If downturn worries have taken a toll on your staff, try these five easy steps to increasing morale and productivity:
1. If you’re happy let them know it. Keep your employees in touch with what’s going on in the business, so they understand the bigger picture – this could be through a monthly update email, quarterly newsletters, or your company’s intranet. Internal communication should go both ways, so if any member of staff has an idea for improvement, they should feel able to offer it up for consideration.
2. Put employee wellbeing first. Don’t just think ‘health and safety’, try to create a positive and healthy working environment. For example, air conditioning will help staff concentrate in high summer, while stress management training can also boost productivity. Not only will your people be happier, the number of sick days taken is likely to fall.
3. Speak for yourself. Ask each employee to appraise themselves as the first step in their regular review process. This ensures that workers are able to identify training opportunities that might benefit them, and set goals for development, as well as feel more in control of their own career path.
4. Be flexible friendly. Focus the working day on productivity, rather than on attending a set location between fixed hours. This can improve your employees’ quality of life by allowing them to balance family commitments or even ditch their daily commute, helping make sure that you can retain your valuable skilled staff – and productivity will improve too.
5. Get creative. Small measures can have an impact on your business that is far greater than their actual cost. Why not quiz your staff on their idea of a perfect working day? Ideas could include a ‘quiet area’ with a sofa, a charity fundraising programme, or free cake on a Friday.
