Unemployment may be high and getting higher by the day but it’s important you remember your staff are what makes your business, unless you’re running your business by yourself, there is someone out there wearing your name, your branding and it’s important they’re happy if you want them to do the best job possible. This doesn’t mean you have to give everyone a pay rise and start giving all your staff smiley face stickers… just follow these 7 simple tips and your staff will be only too happy to make you happy.
Don’t Take Them For Granted
Yes, the economy is in trouble, and yes there are companies’ getting dozens or even hundreds of applicants for every vacancy but this is the worst attitude you can have to your staff. For starters, you’ll have trouble attracting a good calibre of worker if your employee retention rate is sky high. You’ve also got to think of the expense and resources it’s going to take to recruit and train new staff. If your staff don’t feel like you want them around they’re not going to bother sticking around and they’re probably only going to be running at around 60% until they do find something new. You can’t expect your staff to bend over backwards and shower you in gratitude just for giving them a job, they’re there to help you after all, and it’s an equal relationship.
Don’t Ignore Them
One of the most common ways your employees are going to get discouraged is if they don’t feel noticed. No matter what their role in your business, it’s your responsibility to make the effort with them all. Learn the names of their children and ask after them once in a while, know what their hobbies are so you can ask Bob from accounts how is golf handicap is at the moment and make sure you’re paying attention to their work too. If you get a report turned in early or you see a presentation to a higher standard than you were expecting, it doesn’t take anything more than a few seconds to say well done. In the same instance you’re going to have staff who want nothing more than to be ignored, these are the ones who expect their colleagues to pick up the slack they create, by getting to really know your employees you’ll be able to weed these people out.
Little Gestures Go A Long Way
Yes times are hard and many big businesses are freezing pay raises and bonuses at the moment but this doesn’t mean you can’t find some way of letting your staff know how grateful you are for their hard work. The odd box of doughnuts in the kitchen or bacon sandwiches on Friday mornings, yes it might cost your pocket a few pounds but you’ll get the loyalty of your staff and it’s cheaper than a round of pay rises if you really can’t afford it. If you are freezing pay reviews then make sure you’re not rocking up to the office in your new expensive car or showing everyone how much money the business is really making. Little gestures don’t even have to cost money, if you have a formal dress code, relax it a little bit, if you staff aren’t in client facing roles let them listen to music at their desks if they want. It’s the little things that count and they soon add up.
Be Observant
We’ve already talked about how important it is not to ignore your staff, it’s equally important to really be observant of them. Of course this can be taken too far and your staff deserve privacy but if one of your staff are going through a divorce or family bereavement they might need a few days compassionate leave but don’t feel comfortable asking. Even if it’s inconvenient for you, let them have that time, after all they’re not going to be working to the best of their abilities if they’re not feeling great.
Be Flexible
Offer flexible working hours, it doesn’t cost your business any more money but it’s more likely to lift the moral of your staff (and help attract high calibre of staff for when you are recruiting). So long as they do their contracted hours each week does it really matter if they start at eight instead of nine then leave at four instead of five? Maybe they could take a shorter lunch break if they have kids they need to collect from school. This is also more likely to result in honesty from your staff too, they’re more likely to honestly say they need to leave early for a dentist appointment one day rather than pulling a sickie and costing you money.
Jessica writes for businessmobiles.co.uk who offer a range of tariffs for business looking for new phone contracts.