Are the employees in your company just working for a paycheck? Or are they honestly happy with their decision to contribute to your brand?
The answer might be more important to your bottom line and corporate legacy than you think.
Recently, a CNBC article tackled the topic of employee happiness. According to their reporting backed by findings from a Comparably survey, 10 organizations top the chart for worker bliss. Among them are Adobe, Peloton, IBM, and Zoom.
Though these findings focused on large-size employers, they hold nuggets of inspiration for businesses of all sizes. Namely, that focusing on employee satisfaction matters on all levels. After all, engaged employees tend to stick around for the long haul, contribute more freely, collaborate with colleagues, and bring their A-games.
Knowing this, you might wonder how you can supercharge the positive energy around your workplace. Try these eight methods for transforming and enhancing the contentment level of your team members.
1. Give them benefits that they can use.
Perks like free lunches and dress-down Fridays don’t cut it anymore. High performers want to work for companies that provide impressive benefits.
Consequently, offering retirement options like a small business 401k with or without employer matching can woo and wow talent. Other benefits useful to modern workers include robust healthcare coverage, pet insurance, and better-than-average paid family leave.
2. Make remote and hybrid work the norm.
What do so many of the top employers on the aforementioned Comparably list offer their people? Flexible working arrangements. That doesn’t mean that employees aren’t expected to come to the office, either. It just means that they have more control over their schedules.
Empowering your staff members to work when and how they need takes away unnecessary stressors from their lives. Additionally, it shows that you’re putting your trust in them to make smart adult decisions. And that can have a serious effect on their well-being.
3. Keep your wages competitive.
You’ve heard about what’s being called the Great Resignation by now. This mass exodus of employees from the workforce is occurring for numerous reasons. One of which seems to be an unwillingness for talented people to put their energies into uncaring businesses.
Though you may not have lost any workers to the Great Resignation, you’re not immune from its effects. A solution to retaining superstars can be to revamp everyone’s compensation. For example, you may want to add to your current salary model by offering bonuses based on fair, data-backed measures. As they say, money talks. It also makes life simpler for people because they don’t have to worry as much about their financial situation.
4. Increase your PTO allowance.
In the United States, the average annual paid time off (PTO) for a full-time worker hovers around the 10-day mark. However, 10 days might not be enough to excite your employees—or give them the necessary downtime to mentally and physically recoup. You know from your own experience how important spending time away from emails and clients can be. So why not dust off your PTO allowance?
To be sure, some companies have taken PTO to the extreme by offering “unlimited” time off. Typically, the term “unlimited” is a bit of a misnomer, though. It can also sound too ambiguous or make employees wary to leave for fear of taking too much time. An alternative could be to provide employees with a larger pool of days or hours that they can take as desired.
5. Survey your employees regularly.
When was the last time you asked your workers what they thought of your workplace or their jobs? If you’re like many businesses, you’ve never asked for feedback. Now is the time to rectify that decision by asking for anonymous input from across your organization.
Gathering information and ideas from employees on what they need from you is the easiest way to keep them happier. Just remember that you have to be willing to listen and react to what you hear. Some of it might not be as flattering or positive as you might like. Still, finding out your staff members aren’t satisfied when you can do something about it is better than watching them go.
6. Hire for organizational fit.
Some experts say that you shouldn’t worry too much about cultural fit when hiring. Nevertheless, you need to be cognizant of whether your newest employees will be a brand match. For instance, you don’t want to bring someone onto the team who doesn’t believe in the company goals or vision. The person ultimately will be a flight risk—and may wear down team morale in the process.
To be sure, you need to avoid unconscious bias when recruiting and interviewing. Cultural fit doesn’t mean onboarding people who all come from the same backgrounds. Often, hiring managers save organizational fit questions for final interviews. They will assist in pinpointing exactly the right person to fold into your tight-knit group.
7. Provide professional development opportunities.
A huge sell among younger employees is the ability to bump up their learning on the job. You can make this happen by instituting a robust training program at your company. Similarly, you may decide to offer each worker a sum of money to spend on professional development each year.
Here’s a side benefit you’ll appreciate about taking this step: Your business will get a serious boost. Upskilling current team members is a proven way to remain at the leading edge of your industry. That means the happiness will be two-fold.
You’ve spent a lot of time and invested plenty of energy in building a great workforce. Now, it’s up to you to make sure that you don’t lose any of your future leaders. Paying attention to the satisfaction quotient of your personnel can give you a competitive advantage. It can also attract better candidates to your business, allowing you to keep the happiness flowing.
