It’s easy to get so focused on what your business does that you forget about one of the biggest and best assets you have, your employees! Often business owners find that the people they work with every day have so much more to offer than they produce regularly, and they have skills and experience just waiting to be brought to the surface. Identifying these things is a wonderful thing, and benefits not only the business, but also the employee.
Make your workplace a positive one
How well do you know your people? It’s important to know what’s important to them, both at work and personally, and help them achieve this. Aside from the fact that employees who are happy and motivated generally produce better work, it also makes a better work environment for everybody when there’s a sense of community, and people are happy and supporting one another.
The following checklist is a great start to identify the overall happiness and workplace health of your staff:
- Do your staff feel challenged in their work?
- Do your employees feel like they have a purpose?
- Are there achievable goals that you have set for your employees?
- Do you invest in employees’ professional development?
- Are you aware of your employees’ aspirations?
- Do you promote staff internally?
- Do you conduct regular performance reviews?
- Do you reward a job well done?
It is absolutely essential that employers value their staff and realise that the business cannot grow with an unhappy team. It is unreasonable to expect commitment and dedication from discontent staff. It’s YOUR job, as an employer, to create the kind of healthy work environment where people flourish.
Encourage people
One of the best things you can do for your staff is to keep them motivated. It’s been noted that frequent positive feedback from the boss is one of the greatest motivations for staff. It can also help you refocus your attention on the positives rather than the negatives in your workplace, helping you create a healthier and more encouraging work environment overall.
Offer training and development
Some employers don’t invest in training programs for their employees, reasoning that they’ll leave eventually so it’s not worth their money. However, investing in upskilling your people not only benefits them as people, but it can also help them work better in your business.
Employees who are not constantly growing and learning are more likely to feel disengaged. When you provide regular training or development opportunities you’re not only getting the most from your employees in terms of skill set, you are also letting your people know that you value them, and believe in them.
Strong, happy, motivated people create a strong, happy, motivated workforce, which has a flow-on effect on every area of your business. If this is something you’ve not thought about before, now’s the time to start! Assurance HR has training programs in company culture, and we’d love to talk with you about how you can grow and motivate your team. Talk to us today, on 1800 577 515.
