Employees contribute to the success of your business. A fact. Indeed, they work hard to achieve the desired profit levels for your company. And, because they also feel stressed from the pressures around them, it is no surprise your employees need some motivations to continue their work enthusiastically. Stress is inevitable, and it’s normal. Without fixing it, it would eventually take its toll on your employees’ productivity. It won’t be healthy.
As the CEO, thinking about the welfare of your employees is one of your many responsibilities. If you won’t think about your employees to the best of their interest, you’ll not like the results. Your company will eventually suffer for sure. However, if you exerted a little effort on making your employees feel happy and fulfilled at work and beyond, you will reap the benefits eventually. They’ll manage to do their jobs in the most passionate manner ever albeit being pressured and stressed at times.
Making your employees happy is not as hard as you think it is. Well, we are not talking about being cheesy to your employees and all. But, it is about giving them the motivation to work hard and dedicate their time, capability and energy to their role and your company. Here’s how to keep a happy workplace.
1. Offer responsibility responsibly
This is one of the mistakes of the majority of the CEOs out there. They tend to assign a task to a particular employee without knowing whether or not he or she can deliver the said work. If you are assigning it to someone who don’t know, then this might be the reason having a shoddy work. Doing such can be dangerous to your business.
Instead of assigning a task, why don’t you offer responsibility to those employees who knows better and are willing to tackle that particular job. With that, it is much easier for them to come up with better ideas since they have some knowledge about it already.
2. Be open and available
Employees tend to feel intimidated since you are the CEO of the company. You should know that by now. Yes, we all understand that there must be boundaries between a CEO and an employee since we are talking about professionalism and respect here. But too much gap between both parties might not convey a healthy workplace. This often leads to some misunderstandings within the company.
However, as the CEO, even if you are setting some boundaries within the organization, make sure that your employees know that they can ask you a question whenever they need to. Perhaps, you can give some of your spare time asking them if they can still keep up with their work, or if they are having a hard time dealing with deadlines and all. Sometimes, it shouldn’t be work-related at all. With these simple gestures, your employees will appreciate how you care and nurture them, as your employees.
3. Provide tools for success
Using of tools is important for you to be guided on what’s and what’s not to do when it comes to business. Having the right tools can help in bringing your company the success it deserves. However, if you are not generous enough to provide your employees with the right tools, then you might be jeopardizing the quality of their work.
As the CEO, you know what tools are the best to use. Providing them the things that are useful for their work, doing their task will be much easier and faster. For instance, when one is having a hard time dealing with leads management, they can immediately resolve it with the use of the right tools. At least, you can relieve them of their burdens that impede their productivity.
4. Make training and learning available
People naturally want to be better not just for themselves, but also in their field of work. One of the many ways they can improve and gain more knowledge is through attending training, seminars, and other work-related learning activities. However, it is not possible if you don’t allow them to engage in such.
When you’re a CEO, you have to know that doing business is not just about working and completing a particular task to meet the client’s demands. Business is also about learning from experiences and being involved in different learning activities internally and externally. You might not know it, but a workshop may lead to an employee unleashing his or her hidden talents that can be of good use to their work. Thus, upskilling is always worth the investment.
5. Thank employees for good work
A simple thank you from the CEO would mean a lot to an employee. For some people, saying thank you is not a big deal. But thanking your employees can already boost their confidence in doing and delivering their task efficiently. Who would not be proud when the CEO noticed your hard work and praised you for that? We all know the feeling is good, fulfilling, encouraging, and inspiring.
But if you are one of those CEO, who don’t have enough time to say even a simple “thank you” or “keep up a good work” to their employees, you might want to consider changing that habit. Did you know that your simple thank you’s might be the reason your employees are still loyal and willing to work with your company?
6. Customize rewards
Aside from a simple and sincere praise from you, as the CEO, giving them rewards for doing good and delivering a superb performance can make them happy as well. Well, you can plan on having a time mainly intended for having fun. Treat them to lunch or dinner out or book a place somewhere where they can forget about work for a while. And don’t forget to celebrate your employee’s birthday, even with a simple cake and greeting card.
Giving these rewards to your employees does not just mean spoiling them to a fault. This is also one way to have a little break from the stress and pressure around them. With this method, your employees can have some things to look forward to, refreshing their thoughts, restoring their energy and re-igniting their passion toward work.
7. Allow individuality to shine
If you are thinking about being strict when it comes to their dress code with matching strict haircut policies, for instance, you better think twice. Some of your employees may feel awkward wearing a suit and tie of a particular color on a specific day. Yes, these regulations convey professionalism, but you’ve just gone overboard about it. These are things of the past, and if you are one of those companies who still practice this today, you are preventing your employees from working comfortably and conveniently.
There is nothing wrong with a company implementing a corporate attire policy. But you also need to think about the conditions of your employees. Be rigorous and it will only affect the concentration even of your best employees.
We all do know that being a CEO is not as easy task. You need to think comprehensively to come up with the right, just and satisfying solutions. However, you also have to acknowledge the fact that you are not the only one who works at the company. There are also employees who are willing to give their best effort to help you with your business. It won’t kill you if you care about making them happy even in the littlest way possible. Moreover, this is also one way to express how grateful you are for having and working with them.
