Managers and business owners are all searching for that perfect productive work force who are highly engaged and raring to go!
But many companies do have high expectations of their staff and sometimes they don’t invest enough time back into them. This can create low staff morale, poor performance and can result in a high staff turn-over which then increases recruitment costs.
So, here are some top tips on how to look after your staff, so that in turn, they will feel motivated and do a great job for you!
Do your staff understand the mission and vision of your business?
It’s important that your employees have a full understanding of your company values and culture. They need to buy into the brand and have a good grasp of the business and the key main objectives. An employer also needs to feel that they play an important role within this which will then encourage them to feel positive and enthusiastic at work.
Investment in training, development and performance reviews
Do you have a thorough Induction programme to ensure that your new starters are familiar with all aspects of the business? A good induction plan and bespoke training and development plan is key when getting your staff on the right track. We all feel more excited in life when we make future plans, set targets and goals, review our performance and get to tick things off as we progress. It’s important to have an appraisal system and monthly reviews with realistic performance goals measured against objectives. And it’s important to offer your workforce some interesting training opportunities to upskill them, including courses, mentoring, job shadowing and cross training.
Make the work interesting
Try to mix things up a bit for your staff with new projects which develop different skills and offer new responsibilities. Do some cross training to avoid monotony so that your staff don’t become bored and de-motivated. Give them a challenge in an area that plays to their strengths!
Recognise exceptional work
Recognition schemes are a great way to reward staff for key achievements. You could even have an Employee of the Month and think of some exciting prizes! Have a team day out to show them how much you appreciate them. There’s nothing worse than not feeling appreciated.
Employ good managers and leaders
It’s important that you chose your management team well. Sometimes, managers may be experts in their fields, but not necessarily have the right skills and emotional intelligence to manage people. A good manager needs to have excellent communication skills and be good at building trusting relationships. They need to be perceptive, intuitive, patient and be able to demonstrate empathy and sensitivity. Good listening skills are essential as well as problem solving, making decisions and dealing with difficult conversations. A good leader motivates their staff by setting goals, appreciating and encouraging team work, rewarding and recognising employees and keeping a regular dialogue going between them. And it’s important that the business gives managers the time to look after their staff instead of overloading them with other duties.
Communication is the key
Do you have an open flow of communication between your management and workers? Holding regular 1:1s and team meetings, getting feedback and ensuring that staff feel consulted, listened to and heard is imperative to a healthy workforce. If your staff feel ignored and neglected then this breeds a lack of respect from your staff. It can increase misunderstandings, distrust and reduce performance leaving staff feeling like the management just don’t care.
Be flexible
In this day and age people are juggling so many other responsibilities in their daily schedules and work life balance is so often challenging. Help your staff out by offering flexibility within their working hours and start and finish times, being understanding when people need to take time out for appointments, childcare, etc, and offering working from home or compressed hours. This will all go towards building up a loyal and committed staff base.
A good package
You get what you pay for in this world so a competitive wage and good holiday and pension package will attract the best employees and show them that you do want to invest in good people. An attractive bonus scheme and pay increments are another sign that you care about your staff base.
If you invest time and effort into your staff then you will instantly see the results.
As long as you recruit the right people into a healthy work culture then you will reap the rewards!