The Trick to Securing Happy Workerssubmitted on 24 May 2018
As a manager or a CEO of a start-up, you’ll know that the satisfaction of your workers is dependent on their fulfilment in the job. If they’re happy in the position, well-managed and well catered for, they’ll be productive, responsive and responsible, making for employees you can trust and count on when they’re needed. To maintain this level of productivity, it’s important as a manager to know how you can influence your workers towards feeling positive and fulfilled: here’s a quick run-through of management tactics to secure happy workers in your business.
Manage Personally
Employees will all have individual lives and potential problems that they have to bring to work with them; most will experience some hardship while on the job that they might not immediately bring to light. Oftentimes, when workers are feeling stress at home, the additional worry that they’ll be distracted from their work, leading to ‘presenteeism’ - being present at work but dysfunctional - that might be punished by senior management. This stress compounds their domestic issues and can lead to a deterioration in an employee’s happiness and fulfilment.
In order to mitigate against anyone feeling this way in your place of work, it’s important to man manage your team by scheduling regular one-on-one meetings, and by keeping abreast of what’s happening amongst your employees. You might find yourself informed by an employee about another’s suffering, or you might sense it yourself: either way, having a private and confidential chat about their problem, offering support, and suggesting some time off are all compassionate responses that’ll be appreciated by your employees, creating a more wholesome working environment.
Productivity Incentives
If you run a start-up, you’re likely to have a more versatile team covering different responsibilities in a fast-paced business environment. But for most management positions, you'll find yourself managing people who do the same type of work on a daily basis. Anyone will tell you that it’s hard to stay motivated when you’re producing the same work each day; if you feel that your workplace is suffering from a lethargy that comes from monotonous work, it’s time to establish some incentives, even if that leaves you or the company a little out of pocket.
Incentives are a useful trick to inspire an office’s positivity and vitality. Simply setting up a monthly reward scheme, promising a work night out after a period of heavy workloads, or monitoring work speed and rewarding those who have a particularly productive spell - these can all provide a boost to your workers that might provoke startling results. Remember that people work to live, they don’t like to work. A little bonus every now and then will be very much appreciated.
Employee Benefits
Other than establishing some kind of incentive reward system for those who’re dedicated to producing excellent and efficient work, some blanket employee benefits are one of the best ways to raise the spirits of your workers. They’ll feel valued and rightly considered by management, and this, in turn, will make them more loyal to the company and to you. No worker likes to feel undervalued: benefits and schemes are a way of showing that you care.
Some of the typical examples of employee benefits in the US revolve around either dental or healthcare discounts or insurance coverage. Perhaps certain industries and sectors will provide free or discounted industry-specific products, while others still might lay on free of charge lunches, gym access, restaurant vouchers or television subscription accounts for their workers. If, as a manager, you presently have no benefits in your place of work for employees, why not ask them in all what type of benefit they’d most appreciate before bringing that in.
Adequate Pay
Working all boils down to the money you earn, and that’s why pay is so important to workers. For some employees, a missed pay check can lead to defaults and missed rents, which leads to payday loans, more debt, and economic insecurity which is no way for a worker to feel despite being in full-time employment. For most workers, their main motivation above all else is the money their job provides. In any case, ensuring you’re providing timely and adequate payment to your employees is absolutely essential for job satisfaction and trust.
To deliver pay, you might want to read more about printing your own wage slips for workers that explains their net pay and tax. You should also make absolutely sure of the fact that money will be paid into employees’ banks at a certain time and date each week or month. Finally, you should ensure that all employees are receiving adequate pay and that those who’ve been in the company longer, or who have been particularly valuable over the last while, are rewarded by incremental pay rises that shows that you care, and you’ve noticed they're worth to your company.
Worker-First Mentality
The biggest mistake many managers make when attempting to extract the most or best work from their employees is to focus on the work and not the man. They’ll set targets that put the whole team under pressure, removing the positive atmosphere that an office can really be productive in. By adding pressure and the looming threat of punishment or retribution to the mix, you’ll actually demotivate your workers, making them less productive despite in spite of what you’re trying to achieve.
The happiest workers feel valued, understood and trusted and will work hard happily if the focus for motivation is on their fulfilment and satisfaction and not on the content or quality of their work. Learn this simple way of looking at employee productivity, and you’ll excel as a manager, gathering around you loyal and grateful workers who will, presumably, have had experience working with managers under whom they have not felt valued, leading to frustration and demotivation in the job. Don’t take yourself too seriously and make sure you’re doing everything you can to understand how your workers feel, and you’ll have a wonderful workforce underneath you.
Managing workers should all be about keeping them happy, leading to increased productivity and a good working environment; follow the above tips as a manager to ensure you’re working to create just such a workplace for your employees.
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