Five secrets to happy employees

Saxon Marsden-Huggins Recruit Shop

While we’re well and truly into the New Year there is still much of 2016 to come and for many that means searching for and finding the ‘perfect’ new job. While it’s exciting to recruit top talent it’s even more important to concentrate on how to keep your employees excited and engaged in their role.

After all, there’s no point attracting top talent if you can’t hold on to it.

Happy employees work harder, stay longer and act as better brand ambassadors than dissatisfied employees – so it’s a no-brainer. But how do you keep your employees happy at work? The following five tips will help you keep on track this year.

  1. Be different

Offer something to your staff they can’t get anywhere else. People want to believe their workplace is different. Add exercise equipment to your breakroom, or have craft beer Fridays, or offer plane tickets in addition to vacation time. Offer something different that delivers a tangible benefit to your employees and you’ll improve their workplace satisfaction.

  1. Hold group events

Building strong bonds between your employees is a critical element of employee engagement. Make sure you’re encouraging, even facilitating events for your people to interact with each other in a more relaxed setting. Trust building exercises and retreats are great but simple activities like creating sports teams or holding team parties can also improve connections in the workplace.

  1. Train thoroughly

It’s not just current employees but new employees who want to be happier at work and studies have shown one the best ways to improve satisfaction is to give a great first impression through training. The more an employee knows and understands about the tasks they have to complete, the more satisfied they’ll be.  Offer a comprehensive on-boarding program to ensure new recruits have the knowledge and support they need to excel in your business.

  1. Measure management and more

Every person in your company should be measured for their attitude, behaviours, and how much they’re getting out of their work. You need to know if a manager is rude to their subordinates, or if an employee you thought was lazy is actually extremely productive and simply runs out of work to do late in the week.  Ensure you have robust KPIs and measurement tools that provide a good picture of what is going in with each person, and host monthly one on one reviews to make sure everyone is getting what they need from the relationship.

  1. Create growth plans and milestones

Most, if not all, employees within a company want to be able to grow with it. Consider providing employees with a path towards growth, tracking how they can achieve a raise or attain a new title or promotion. Giving people a long term plan is a great way to make sure your employees feel they have a reason to stay and keep growing with you.

Lastly, ensure you’re open and honest with your people to foster an environment of conversation and trust. If your employees feel they can discuss the highs and lows of their work with you, they’ll be less likely to jump-ship when another opportunity presents itself.

Saxon Marsden-Huggins, Managing Director, Recruit Shop