This is something not a lot of employers do. They’re so focused on themselves and where their business is going to go, it is often hard to forget about the most important people in their business, their employees. Does this sound like you? Well, you need to change your approach fast. A better working environment not only makes coming to work easier for them, but it will boost your sales more than you’ll ever realise. A happy workforce is a productive workforce. So getting it right sooner rather than later is so important. All you need to do is think how you would like to be treated as an employee, and replicate this in your own business processes. To try and make sure you hit the nail on the head first time, here’s a few ways in which you can put your employees first.
Their Shifts
If you’re an establishment that runs all hours, the shifts you put your employees on is going to play a big part in how productive they are. They will most likely have agreed to any old hour in the beginning in the hope of getting the job. But even if they don’t show it, the random shift patterns are going to be so draining for them. First things first, go round and ask your employees what their preferred shift is, and which one that hate the most. You can then work around this and create a new plan that tailors to this. If your company is too big, there are software systems out there that generate a rotating shift pattern for you to make things more fair. Just take getsling.com for example. It is an easy to use software that will take all the hassle out of it for you. If anyone still has complaints about shift patterns, you can then step in. But sometimes writing up the shift rotas takes so long, you need some form of software to do it for you. Don’t ever put someone on the worst shifts just because they aren’t your favourite either, it is so important to keep it fair. Eventually people will start noticing and complaining if they’re always on the wrong shift.
Rewards
If they’re doing well, they need to know about it. This is something that a lot of business owners seem to fall short on for some reason. We all know how nice it is to be rewarded in life. Not just at work. So to brighten their day, reward them each week, or month, for the things they’re doing good. It is only going to boost their levels of satisfaction from their job, and it’ll keep them coming back working harder and harder to try and get the rewards you’re giving them. It could be a little monthly bonus, a free day off. Anything like that is going to boost their moral and get them working harder. It will also create a little bit of competition within the workplace, which is always healthy. Just make sure it remains healthy and doesn’t start a feud between the people that are working for you.
Interaction
The way in which you interact with the people who work for you plays a huge role in the output you will get from them. If you’re one of these people who has little interaction with them, maybe because the company is too big or you’re too busy, they’re going to have less respect for you when you do talk to them. If they only time you speak to them is to tell them they’ve done something wrong, or to have a little bit of a moan, it is going to be even worse for you. You need to make sure you’re talking to them with the respect they deserve, especially if you want them to be hardworking during their time there. If they’ve done something wrong, feedback to them with constructive criticism rather than shouting and moaning. You’ll get so much more out of them if you just talk to them on a more human level. It is important for them to know they can have a laugh and a joke with you. It makes you son much easier to approach if they ever have a problem. One thing we all remember about being an employee is how hard the boss was to talk to, don’t let this be you.
So if you follow the simple tips above, you’ll always be putting your employees first, and you’ll always have a productive workforce that is driving your business to success!
