Three Ways to Keep Your Employees Happy

Did you know that an estimated 51% of employees are disengaged in the workplace? While this may not seem like a major problem, disengagement can cause many problems for your business. For example, when someone is disengaged at work, they are less focused, meaning they are more likely to make mistakes. As a result, business owners and entrepreneurs must work to combat disengagement within their workforce. One of the easiest ways to achieve this goal is to keep your team happy.  With that in mind, here are some simple ways in which you can keep a smile on your employee’s faces. 

Provide them with access to new opportunities

One of the main reasons why employees become disengaged at work is because they feel as though they have little room to grow or develop. As such, you can ensure you’re managing a happy team by providing them with access to new learning and development opportunities. This could include: 

• Training Courses
• Professional Certifications 
• Mentorship Programs

However, as opposed to simply offering these courses, you should also ensure that you gather feedback after the fact. After all, by measuring learning outcomes, you can determine the effectiveness of your training and just how satisfied your employees are. 

Reduce burnout

Burnout is another common cause of dissatisfaction in the workplace – and it is becoming increasingly common in just about every industry. In fact, an estimated 70% of people experienced burnout in the last year alone. As a result, you can improve employee satisfaction rates by helping them keep burnout at bay. For example, you could: 

• Invest in time-saving technology and software, which reduces their workload.
• Provide them with access to support services that help them to improve upon their mental health, reducing feelings of stress and anxiety.
• Encourage your team to take a break when they need one.
• Make it clear that their mental health and wellness are more important than the work you do.
• Consider outsourcing if your employee’s workload is too high.

Be receptive to feedback

As an employer, you can work to keep your employees happy by simply listening to them and taking their feedback on board. When I worked in Human Resources, so many problems could have easily been solved if managers just LISTENED to their employees!

While this does not seem to be overly complicated, 1/3 of employees feel their boss does not listen to them. Fortunately, there are many ways in which you can show your employees that you care about their opinions. For example, you could: 

• Provide them with ample opportunity to provide feedback, whether that be submitted digitally or through a face-to-face meeting.
• Following up with employees once feedback has been provided, to let them know about any changes you are making.
• Apologising when you have made a mistake or have done something wrong. 
• Working on your active listening skills so that you appear engaged during every single conversation. 
• Asking for their feedback on your own work. 

The more you listen to your team, the more valued and appreciated they will feel. Furthermore, it enables you to make the changes necessary within your workplace to keep your employees happy.