No business functions well without content employees. When staff are happy, customers are happy too; leading to better job performance, higher sales and a sturdy work environment. Here are more ways to keep your best people happy and thriving in your business.
Give good feedback, often
Feedback is critical for a team to stay happy and engaged. In fact, 79% of those who leave, do so because of a lack of appreciation. Your business is busy and so you may overlook this small act and its great importance. Naturally, feedback is always important when you are trying to help someone improve, but positive feedback is equally important. This should be focussed on their efforts and should be personalised in order for it to be received in an authentic way.
Feedback should also be a two-way street. If you will be offering feedback, then you should also be prepared to receive it. According to research by TINYpulse staff who don’t feel comfortable giving feedback to management are 16% times less likely to stay in their jobs.
Be mindful of who you hire
In small companies, staff often have to wear many hats at any given point in the day. So it is essential that they understand this, can be proactive and are comfortable being flexible. If you hire someone who is only good at focused specific tasks, then it isn’t fair to ask them to do a different job and you are effectively setting them up for failure. Make sure that when you hire someone, you are clear about the job parameters and select the right candidate who is enthusiastic about the position.
Combine perks and benefits mindfully
As a small business owner, you may find it difficult to offer bigger salaries, but there are so many benefits to working for a small business which can be packaged as employee perks. This could take the form of flexible hours, a fair leave policy, training and growth opportunities and paid time off. These are really valuable to employees and can be a big reason for sticking around and working hard.
Create a fun work environment
Consider incentivising your staff through inter-office prizes and contests. Use this as a way to get staff excited about boosting important areas of the business like improving customer service or engaging in laborious tasks like restocking inventory. This is also a really useful tool if you have an onboarding program or regular training which needs high staff engagement.
The bottom line
Keeping your staff happy and ensuring they stay with your company long-term requires effort and ideas. Ensure that you invest time and money in creating a high-quality work environment that your people are proud to get up for in the morning. It often comes down to small gestures with focused personalised attention and when done right, these activities can make all the difference when it comes to who stays and who goes.
