Employment Background Check | 10 Ways To Having Happy Employees Pt. 1
Employment Background Check | We all know that we seem to have more energy, are less stressed, more creative, more helpful to others and achieve more when we are happy. Yet when it comes to workplaces, the same ‘formula’ often doesn’t appear to apply. While keeping customers and clients happy has been a focus of business success for years, ensuring employee happiness has not always been such a priority.
But if we are more energised, more creative and get more stuff done when we are happy and companies want to be more productive and profitable, it follows that having happy and engaged employees is something every employer should strive for.
The growing body of research around employee engagement and the link to profitability is irrefutable – happy employees mean improved productivity and increased profits. Whether we look at entrepreneurial startups or large, established enterprises, the same holds true: People are more productive and creative when they have more positive emotions.
Positive and happy people are not only more likely to come up with a new idea or solve a complex problem that same day, but also do so the next day.
Creating a workplace filled with happy people isn’t as difficult as you might think. And it isn’t about salary increases.
In fact, research confirms that salary is never the primary reason people leave jobs – they leave jobs first and foremost because they feel under-valued or unappreciated. They feel their contribution is not valued.
This is not to say that an appropriate salary is not an important component of recognition – it is. It’s just not the most important component.
Here are 10 things you can do immediately to change the happiness level in your employees and improve your bottom line.
1. Building trust
On Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs, trust is at the foundation. At the peak of the pyramid, are the qualities associated with engagement: self-actualization, creativity and problem-solving.
Bridging the gap between these levels is the key to high performing and happy employees.
When employees feel they are trusted to perform their job functions they have the freedom and confidence to engage creatively and participate in solving problems, which in turn creates a feeling of value, maximising their contribution.
Just make sure you keep any promises you make to them. Broken promises will remove any feelings of trust they may have!
2. Providing consistent feedback
Most people want to know that they are “getting it right”, or at the very least, know how they can improve to be the best they can be.
Providing consistent feedback opens up communication between employees and managers and the benefits flow both ways – employees gain a better understanding of where they’re succeeding and what requires more attention; managers glean insight into office dynamics and daily work flow.
But feedback is effective only when it is delivered objectively and fairly and should be treated as a tool of instruction, not chastisement or punishment.
3. Respecting your employees
New research suggests that overall happiness in life is more related to how much you are respected and admired by those around you, not to the status that comes from how much money you have stashed in your bank account.
A crucial part of fostering employee engagement is acknowledging and utilizing the unique skills and qualities a person brings to the table.
Thomas Britt, an organizational psychologist at Clemson University, suggests that if people aren’t given the chance to use their talents, their level of engagement is reduced and their job commitment diminished. Respect also goes beyond the projects and tasks assigned at work.
Understanding and supporting an employee’s commitments outside of work, such as caring responsibilities or community service activities increases loyalty and job commitment, both of which translate into profit for you!
4. Providing career growth opportunities
Employees who are fully engaged and demonstrate the ‘nirvana’ that is job satisfaction and initiative won’t want to be put in a corner to beaver away on the same tasks day after day. If you really want someone to be a productive, contributing member of your team next year and the year after that, then offering career growth opportunities is a sure-fire way of making that happen.
A few ideas are compensating advanced education, funding attendance at conferences and participation in internal mentorship programs.
Career development enhances employees’ skill sets, which will further enrich your business and it also communicates to employees that they are important members of the team who are expected to learn new and better ways to meet goals and objections.
5. Sharing the big picture
If you want someone to be part of the dream you need to first share the dream with them.
People engage more readily in a task or project if they know both the purpose of the task and the contribution their effort will make to a bigger picture. Spend time ensuring your employees understand the business goals and vision and you will be rewarded with increased levels of engagement. This isn’t just about organizational flow charts, canned mission statements and revenue charts.
People want to understand how the goals that they accomplish contribute to the overall success of the company. -recruitloop
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