How to Keep Your Employees Happy and Motivated
Follow these tips to boost staff morale and ensure a happy, productive work environment
Houzz AU
25 July 2018
As a home renovation business, it’s essential your team are motivated to produce great work for your clients. Check out these ideas on how to make sure your employees are content in their jobs and happy to learn and improve.
Make them feel involved
Your staff will be more motivated if they think of themselves as an integral part of the business. Encourage this by involving them in key decisions and strategies, or asking them their opinion on major aspects of the business.
Perhaps you could schedule a weekly meeting to talk about any big issues and ensure you welcome any opinions and feedback from all your employees.
It’s important to make your staff feel they’re part of the business, rather than a small cog. Be transparent about what’s going on in the company and you’ll find they’re more willing to take ownership of their role in it.
Discover time management tips for small-business owners that actually work
Your staff will be more motivated if they think of themselves as an integral part of the business. Encourage this by involving them in key decisions and strategies, or asking them their opinion on major aspects of the business.
Perhaps you could schedule a weekly meeting to talk about any big issues and ensure you welcome any opinions and feedback from all your employees.
It’s important to make your staff feel they’re part of the business, rather than a small cog. Be transparent about what’s going on in the company and you’ll find they’re more willing to take ownership of their role in it.
Discover time management tips for small-business owners that actually work
Focus on work-life balance
To help your employees to be happy, healthy and motivated, it’s vital to encourage a good balance between work and leisure time. Often people think that if they’re working long hours, they’ll get more done, but in fact it can be counterproductive. Without a healthy work-life balance, your staff can become tired, inefficient and unhappy, and could even lose time by falling ill.
Promote rest as well as work by making it easy for your staff to take breaks, and by encouraging them to leave work on time. You should also be open to flexibility, perhaps allowing people to work from home sometimes, or letting them change their hours.
Houzz’s International People Services lead, Ana Harris-Padley, says, “Have managers set a goal with their team members every month or quarter for one thing they’re going to do to improve their work-life balance. It could be not checking their email before bedtime, turning off notifications on their phone while on holiday, leaving early one day a week to get to a gym class, or taking Spanish lessons.
“By getting them to commit to one thing and checking in on it, you’ll show the employee that work-life balance is important to your company, and not just something you say is important.”
To help your employees to be happy, healthy and motivated, it’s vital to encourage a good balance between work and leisure time. Often people think that if they’re working long hours, they’ll get more done, but in fact it can be counterproductive. Without a healthy work-life balance, your staff can become tired, inefficient and unhappy, and could even lose time by falling ill.
Promote rest as well as work by making it easy for your staff to take breaks, and by encouraging them to leave work on time. You should also be open to flexibility, perhaps allowing people to work from home sometimes, or letting them change their hours.
Houzz’s International People Services lead, Ana Harris-Padley, says, “Have managers set a goal with their team members every month or quarter for one thing they’re going to do to improve their work-life balance. It could be not checking their email before bedtime, turning off notifications on their phone while on holiday, leaving early one day a week to get to a gym class, or taking Spanish lessons.
“By getting them to commit to one thing and checking in on it, you’ll show the employee that work-life balance is important to your company, and not just something you say is important.”
Provide new challenges
When people are bored and burnt out, they find it very difficult to do their best work. So if you want motivated, productive employees, it’s important to give them scope to move away from their comfort zones.
Encourage staff members to get involved in new projects or voice their opinions on different issues. Don’t be afraid to let your team take on new responsibilities – it will allow them to grow and become more confident, which will in turn bring more value to the business.
When people are bored and burnt out, they find it very difficult to do their best work. So if you want motivated, productive employees, it’s important to give them scope to move away from their comfort zones.
Encourage staff members to get involved in new projects or voice their opinions on different issues. Don’t be afraid to let your team take on new responsibilities – it will allow them to grow and become more confident, which will in turn bring more value to the business.
Recognise and reward achievement
There’s nothing more motivating than knowing your hard efforts are appreciated, so some acknowledgement of your employees’ achievements will go down well. This could be anything from a verbal ‘thank you’ to a big promotion.
A reward scheme, such as an employee of the month award, is a great way to show staff their work has been noticed. And don’t forget to acknowledge efforts in front of a staff member’s colleagues, as this will be even more of a boost.
“First, ask employees how they like to be rewarded,” Harris-Padley advises. “This can be different for everyone. Some people value having more time outside work, some value monetary incentives, some value praise and recognition.
“Once you know what they’re looking for, it will show it’s not always about the money you spend – there’s a lot of data that proves employees value and remember experiences rather than financial compensation.
“It could be giving them half a day off to spend time with their family; cinema or theme park tickets; lunch delivered to the office; balloons at their desk on their birthday – these things are low cost, but leave people with a memory rather than a few extra dollars they may not notice spending.”
There’s nothing more motivating than knowing your hard efforts are appreciated, so some acknowledgement of your employees’ achievements will go down well. This could be anything from a verbal ‘thank you’ to a big promotion.
A reward scheme, such as an employee of the month award, is a great way to show staff their work has been noticed. And don’t forget to acknowledge efforts in front of a staff member’s colleagues, as this will be even more of a boost.
“First, ask employees how they like to be rewarded,” Harris-Padley advises. “This can be different for everyone. Some people value having more time outside work, some value monetary incentives, some value praise and recognition.
“Once you know what they’re looking for, it will show it’s not always about the money you spend – there’s a lot of data that proves employees value and remember experiences rather than financial compensation.
“It could be giving them half a day off to spend time with their family; cinema or theme park tickets; lunch delivered to the office; balloons at their desk on their birthday – these things are low cost, but leave people with a memory rather than a few extra dollars they may not notice spending.”
Offer training and guidance
Employees want to know their job is leading them along the right path for their career. Support this by talking with them about their career trajectory, and offering training to help them further their development.
If they know that working for your company will help them gain more skills and knowledge, they’ll be less likely to look elsewhere to move along their career path.
Find out reasons why you should invest in training your staff
Employees want to know their job is leading them along the right path for their career. Support this by talking with them about their career trajectory, and offering training to help them further their development.
If they know that working for your company will help them gain more skills and knowledge, they’ll be less likely to look elsewhere to move along their career path.
Find out reasons why you should invest in training your staff
Lead by example
Your staff will be much more willing to work hard if they feel as if they’re working with you rather than for you. So it’s important they see you and your managers chipping in and working with the team. If employees think their boss isn’t pulling his or her weight, resentment could build up, which would be a recipe for disaster.
“It’s often said that people don’t leave companies, they leave managers,” Harris-Padley says. ”Make sure you invest in your managers and provide them with training and resources to do the best job they can every day.”
Tell us
Have you used any of these ideas to motivate your employees? How do you ensure your staff are happy? Share your ideas and experiences in the Comments section.
Your staff will be much more willing to work hard if they feel as if they’re working with you rather than for you. So it’s important they see you and your managers chipping in and working with the team. If employees think their boss isn’t pulling his or her weight, resentment could build up, which would be a recipe for disaster.
“It’s often said that people don’t leave companies, they leave managers,” Harris-Padley says. ”Make sure you invest in your managers and provide them with training and resources to do the best job they can every day.”
Tell us
Have you used any of these ideas to motivate your employees? How do you ensure your staff are happy? Share your ideas and experiences in the Comments section.
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Nice post. Even nicer photos!
Very good advise for managers and companies.