Does Being a Great Place to Work Really Boost Productivity?
If you employ people in your business, you will know that human capital is one of the biggest expenses, especially in the service sector. As a company grows, it can be difficult to keep on top of each and every employee, and without an often expensive interview process, soon you start to encounter diminishing returns on each person you hire.
Sometimes managers take the view that employees are getting a wage, so they should be happy to have a job and should work their hardest at all times. Business leaders know, however, that this simply isn’t the case. Making sure your staff are motivated and happy is one of the most important things you can do as an entrepreneur, and here are a few simple steps to ensure they are.
Make the Office a Great Place to be
Being in front of a computer all day is necessary, especially in digital and dot com industries. These rooms can often get hot and stuffy; therefore, it is important to offer windows that can open, allowing plenty of light into the room. Make sure that vertical blinds are used to keep sunshine out, but still keep the room illuminated.
Ensuring social interaction between your staff is a must. The closer relationships your staff share, the more comfortable and empowered everyone will feel to share ideas, make decisions and offer help to others. This also breeds creativity, happiness and innovation, finding new. simpler methods of undertaking processes.
Empowerment
Make sure that you find out about any skills your staff may have that you didn’t know about. Do they have experience presenting to large numbers of people? Think about inviting them to the next client or managers meeting to make them feel like they are valued by you and add to the business.
This is one of the key needs of employees. Simply getting a paycheck every month won’t make them feel like a part of the business. The more you include them, the more they will take responsibility for the success of the firm and use extra effort to ensure it happens.
Development and Skills
Some managers are averse to offering expensive training to their employees in-case they simply gain skills and move to another firm. This is the wrong attitude to have because if you don’t train your staff, they will simply start looking for other jobs due to a lack of personal development. Being somewhere that will develop employee skills will be attractive not just to job hunters, but also to potential clients and customers, as they will feel like they will have access to a better skillset if they go with your firm.
It is a fact of business that it will cost you more to keep your staff the more they develop. However, hopefully your business will be in a better financial position due to increased productivity, better management and increased innovation. In the service sector, your business would be nothing without your personnel. Therefore, treat them like an asset and see the returns.
Reward and Recognize
If your business doesn’t have the capacity to offer constant training and development, you need to ensure that your employees are skilled, happy in the job they do and working hard for you. Recognizing work ethic and results is one of the simplest ways to make a more competitive culture, as the more people see you reward those who work hard, the harder they will work. Think about incentives in a different sense from simply financial. Often, a well-timed pat on the back is all that is needed to make your employees feel valued and play a bigger part in the future success of your business.
So to summarize the simple ways to boost productivity in the office:
- Keep the office well ventilated, bright and a comfortable place to work.
- Empower your employees; recognize money isn’t the only thing that motivates.
- Keep your staff’s knowledge up to date, train them and allow them to become better at their jobs.
- Reward your staff regularly, and give praise where praise is due.
Do you have any of your own tips about managing your staff? Leave a comment to share your ideas.
Written by John on behalf of Vertical Blinds Direct, which offers blinds for commercial use to ensure your office is bright and a pleasant place to work.
