5 Ways to Keep Your Employees Happy Without Breaking the Bank
I’m sure most of us have had a “lousy” employer or two in
their life. You know, the boss that
expects everything and gives nothing.
You’ve probably also worked for companies that you really enjoyed. What made you like where you worked? Was it financial incentives? Maybe you had good benefits or was it just
the atmosphere of the place? What keeps
employees showing up day to day, being productive, and not looking for
employment elsewhere?
About 15 years ago I worked for a company that published a
magazine for the higher education market.
They also put on a tradeshow annually.
When I started the job the pay wasn’t great, but I saw potential in what
my job could eventually become and I really liked some of the people working
there. I got along very well with almost
everyone and the benefits were decent too.
I quit after 6 months. Why? My boss was a jerk. He lied to me repeatedly about introducing me
to customers so that I could start doing sales and also took credit for my
ideas that saved the company money. On
top of it, he’d go on and on about his online dating conquests and how amazing
his luxury apartment complex was. I
couldn’t continue working for him anymore.
My next job was fantastic.
It was in a HR call center for a large company. This employer implemented programs and ideas
that benefited their employees on and off the job. Training was very thorough, benefits were
great, and they brought in people to make your workspace more ergonomically
comfortable for you. We did casual
Fridays and had pot lucks for people’s birthdays. You could even get a mini massage on breaks,
lunch or after work (free, but tip was expected). There were even more perks,
but what I liked the most was that my manager repeatedly told me that I was
doing a great job and that I was valuable.
He would ask me to help out other employees because he felt that I did
my job very well and wanted them to learn from me. I felt important and needed.
Unfortunately, it was for a computer company that ended up
having to lay off thousands of people and I was one of them. However, it made me realize what it meant to
work for a good employer. I decided that
I will not ever go back to working for someone like that first boss I mentioned
ever again. Not every company can afford
lavish benefits like what I had at one time.
That was nice, but not necessary to make me loyal to my job. So, what is necessary to make employees show up day after day?
11.
Talk to your employees like they are valued, not like indentured
servants. Running a
company is hard work. Your life revolves
around it. You sacrifice a lot to make
your business successful, but don’t take your stress out on your employees. You know what’s stressful? Spending thousands of dollars and hundreds of
hours to train a new employee and then have them quit because they can’t stand
working for you.
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22.
Be extremely clear about your expectations and chances
for promotion BEFORE you hire someone. During the interview let
them know if they are expected to do overtime or even if business is slowing
down so that their position may be temporary.
Do you expect everyone to spend 30 mins a day cleaning up their work
area? Is there room for advancement? What are some work goals that you expect them to reach
and in what time frame? If they reach
these goals, is there some type of reward whether it’s a bonus or even
advancement?
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33.
Do team building events. This
doesn’t have to be monthly. Do it
quarterly or even bi-annually. It
doesn’t have to be big. Have a bbq at a
local park or lake. Have sandwiches
delivered for lunch and spend the time telling them what they have done to make
you appreciate them. For Christmas, have
everyone do a secret Santa exchange.
Get tickets to local events like the fair, an auction, car show, or concert,
and have a drawing for them.
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44.
Be careful of the topics you discuss with your
employees. It is said that
“Religion and politics make strange bedfellows”. There is good reason for this. Both subjects are things that many people are
quite passionate about. If you discuss
them with your employees it is quite possible that they will feel like you are
pushing your ideas and beliefs on them and they will not feel comfortable being
honest with their responses out of fear of recourse from you. I have read plenty of wrongful termination
cases in the news where people say they were fired or looked over for promotion
because they disagreed with their boss when it came to religious or political
ideas. It can be very intimidating when
someone who has authority over you, comes to you and tells you they believe “XYZ”
and anyone who disagrees with them is wrong.
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55.
Allow everyone to feel comfortable coming to you with
ideas. You most likely have a way of doing
things that is based on what has worked for you in the past. You know what works and you know what doesn’t. However, everyone has different job and life
experiences that will make their point of view different from yours. This can be really valuable. Being open minded to suggestions not only
makes people feel valued, but it also can save you time and money. I know, personally, of a couple of times when
we (here at Crosswind) had someone suggest a change in how we made one of our
parts that seemed “iffy” at first. In
the end, though, it automated a step we always had to do by hand after the part
was made. This saved the company
hundreds of dollars every time we fill that particular order. We also now know that if we come across
another part that has a similar issue, we can use that change to the program
then also. Not every idea someone has is
going to be great, but 2 minutes of your time listening to your employees is
worth so much more in the long run than the time you just lost.
None of these suggestions are difficult or expensive to
implement. “People work for people, not
companies.” Is something I’ve heard so many times over the years and it makes
sense. You may love a company and
believe in what they do, but if your manager (or boss) makes it miserable to
show up at work every day, you will never become a loyal employee. When someone spends 40+ hours a week somewhere, it needs to be a positive atmosphere or they won't stick around for long. This is definitely not an all-encompassing list. I'd love to hear what you or your company has done to make the workplace a pleasant place. Also, check out a few of these other articles on the subject.
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