Employees are an essential part of any workplace, with the company’s ultimate success relying on their productivity and output.
Any workplace needs to ensure their employees are happy with their work and workplace environment to perform optimally and drive more profits for the business. As a result, HR managers are often tasked with ideation and execution of strategies that promote a healthy workplace that adds to employee happiness.
If you’re interested in learning more, a diploma in human resources in Australia can help you gain valuable insight into strategies that contribute to a highly motivated workplace.
Read ahead for a few tips to follow as an HR manager and keep your employees happy.
1. Acknowledge And Recognize Efforts
Employers often mistake the provision of monetary benefits and bonuses as being enough to keep employees happy and motivated. However, when they strive to meet their deadlines and put in their efforts to produce top-quality work, they expect acknowledgment and recognition for it.
Studies show that 79% of people quitting their jobs do so due to a lack of appreciation from their bosses.
For most hardworking and earnest employees, no amount is equivalent to the verbal appreciation their managers give to them for a job well done. This is even more essential for larger organizations because a lot of work goes on at the backend. Employees should feel their contributions are being recognized and valued by their line managers, if not the organization as a whole.
As an HR manager, it is your job to brief the managers on how they to keep their employees satisfied and come up with possible ways to reward the employees. Here are some acknowledgment programs you can develop for your employees:
· Acknowledge employee efforts or ideas at the moment. Phrases like “Great idea” or “Good work today” may seem simple, but they can surely uplift employees’ spirits and motivate them to keep doing well at their work.
· While acknowledgments like lunches for the top performers and an ‘Employee of the Month’ picture on the notice board may seem outdated, it still works! So celebrate your employees’ little accomplishments to make a big difference!
2. Promote Social Gatherings
Employees spend over 8 hours a day at their workplace. This is a long time of the day, and they need social interaction to get comfortable, instead of sitting at their workstation and producing work like a robot.
Every employee needs to make personal connections to truly accept their workplace as their own and feel motivated to engage with team members and others in the office.
Good workplace social relationships provide a good way for employees to unwind and feel comfortable and happy. As an HR manager, make sure you interact with the employees to gauge how they are doing and encourage the managers of all departments to do the same.
Build a culture where people talk about matters other than those related to work to avoid the feeling of disconnect and dehumanization. Get slightly personal with them while maintaining professional boundaries because people feel happier engaging on a personal level.
Besides engagement between the managers and employees, here are some other ways that you can use to improve employee mingling:
· Encourage donut meetings, whether in-person or virtual. Employees get a chance to chat about their personal lives while having a donut or some green juice to connect on a personal level.
· Host frequent all-company events to allow employees from different levels and departments to mingle with each other and make more connections.
· Promote peer breaks. Snack, caffeine, or even lunch breaks, allow workers to chat with each other, helping them unwind and feel happier. They feel refreshed, energized, and more productive after such breaks because no one can work continuously and produce the optimal quality work.
3. Prioritize Work/Life Balance
While previously, the work/life balance concept was missing from workplaces, employees and employers are becoming increasingly aware of its value.
As a manager, you have to understand and make your employees feel that you value their personal lives and don’t consider them a revenue-making machine. There are several ways through which you can help them realize that you prioritize their work/life balance to make them feel happy and satisfied with the company:
· Wellness and health programs discounts
· Childcare options
· More vacation days
· Work-from-home option on Fridays
Such incentives can significantly improve the employees’ quality of life, showing that you care about them and their well-being. Think about the perks you would want to improve your work/life balance and implement those for the employees.
4. Avoid Micromanagement
You wouldn’t want someone to hover over you and guide your every move constantly, would you? Likewise, employees feel more trusted and consequently happier when they don’t have their managers micromanaging them.
Implement a policy for all the concerned managers to allow creative freedom to their employees instead of wasting time keeping track of everything they do. Set clear boundaries and fair expectations to promote a healthy and trustworthy work culture.
Trust your judgment of the employees you hire and give them the responsibilities to manage work on their terms and make the best decisions without your constant interference. This keeps their morale high and also prepares them to make crucial decisions when you’re not around.
If you want to learn the dos and don’ts of a good workplace environment, you can pursue a diploma in human resources to hone your skills.
5. Increase Employee Participation In Decision-Making
Employees build the core of your organization, and their input is valuable for your company’s growth. With their unique perspective being a company member that is not a part of the management, they can point out gaps in policies that you might not have thought of.
Involving employees while making decisions regarding them and their departments is a great way to motivate them. It makes them feel valued and happy that they are being listened to and promotes a healthy work environment.
Additionally, this involvement in the decision-making process helps build personal relationships and trust between managers and their employees. This, in turn, promotes team collaboration, enabling them to come up with efficient solutions to obstacles.
6. Support Employee Growth
One of the best ways to keep employees happy in an organization is by providing them the opportunity to progress. The promise of better appraisals and career advancement motivates employees.
However, this way to strive for promotions will only last for so long. Instead, offer courses, training, and seminars to help them improve their skills and become experts in the field. Provide opportunities to learn new skills, helping them navigate their way through the organization. This will not only help promote motivation but also productivity and engagement.
7. Promote Self-Care
If you want your employees to be happy and productive, you have to invest in their health. If you overwork your employees and don’t recognize their wellness needs, they will ultimately run out of energy, impacting their work quality.
Employees feel happier and better connected to their workplace when they know their employers support their well-being and care about it. Promote self-care and implement a healthy work environment with the following:
· It can get quite monotonous to sit in the same board rooms and seats every day and think creatively. Instead, host a team meeting in the sun and encourage walk meetings or out-of-office lunch. Sunshine and physical movement have a direct impact on the emotional and physical well-being of individuals.
· As an HR manager, get in touch with physical experts and suggest stretching exercises that employees can frequently do at work from their workstations.
· Invest in a gym facility within the office premises where people can take some time off and let out their stress to come back to their desks with a clear mind and better productivity. Alternatively, look for gym memberships and discounts for your employees, office-wide workouts, the “Take the Stairs” challenge, etc.
8. Bring Happy Personalities
Stress is highly detrimental to employee productivity. On the contrary, a happy work culture promotes creativity and a relaxed environment, attracting more people to your company. In today’s day and age, company culture holds a lot of importance for employees because they understand its impact on their work quality.
As a result, you have to promote a happy work environment with people who bring life and laughter to the place, engage others, and increase productivity. In addition, such people can provide a positive outlook and attitude in the office and influence others to do the same.
Take your time to assess potential candidates during hiring interviews through their responses, facial expressions, and genuineness. Gauge their personalities and employ optimistic people who will create a happier workplace.
Conclusion
A company cannot function optimally without satisfied and happy employees. You can make employees run on autopilot and produce results for so long. After a certain point, they will get burnt out if they work for over eight hours, five days a week.
You have to invest in creating policies and work cultures that prioritize employee happiness. While the company pays them good money, monetary compensation will only satisfy them for some time. You have to recognize their efforts and show that they are valuable to the organization.
Treat them the way you would want to be treated as an employee, and you will surely see the difference in their engagement with the company and work quality as a result.
If you want to learn how to help employees as an HR manager, an online human resource diploma in Australia through various platforms like MCI Institute gives you all the knowledge you need to succeed in the field.
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