The Care and Feeding of Happy Employees

Happy employees are more productive
Happy employees work better with their colleagues
Happy employees are better at handling office deadlines and stress

If that’s the case then what can you do to keep your employees happy? It’s relatively easy and here are five actions steps for your consideration:

1. Communication is key. When employees are kept in the loop about what is going on they feel valued. When left in the dark they feel invisible and unimportant and ultimately disenfranchised from what is occurring in the company. Establish a process for the dissemination of important information so that everyone is on the same page.

2. Reward your employees fairly and include perks that are relevant to their lives. Meaningless perks do not motivate but rather are disincentives for them to be productive and, you guessed it, happy with their employment. And along with compensation and perks, make certain that you recognize employees for their contributions. Recognition rewards don’t have to be monetary. Think out of the box and consider gift certificates, tickets to a ball game, spa treatments, etc.

3. Help them to grow. Do your employees have a clearly defined career path? Most employees appreciate knowing that there is the potential for growth at their company. It helps them to keep working hard and provides the impetus for them to go over and beyond their job specifications.

4. Listen hard to what your employees have to say and take action when they make suggestions. This doesn’t mean that you always have to execute on their suggestion. It simply means that you have “heard” them and are taking their suggestions into consideration and if they cannot be implemented, they should be told the reason why. (Back to open and good communication!)

5. Work is hard but that doesn’t mean you can’t have fun too! Let your imagination be your guide and get as creative as you can. Having fun doesn’t always mean organized team building exercises. There’s something to be said for spontaneity. And by the way, change it up every now and then. Bringing in bagels on Friday mornings seems like a wonderful idea but after two to three weeks it becomes something that is expected and doesn’t bring much of a smile to anyone’s face.

And remember, happiness is contagious. Make sure it spreads throughout your company.