They say happy employees are the most productive. Undoubtedly, they are. Nonetheless, it’s been years of contemplation and research, no one has yet been able to find that perfect recipe for employee happiness. Some say it’s the pick and drop facility, some say it is an understanding manager, some believe happiness comes down just to great compensation, and for some, it is free food, drinks, gifts, parties etc.
What if I say none of these is? Don’t be surprised, nothing solely out of these can be the only way for employee happiness. But then what else does? No, calm down! We aren’t asking you to give away free drinks or pop a champagne bottle at work. By happy hours we mean make working hours such that employee love working and staying at the workplace instead of seeing at the clock tick-tocking and waiting for their mandatory office hours to complete.
Surely, the aforementioned points constitute some part of employee happiness but the whole story has a lot more to it. So, let us see how you can collectively contribute to a happier workplace. In turn, the same will lead to greater employee retention and productivity. So, let us begin.
A little praise can go a long way
Agreed that appraisal matters, but recognition matters too. Recognizing the efforts of your workforce is really important. This doesn’t always have to come in the form of money. You may be in love with the work of that new hire, but will he ever get to know that? Certainly not, at least not till the time you let him know that straight up. Appreciate the effort of an employee in front of the team and see how happy it makes him. Recognition can do wonders, practice it more.
Set realistic deliverables
Work-life balance is what matters a lot to the employees. Likewise, productivity rather the quality of work is what matters the most to you. To achieve this, just like HRs use recruitment management software, managers need to use project management software. In order to see the productivity percentage of the employees, you should give them just the right amount of work so that neither quality of work nor the work-life balance gets compromised.
Avoid behaving like a strict school teacher
You as a senior may have more experience and knowledge with you and out of concern you may be trying to guide your team members at every step they take. However, it isn’t always the right thing to do. The same comes in the way of creativity. Don’t treat them like kids, they are adults. Give them the autonomy to work. Let them make mistakes (wherever there is scope). Let them learn things themselves and guide, rectify them thereafter.
Mutual respect is all they seek
Harmony, mutual respect, colleague motivation and positive environment is all that employees seek. Promote group activities, conduct workshops and games to make employee relations even more cordial. Make sure no employee (whether junior or senior) is impolite to another.
So the bottom line is to keep your employees engaged and foster a culture of happy workplaces.