They say it’s important to love your job. But part of loving what you do is to love where you do it. If everyone hates coming into work because of all the issues employees have with one another, this causes stress on the employees, and their productivity. To follow are some quick tips to keep all your employees smiling.
- Focus on your Employees. In any business, a large part of the business is keeping your customers happy. Since your employees are the ones who directly deal with your consumers, it’s important that they are in a good mood before they even begin to consider dealing with a less-than-satisfied customer. A great way to keep everybody smiling is to keep your focus on them. Ask them how their day has been, and try to remember at least one thing about each employee. This will help your employee to feel less like a number, and more like a person that you respect.
- Show Appreciation. Dealing with your customers can be hard, especially when you work in the complaints department. Employees sometimes feel like all they do is listen to people complaining, and this makes the days drudge on. By showing your employee that you appreciate and recognize the kinds of problems they have to deal with daily, it allows the employee to feel more at respected and valued.
- Ask what can be Improved. Whether you choose to believe it or not, few bosses actually see what goes on in their company. While it seems as though everything is going off without a hitch when you’re around, there could be a complete turnaround when you aren’t there. By keeping yourself involved, and asking the employees what can be improved upon, you keep your employees happy. They get what they want, and you get the productivity you want.
- Ask for feedback. Though few bosses do it, it’s important to collect feedback – not only about yourself, but about the general atmosphere within the organization. Having bi-monthly meetings to sit down and discuss any issues your employees will come across allows everyone to speak their mind, and you the opportunity to address their issues immediately.
- Ask yourself, “Am I happy?” An important part of keeping other people happy is first being happy yourself. If you constantly display a negative attitude, your employees will pick up on that, and will be affected by it. If you keep yourself positive and always smiling, your employees will feel more at ease as well.
- Do I make others happy? When you come in the office, do people suddenly straighten up and look uncomfortable? If you make your employees uncomfortable, you probably aren’t keeping them happy. By communicating a positive attitude to your employees, you will reduce any tension that may have been there before, making the other people among the office as happy as you are!
- Learn what works and what doesn’t. If you’ve noticed reduced productivity rates, there could be many reasons for that. Has anything changed around the same time as productivity dropped? Learning what affects your employees positively and negatively will make it easier to keep them happy.
- Learn more about human nature. Everybody’s got their own little quirks. Maybe Shelby is a neat freak, and Joe is a complete slob. Knowing these little character traits about your employees can make interaction easier, and can help you in numerous ways around the office (example: Don’t put Shelby in the cubicle next to Joe).
- Create Goals. An important part of keeping employee morale high is being a team. By creating team goals and tracking them regularly, you will increase that team feeling among your employees.
- Provide a challenge. It’s often said when children are young that they don’t try in school because they don’t feel they are challenged enough. The same is true when you are an adult. A great way to keep your morale high is to give your employees something to work towards. Setting achievable goals that still require a lot of work are a great way to keep employees working hard!