Keeping your staff satisfied in the workplace is something that can benefit your company in a number of ways. It keeps productivity levels high, and it creates a positive reputation for those who might be looking to apply to your company in the future as job openings come about. When you have happy staff, that only has a domino effect of positivity.
But to achieve that consistently, you always need to be looking at what you can do to further improve that staff satisfaction and even more so, keep it up. Here are some tips to help improve staff satisfaction in the workplace.
Improve The Workplace Atmosphere
Keeping the work atmosphere positive is important, and so the way businesses can do this is by improving the workplace surroundings. This could be something as simple as doing a little touch-up of the office or giving it a totally new look.
It could be making sure that the working areas are set up correctly to ensure your staff have enough room and don’t feel cramped. Open floor plans are particularly popular with bigger organizations to give that feeling of being in a more freeing environment.
Improving the workplace atmosphere though is not just about the physical aspects but your workers themselves. It’s good to address any problems within the workplace that might be causing issues.
This could be things like certain colleagues not getting on and therefore projecting a lot of negativity into group meetings or communal spaces. It could be one particular staff member who has a very particular way of speaking to people or rubbing other staff members the wrong way.
Perhaps there are issues with discrimination in the workplace, or certain types of staff not being given enough opportunities. Having some of these happy national women’s day quotes on the walls could remind people of the company’s values.
It’s important to have workplace policies in place to make sure that everyone feels comfortable and that nothing is making them feel like they can’t do their job properly.
Be Flexible
Flexibility is a necessity for most organizations nowadays. It’s not possible to ask someone to always be there every day without fail. Life gets in the way, and things might happen where they need to be at home or do remote working from another location whether that’s at home or whilst travelling.
With that in mind, it’s worth thinking about ways to improve your flexibility as a business and what you can offer to each and every person. Of course, there are some roles that require a person to be there all day, like a receptionist, for example.
However, it is necessary for you to put procedures in place, in the event that this person was sick or could no longer come in for a period of time. Being flexible to staff member’s personal lives is also important and especially those with families and who need some time off.
Remember To Adapt For Alternative Spaces
Not all workplaces operate in an office environment. Some workers might be based on site and therefore within an outdoor space. But outdoor spaces aren’t always dry or warm.
Weather conditions can cause delays to work progress, and when your staff are working on a building site, there might not be easy access to amenities such as a toilet or a place to eat their lunch or dinner.
So getting something like let loos for staff and perhaps storage type units to be transformed into canteens or temporary offices can help. Even if this isn’t something your company normally does, it’s important that you adapt as a business to alternative spaces.
You may find yourself at some point in between offices and having to find alternative spaces to make it work for your company. Find the positives in being challenged to look after your staff. It certainly makes you a better leader and manager.
Have Managers Who Can Actually Manage
Your managers are useful in directing staff in a specific direction. They help to guide those staff members who need help or are finding difficulty in certain tasks. A good manager is someone who can listen and be a good people person. Not only that, but they also know how to delegate.
Unfortunately, there are many organizations that have skipped the mark when it comes to managers, and in some cases, they are hindering the efforts of staff in their department or domain.
There are those who aren’t meant to managers, but you also have managers who might have those core skills needed to manage but need a little refining.
Delegating is one of the biggest challenges that anyone faces when it comes trying to allocate work projects. If any one person is taking on too much, then they’re self-sabotaging themselves.
Try to encourage more training where necessary to make your managers better at delegating and managing correctly. Being a manager requires a lot of organization and a planned approach to what needs to happen over the course of a working day or week.
If you’ve got people in a managerial position that aren’t suited for management, then change needs to happen in some respect to keep your staff happy.
Promote Good Health
Promoting good health in the workplace is an essential part of keeping staff satisfied in the workplace. The reason for this lies mainly in office environments, where the individual staff member is sitting down for hours on end.
An office environment also tends to encourage snacking and the lack of exercise by not getting up and walking for a prolonged period of time means that staff can end up suffering with their health in different ways.
It’s good to encourage good health, and one way you can do that is through doing a work station assessment. This will critique the current health and safety elements of a staff member’s workstation and to see what improvements can be made.
Perhaps a new chair with more support is needed or a new monitor screen that has improved brightness to avoid squinting. You could also introduce fresh fruit baskets at the start of the week in order to help healthy eating within the working environment.
As long as your budget allows this to be doable, why not help encourage it? It directly benefits your organization if everyone continues to be healthy and come into work feeling happy and well within themselves.
Invest In Training
Training is a useful way of bringing staff morale up because most people like to feel like progress is possible within their job, and in some cases, promotions can also be attainable.
Courses and workshops are regular elements of the workplace budget that should be included when your finances are reviewed. Every working opportunity that a staff member has to improve their knowledge or skills in some way has a direct benefit to you.
You can work with the staff member to figure out what they’d like to learn about or develop themselves in and you could make some suggestions too. By encouraging growth and development, you learn more about your staff in the process.
Encourage Team Attitude With Company Away Days
A team attitude is essential within the workplace, and although it’s important your staff can work individually, it’s just as important to do so as part of a team. However, this can only happen when staff members get on, and this can be difficult when there are lots of different personalities.
They don’t all necessarily need to be on friendlier terms outside of the workplace, but when they’re working, there needs to be a good working relationship for everyone. Company away days are often a popular form of getting the staff together and helping them work as a team.
These away days might be a mixture of fun activities and training, or it could simply be a weekend away to enjoy each other’s company. Find what works and if you’ve not done it before, organize one as soon as you can.
Enforce Regular Breaks
Regular breaks are more important than we tend to realize. They’re important because they help staff to reset their batteries but to also get up and stretch their legs. Spending too much time in front of a computer or sitting down on a chair can be bad for your health.
So it’s good that as senior management and workforce policy, you enforce regular breaks. Lunch breaks should be taken away from the desk, and there should be a five to ten minute break per hour where possible to help move about.
It’s very easy to enforce it, but a lot of businesses are fearful of doing so in case it reduces productivity. If anything, it improves it.
Work On Improving Productivity
And talking of productivity, improving staff satisfaction is done by helping staff be more productive in the workplace. Introducing task management platforms and more effective ways of communicating in and between departments can all help.
Improving those work processes and making your staff more efficient is going to make them feel they’re getting more out of their day.
Use these tips to help improve staff satisfaction and to give them the best experience every day within your business.
