As a small business owner, you’re likely well versed in detail-oriented work. Between drafting your business plan and managing day-to-day operations, one missed decimal or incorrect date wrong can spell disaster for your company.
However, such focused managers can leave their employees to fend for their own happiness at work. It’s no longer enough to sign paychecks and expect your top talent to keep coming back to the office with the same passion every single day. Think of employee happiness as an investment into increased production – the more your workers feel like they’re wanted and noticed by higher ups, the harder they’re likely to work.
Happiness means productivity
It’s easy to say that satisfied employees can more easily focus on the tasks ahead of them, but like any small business owner worth his or her salt, you might be reluctant to make major changes without hard data in support.
According to a 2010 study conducted by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business and published in the Journal of Financial Economics, companies rated within the top 100 in employee satisfaction experienced a 3.5 percent growth in stock prices between 1984 and 2009 – 2.1 percent above industry averages.
For fiscally minded managers, that should be reason enough to do everything you can to keep your workers content. Unsatisfied employees can be difficult to motivate, especially if they don’t have good relationships with upper management. If you’ve been looking for a way to boost revenue without a significant financial investment, this could be the path back to the black.
Show them you care
Now you know it literally pays to make sure your employees feel good about coming to work, but how can you help them avoid frustrations with their jobs? Focus on body, mind and spirit, Inc. Magazine recommended.
Keeping your employees physically fit is one way to boost their happiness, and you can promote healthy lifestyles with Myron’s 30 Oz. Cool Gear® Pure Bottle with Filter – the perfect way to combine your brand with a fit image. Encourage your employees to bring their personalized water bottles into work to save on office supplies, too!
Inc Magazine also urged business owners to collect suggestions from employees on what to change around the office. This will make them feel like they have a say in the things that affect them daily. It can be a risky decision to read these comments out loud, as some may be too unnecessarily negative and not productive. However, if an employee’s idea is particularly clever, be sure to single him or her out in front of the rest of the company. Along with making that team member happy, you’ve also set an example for his or her colleagues to strive for.
Fostering a healthy spirit might prove slightly more difficult, but the source noted that extra vacation or sick days can show employees that you value their well-beings as people outside of the workplace. Don’t feel like this is an obligation though – awarding more personal days on a case-by-case basis might be the way to go if you don’t have much wiggle room.
No matter what you do to show employees that they’re valued members of your business team, it really is the effort that counts. Go beyond traditional anniversary gifts and hand out personalized products that acknowledge your employees for the work they’ve done. Odds are they’ll repay you with more productivity and higher profits, which can’t help but make everyone at the company happy as well.