Around three-quarters of workers in the US are experiencing worker burnout. Whether it’s because of the pandemic, political climate, or working conditions, it is a huge problem on a national scale.
But if employees are experiencing burnout or are unhappy at work, they are more likely to leave their job or not perform as well as they should. This costs your business time and money, so employee happiness should be one of your main focuses as an employer.
And it’s not a lost cause. There are tons of things you can do to improve the workplace culture so you don’t have to worry about employee retention anymore. This brief guide will help you get started!
Support and Listen to Your Employees
How do you know what would improve employee happiness if you don’t know what would make employees happy? And there are two ways you can find out: conduct one-on-one meetings asking them and send out an anonymous survey.
If you have a smart management style, you should do both. One-on-one meetings show you care and you can ask each employee about their specific needs and aspirations. Anonymous surveys will help you find out if your employees don’t feel like they can talk to you about certain issues or any cultural problems.
Improve Employee Benefits
This will depend on the type of workplace you run. But, consider offering your employees more benefits so they can enjoy a better work-life balance. Here are some ideas:
- Give pay rises and/or bonuses
- Offer more paid time off
- Increase healthcare benefits
- Reduce hours
- Better equipment
- Remote working
- Better training opportunities
You can try some benefits on a trial basis to measure their success rate. But the more you can do for your employees, the more they will do for you.
Encourage Self-Care Practices
If your employees are getting enough sleep, nutrition, and downtime then they will be far more productive at work. Organize lunchtime yoga classes, meditation, or a running club and make a free snack table full of healthy treats.
Go one step further and leave the office on time (making sure everyone can see you leave) so your employees don’t feel the need to stay after hours. Encourage staff to not send emails after work or come in on weekends.
Remember the Little Things
Your employees will love little gifts so they know that you care. Buy them fun office presents from somewhere like BestNameBadges.com or Etsy.com. Remember to buy them a cake and a card (at least) on their birthday.
Organizing a chilled, Friday night party once a month to say thanks would go a long way, too.
Employee Happiness Is the Key to Business Success
If you need employees to run your business, then employee happiness should be one of your biggest concerns. Not only does it take time and money to train new staff, but finding employees that care about their work is priceless.
Keeping employees happy is only one responsibility of being a small business owner. There are lots of other skills and tasks you need to get to grips with, too. Lucky for you, our website has tons of business, finance, and marketing advice to help you out!
