Happy employees can seem like an aspiration. We are in an employee-focused market: between extravagant office perks and rating tools like Glassdoor, employees have high expectations and are armed with information about employers before they even submit an application.
So how do you keep employees happy? Is the cost worth the return? Here are a few tips on how and why happy employees can be your greatest asset.
Why Care?
It takes a lot to make employees happy. With all kinds of extensive perks offered the least of which is gourmet coffee, exercise classes during lunch and stocked kitchens, it can be costly and a lot to manage. So why bother?
Happy employees will become ambassadors of your brand. They will evangelize your company on personal social media accounts and in anonymous channels like Glassdoor and PayScale.
Angry or unengaged employees will do the opposite, they will antagonize your brand in the same places candidates for vacant positions look to see what the company culture is like. This type of qualitative influence can trounce recruiting efforts and bring down morale internally.
Keep it positive, and when done right you’ll see the return on the investment in no time.
How to Make Employees Happy.
Believe it or not, sometimes making employees happy has nothing to do with coffee or snacks. Sometimes it has more to do with culture and corporate social responsibility.
Millennials, who make up one in three people in the workforce, care deeply about corporate giving. Rather than invest in extravagant perks, have your workforce vote on a charity and invest in giving back to your community.
If perks suit your employee demographic better than a social responsibility program, find what is most impactful to focus your investment. A full company employee survey can help determine how to provide some perks to maintain morale and happiness without breaking your budget.
Maintaining Rapport.
You can’t fake authenticity and you can’t manufacture rapport. Authenticity is real by definition and you have to build rapport. The easiest way to do that? Be transparent with your employees.
The most basic way to keep your employees happy is to be honest and upfront with them. If employees understand the vision, status and future of the company they will maintain loyalty. Employees are your greatest asset, treat them that way.
Keeping employees happy keeps your brand and recruiting efforts healthy which drives your business forward.
