Menu

Search

  |   Business

Menu

  |   Business

Search

3 ways to ensure your employees are happy and motivated at work

Most of us have to go to work every day to earn a living, so creating a working environment that is enjoyable to be in is crucial if you want to get the most out of your team. If an employee dreads coming to work each day, they are more likely to lack motivation and won't put in as much effort as they perhaps could. If, on the other hand, your staff enjoy coming to work, they are likely to go that extra mile and work as hard as they can to help make your business a success.

If you feel that your staff are not as keen or as eager as they could be, it might be less to do with them and more to do with your company set up. If this is the case, then it may be time to make some changes. From being more flexible with working hours to carrying out yearly performance appraisals and setting key performance initiatives, there are lots of things you can do that could make a big difference.

Here are 3 ways to ensure your employees are happy and motivated at work.

Do you promote a friendly and relaxed atmosphere?

If you want your staff to be happy, then you need to be realistic about the environment in which they work. For example, are your employees frightened to talk for fear of being told off? Are they likely to be reprimanded for chatting to colleagues or taking a personal phone call? If the answer to either of those is yes, then you need to take a good look at the way things are managed. Yes, you want productivity to be as high as possible, but adopting a no talking, head down policy isn't necessarily the right way to go about it. If staff feel relaxed and know that their every move isn’t being monitored, they may be far more inclined to work even harder.

Boundaries and guidelines should, of course, be adhered to, but providing your team isn't taking liberties, a degree of perspective could make a big difference to how enjoyable your workplace is. It will also have a huge effect on how happy your workforce is.

Do you provide ongoing and adequate training?

The results you can get from training should never be underestimated. Over time, it is easy for set policies to be deviated from, and before you know it, procedures that used to run like clockwork take longer and are far less effective. That is why it is so important to get back to basics and ensure that things are being dealt with efficiently and correctly. Not only will training help with systems and procedures, but it may also help to improve motivation.

Training comes in many forms, so it's a good idea to gauge what you feel would be the most effective choice for your staff. If you are working on a specific project with only a few staff members at a time, paper format training with step by step guidelines can work exceptionally well. If, for example, you intend to roll out a company-wide initiative, many people find that visual learning is the best route to take. If this is the case, then there are companies who specialize in video production services who can create bespoke training videos to suit your exacting requirements.

Are workloads correctly balanced?

If one of your staff is rushed off their feet and can’t competently fulfill their duties and another spends most of the day sorting paperclips, animosity will most likely start to build. If they have very different roles, it isn’t as much of an issue, but it is important to check from time to time whether workload distributions need to be reviewed. There may be duties that could be more evenly spread, and staff who are a bit quieter than others may even welcome some extra responsibility.

If you have managers in charge of each department, ask them for feedback. Promote communication across the company and make it known that if someone is struggling or, on the flip side, is bored, it is okay to communicate that to their line manager. The better the communication, the more productive and motivated employees at all levels will be, and the more chance your business has of thriving and succeeding. Happy and motivated staff are a fundamental part of running a business, so make sure you are doing everything you can to make it happen.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or management of EconoTimes

  • Market Data
Close

Welcome to EconoTimes

Sign up for daily updates for the most important
stories unfolding in the global economy.