As a business owner who employees, your staff members are one of the most important assets to your business. They support you with your sales, marketing, accounts, business growth, customer service and more. When you think about it, if you started to lose them, your revenue would drop which in turn will hurt your profits and this is a big reason why you should be supporting them.
There are so many ways in which you can support your staff members. You can sign them up for training courses, helping their career development. You can offer pay raises when KPIs are hit or if you are having a good month financially, you can reward your team with a bonus.
To help you grow your business, we have put together our guide on seven tips for supporting your staff at work. Keep on reading to learn more.
Be considerate of health matters in their personal lives
Your staff members are more than just workers, they’re the integral cogs that keep your business running. Without them, your company wouldn’t be a success. With this in mind, ensure you take care of them both with what happens when they’re at work and when they’re not. Many staff members will drive to work, including those that might drive motorcycles. While they're a popular way to get around, the prevalence of motorcycles means there are also a lot of motorcycle accidents. If one of your staff members gets into an accident either on their way to or from work, this can have devastating repercussions. They might need time off for their injuries and also to deal with the negligent party with the help of a motorcycle accident attorney. A good motorcycle attorney can help them with the pain caused by the accident and hopefully get them back to work as soon as they are able. As an employer, you need to ensure your employee has the time and resources to deal with what's happened to them. This can really differentiate you from a bad employer to a good one.
Lend a clear plan to get a pay rise
Employees love a pay rise and this is something a lot of people will work hard for in order to achieve one. To help motivate staff at work, have a clear pathway that once achieved will reward them with a pay rise. A lot of companies will set certain KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) that will be linked to their role which will be used to decide if they are performing well and therefore deserve a pay rise. When setting them, make sure they are realistic if not, this can unmotivate staff members as they know they won’t be able to achieve it.
Acknowledge when staff members are doing well
Something that happens too often in office environments is management not telling their staff they are doing a good job. You’ll be amazed at how effective telling someone they are doing great can be, especially if they are not used to hearing it. The trick here is to not over-praise but get a fine balance where you can call a staff member into your office and tell them they are doing great for them to feel motivated by it. The best part of acknowledging staff members is it’s free, so this change won’t cost you anything.
Offer rewards when the company is doing well
Rewards are another way to motivate your staff members as you are showing you appreciate them when they are doing well. When targets are hit, whether this is monthly, quarterly or every six months, treat them to something nice to say thank you. How you reward them can be done in many ways - it could be a restaurant voucher, a physical gift like an espresso martini gift set, a holiday away or you could take everyone out to an experience day, like go-karting. If you are unsure, why not ask your staff members to see what rewards they would appreciate?
Training programs for career development
For a lot of people, career progression is significant to them and by showing you support this, it can motivate and make them work harder for you - they will also feel happier when coming to work, which is very important. For the staff members you know are performing well and career driven, you could offer to send them on training courses. These training courses can help develop their strengths as well as weaknesses, which in turn will help their performance in the office. For example, organising training courses for your marketing team could help bring more leads in for your sales team.
Create a nice office environment
Be honest with yourself, when you walk into your office, what are your initial thoughts? Do you think your office is a motivational space or do you think it needs some work? Having a fun, friendly and welcoming office is very important to creating a good environment for your staff members. If it’s gloomy, dark and miserable, then chances are, this will affect how well your staff members perform. Ways to improve your office space can be adding plants as this adds colour to a room, pictures on the wall create a new dynamic and the lighting you use can make a difference
Avoid micromanaging
This may not apply to you, employees don’t appreciate micromanaging but unfortunately, it happens a lot to people at work. When you micromanage, you are showing you don’t trust that person which in turn demotivates them. Instead, giving people the freedom to work at their own pace, using their own methods, helps them learn and it shows them you trust them to do a good job. If you are unsure if people feel like they are being micromanaged, send an anonymous survey around asking the questions as well as other important questions, this way you can see if change is needed.
As you can see there are many ways in which you can support your staff at work. What it comes down to is the budgets you have available to support your staff members and deciding what things will motivate them the most. For example, an employee who has kids may appreciate extra time off to spend it with their children over a bonus. On the flip side, someone who is really trying to grow their career may prefer to be able to sign up for a training program over having a gift. Reach out to your staff members and ask their opinions on ways you can support them to make them happier and their jobs more fulfilling.
How do you support your staff at work and what do you find is the most effective method to support them? Which of the above suggestions did you find most useful and will you be implementing any changes? Is there anything you would like to share that will help our readers? Let us know in the comment box below, we would love to hear from you.
