When you have your own business, it’s essential you take steps to ensure it’s a success. One way of doing this is by having happy staff who are hard-working and motivated. However, a lot of managers go wrong by overworking their staff and not ensuring they are happy at work. By doing this, they often end up leaving for another position, and you won’t retain your employees on the long-term basis. Here are eight essential ways managers can retain employees and keep them productive.
Reward them when they do well
It’s so important that you reward your staff by praising them if they do well in a particular task. That way, they will feel appreciated and are bound to stick around for longer. It can also spur them on to try even harder next time. If you ignore their hard-work, they won’t bother working as hard next time. After all, studies have found appreciation makes employees work harder. As well as thanking them verbally, you might want to reward them with a monetary incentive. You could add some money in their paycheck which they will be incredibly grateful for. Or you could take them out for dinner or a special lunch. You can read our previous blog for more great ways to reward your staff.
Offer great supportive services
To retain good employees and keep them productive, you have to care about them on a personal level too. After all, they are human beings, and if their home life is affecting their work life, they may need some extra support. Therefore, if they are struggling, it might be worth talking to them privately about what’s occurring and how you can help. You may need to let them have some time off work to sort through their issues. Or you might suggest they need to go to a doctor or a counsellor to get some help. You could look into getting an employee assistance programme implemented at your workplace. It will help employees with personal problems which could be damaging their performance. You can find many companies such as Health Assured who can implement this for you.
Allow flexible working
Employees are bound to leave sooner if you work them into the ground. Of course, it’s essential work is completed on time so that you complete orders and make money. However, it doesn’t mean you have to make employees work extra long shifts and have a lack of breaks. To keep them happy and committed to the company in the long-term, you may want to allow flexible working. For example, you may want to allow people to start earlier and then finish earlier in the day. Letting people be more flexible with their shifts will mean a happier and productive workforce.
Ensure you pay on time
Making money is one of the vital reasons why people work. After all, we all have bills and family to pay for. Therefore, if you don’t pay them money on time, they are not going to stay with the company. They will be unhappy and won’t work as hard in their role as they know you will be late paying. Therefore, you need to ensure you have all the money sorted so that it goes through on time every month. If you don’t have time to do it yourself, make sure you hire a finance team to ensure it’s paid.
Complete monthly reviews
It’s important that you are completing monthly reviews, so employees know how they are doing in their role. If you leave the employee doing the same thing every month without a review, they could be making mistakes without knowing it. They will also not feel appreciated and will leave to find a different company to work for. Therefore, make sure you or another senior member of staff completes monthly reviews. Praise them for their efforts and talk to them about what they could do differently in their role. Feedback will ensure they are productive and will encourage them to work harder in their role.
Incorporate social activities
Having a social life is just as important as work. After all, it’s a great way to build up your confidence and your communication skills. Therefore, you should incorporate social activities into their work life. Arrange social events such as a pub evening or a games night which employees are welcome to attend. You could also start up a sports team which people can join and get active. It will boost employees as they will get to know each other better and be happier in the company. After all, people are more likely to stay in a role if they make friends that work there too.
Communication is key
Communication is one of the biggest ways to retain employees and keep them productive. You need to give them an insight of your vision and talking to them is the best way to do this. Therefore, make sure you speak with them and ask them if they have questions. As this feature explains, communication helps employees and managers share common goals. You can then work together to make the business a success. Therefore, get talking to your staff so they will feel engaged and want to stay at your company.
Offer great career development
We are all working to get ahead in our career. Therefore, if you want employees to stick around, you need to provide them with excellent career development opportunities. After all, you don’t want them to feel that there is nowhere to go, and they will be at a dead end in this role. Otherwise, they may stay a year and then leave to work for a better company. You can ensure they have great career development by offering them ongoing training in the newest software and skills. As discussed in this article, it gives employees a sense that you care about them learning and advancing in the role. That way, they are more likely to stick around!
Remember to ensure that the workplace is physically laid out well. You want staff members to feel they have plenty of space to work in a fresh and clean environment.
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