Best Startup
Nowadays, it’s relatively easy to find people willing to work for your company. However, it’s not as easy to convince them to stay with you for the long term.
Employees today have more options than ever, and the only way to build a powerful team that will stick with you through thick and thin is to keep them happy and motivated. And yes, financial rewards and benefits are essential, but happy employees need more than that.
Here are a few things you can do to earn your team’s loyalty and respect:
1. Create the Ideal Work Environment
Numerous studies show the office environment (or the workspace) has a powerful influence on productivity and motivation. Factors such as light, temperature, air quality, and others must be optimized for productivity.
Plus, the ideal office meets the employees’ need for autonomy, competence, and relatedness by taking into account each person’s individual style. At the same time, there have to be areas dedicated to collaborative work where teams can meet and discuss without bothering anyone.
Also, offices need to be aesthetically pleasing and warm, so your team feels comfortable.
2. Adopt the Digital Transformation
Digitization not only helps your business grow; it also improves efficiency, reduces miscommunication lags, and encourages productivity. That’s because digital transformation often leads to the use of automation, which takes over redundant and time-consuming tasks.
This also means that employees have more time to focus on creative and complex tasks, which, by default, leads to better productivity and increased motivation. Not to mention that the new generations of workers are more comfortable working in a digitalized environment.
3. Recognize Employees’ Achievements With Awards
People want to know that their efforts matter and their opinions are valued. Therefore, your employees want to feel recognized and encouraged in what they do.
Plus, people are happier to work for businesses that have incentive programs where creativity, hard work, and ingenuity are rewarded. In fact, many employees would take a pay cut if they could join a work environment designed to encourage and reward.
So, to boost employee morale, all you have to do is design a system where everyone gets rewarded for their achievements. The rewards can vary from bonuses, benefits, paid days off, lunch reservations at a fancy restaurant, or custom engraved awards (depending on what you’re trying to achieve).
4. Provide Career Growth Opportunities
Very few people are happy to stay in the same work position for the length of their employment. We all crave progress and excitement, and companies can flame this deeply-rooted desire by creating a career growth path for their most valuable employees.
Plus, promotion in the same field or graduation to a new position in a field you know they are passionate about shows respect towards the person’s work and makes them feel seen and heard. As a result, that person will continue to grow and contribute to the well-being of the company that supports their efforts.
For instance, if your company is planning to open up a second or third location, this is a good opportunity to reward exceptional employees and entrust them with more responsibilities. The same can happen if the business is expanding rapidly and you need trustworthy people in critical positions.
5. Offer Flexible Scheduling
Hybrid work, where people combine remote and in-office work, is here to stay (where this is possible). A large majority of employees feel they would do better with a flexible work schedule where they can decide when to work on which task.
This, of course, involves a level of trust from the employer, but it also requires a shift when it comes to assessing achievements and productivity. First of all, the goal needs to be on task completion within the specified time frame and not the number of hours/days spent on a task.
Also, employers need to understand that just because an employee works from home, this doesn’t mean they will be available 24/7. Flexible scheduling must respect both the employer and the employee and create an environment of trust.
Key Takeaways
A positive work environment, with the possibility of flexible scheduling and remote working opportunities, are only the first steps companies need to make to meet the needs of their workers.
Next on the list, there should be individual career goals and growth paths that show respect and care toward valuable employees. Coaching services for instance Cindy Ames Coaching can help individual with their career goals and and growth plans Companies must find ways to create trust-based work environments where everyone is entrusted to do their work without micromanaging their every move. Instead, they should look for ways to recognize and acknowledge employees’ efforts and achievements while with the company.
