes. For added employee engagement, changing up the benefits and schemes every so often will help and give them something to look forward to at the end of the quarter. Engaged workers mean that they are communicating well which means that if any issues arise, they can work collectively to try and change the problems. In addition to this you may want to look at: 

1. Creating a friendly work environment – a good office space, facilities, and promoting kindness and activity throughout. Make your office as social as possible. 
2. Acknowledging employees’ achievements – even if this is outside of their work.
3. Rewarding employees – benefits and rewards are a top priority. 
4. Positive communication is the key – ask your staff to talk about their worries, tell them to talk to you about anything and assure them that you are there to help. You do not want them to be worrying unnecessarily. 
5. Encourage friendly competition – you want your staff to do well, so having games days and rewards for those who can hit targets fastest can be a fun way without promoting any unhealthy competition. 
6. Have a meaningful and worthwhile goal for business which will allow them to see the clear goal. If your staff know what they’re doing and when they are meant to be doing it then it will be a huge bonus. 
7. Create a career path – give your staff a clear idea of how they can progress from the beginning and the types of options available in terms of pay rises and promotions. 
8. Be a leader – lead your team and give them the energy and encouragement every day or as often as you possibly can. 

The team work that you build is going to help them work better so organising some type of day trip which can be a staff team building day, is a great change of scenery. Looking at things such as a day of sports or rock climbing, canoeing, or any thing that you think your team would like. It doesn’t have to be active, it could certainly be a pottery making class or a singing class – something that will build morale. 

If you feel that your staff are sluggish and need to get out of the office, you could try to do a trip every few months to give them something to look forward to. If your staff work long hours, they are bound to start feeling unhappy and lack the motivation they need to carry on efficiently.

Team building days are key to keeping staff happy! 

Businesses thrive when they have a diverse team of people who are praised and rewarded for their contributions to team ideas. Teamwork helps solve problems and so if there are any problems that are going on within the core of the business, you can sit down at a table and bounce off ideas. Collaboration can help with multiple issues within any type of business. Brainstorming is a good opportunity for the team to get their ideas out onto paper and come up with creative ways of doing things. You are likely going to find that your staff come up with plenty of new creative ideas that you may want to follow through on. However, if they feel unwanted or unmotivated, then they are likely to stay silent and not bother sharing their ideas. These ideas may lead to branching out and buying into new businesses or starting a new branch of your business. 

If you feel that there is any type of discrimination within the workplace then it certainly needs to be addressed. This is something you should be well aware of, just in case any of your team members come to report something. Some of the types of discrimination found in the workplace are:

• Age.
• Disability.
• Gender reassignment.
• Marriage and civil partnership.
• Pregnancy and maternity.
• Race.
• Religion or belief.
• Sex.

None of these discriminations should be tolerated at all in the workplace. It is going to hinder workflow and affect your staff’s mental health which is the last thing you want for your team. Encourage equality throughout. Motivation is the key to success. Success is what most people dream of accomplishing but it can be difficult when you are part of a team. So this is why constant incentifying will be a big benefit for you as a manager. Successful people are those who are willing to take a chance, and get going when something needs to be accomplished, instead of waiting around. This means that if you have a passionate employee who isn’t afraid to speak their mind and talk of the downsides of the business, you should be open to listening to them and take on board their thoughts, even if you do not actually follow through on any actions relating to it. Being heard, and feeling as if you are being listened to is key in any business. 

Will you see benefits quickly and will my business improve quickly? 

The chances are that any changes that are created from a better environment and new incentives are going to come moderately quickly. This may depend on the situation however and you may see an overnight improvement, or it may be a slow burner. All these elements depend on the job you do, the way you have treated your staff, your business goals and much more but overall, the wellbeing of staff and the way in which you reward them and thank them for their time and effort is going to affect just how your business improves over time. 

You can keep a note and assess things at the end of every month to see what is working and what isn’t working and this will lead to a more effective strategy. 

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