Happy Employees: 5 Secrets to Keeping Your Staff Jolly

There are more than five million open work positions for every job seeker. This means it’s never been more important to keep your workers happy. Not only are happy employees more productive, but they also won’t try to leave your company for a better position.

Read on as we list five great ideas to make employees happy and improve company morale.

1. More Pay

One of the main reasons that people are unhappy at their job is because they feel like they don’t get paid enough. One of the easiest ways to keep employees happy is to increase their pay. This is especially important now that there is significant economic inflation.

The cost of living is going up significantly. Don’t expect to have a happy workforce if you don’t pay them a living wage.

2. Flexible Working

Not only do employees expect to earn a living wage, but they also expect to be offered flexible working. The days of people accepting a strict 9-5 office-based workday are over.

People with flexible working enjoy much greater work/life balance. People want to be able to set their own hours, and they also want to be able to work from home at least some days of the week.

If flexible working isn’t an option, it’s likely that your employees will start sending out resumes to other companies. The only way to attract the most talented workers is to offer flexible work.

3. Vacation Time

Taking personal time is also key to employee happiness. Don’t expect your employees to be happy and productive if they don’t have time to take a vacation. This is becoming a bigger issue in the USA. Many Americans are starting to realize that they hardly get any vacation time compared to European workers.

If you want to create a happy and positive working environment, make sure you give your workers some time off to relax and unwind.

4. Transparency

People don’t like to be kept in the dark, and this is especially true in the workplace. Some employers have a tendency to try and hide bad news from workers, but this almost always results in low morale.

Even if you need to communicate bad news, you should always try to be as transparent as possible with your team.

5. Employee Recognition

Workers also need to feel like the effort they make matters. The hardest workers will quickly become burned out and discouraged if they feel like they’re not appreciated. Always take steps to ensure your employees feel valued.

You don’t even necessarily need to make grand gestures. Just telling your workers that you’re thankful for their hard work is sometimes enough to significantly boost morale. Alternatively, see here for ideas for employee gift cards.

Happy Employees Are Crucial to Running a Business

If you want your business to be successful, you need to have happy employees. This is especially important now due to relatively low unemployment numbers. If your workers are unhappy, they will simply look for another job.

If you want to learn more about running a business, check out the rest of our blog posts.