Would you like to increase employee happiness in your company? Here are our top 10 ways to do it!
Happy employees have more energy and a better attitude which could make work more enjoyable. They feel pride in their work if they like what they do and this sense of meaning has a positive feedback loop: a sense of satisfaction reduces stress, which can improve productivity, reduce turnover, and increase loyalty.
1. Get to know your employees
In order to build a stronger workplace culture, it is really important to get to know your team outside of work. This means planning time to celebrate work milestones, holidays and socialise as a team. It can also mean organising team building activities, volunteering, or just spending time talking in the kitchen over a coffee.
It’s a great way to boost employee happiness where they know you see them as more than just workers—you see them as people.
2. Recognise employees hard work
Noticing hard work and achievements in a variety of ways lets your employees know they are valued, and it plays a significant role in how they perceive their workplace – and how they feel about their work.
Recognising successes doesn’t have to be a complicated or elaborate gesture; it could be as simple as saying “thank you” once a hard task or project has been completed. But if you would like to implement the recognition of employees’ successes and achievements throughout the year, here are some ideas that you could add to your processes:
- Use 10 minutes in your team meetings as a chance for the team to recognise others hard work and “shout out” any big achievements since the last meeting
- Set team and individual targets and introduce a reward scheme for reaching goals
- Encourage a culture where everyone frequently hands out positive feedback to their teams
- Hand out prizes at company celebrations
3. Encourage breaks
Encouraging breaks is an important practice in promoting happiness and overall wellbeing among your team. Managers may find it easy to encourage their workers to stay late to get the project done, skip lunch or eat at their desks, but this is a counterproductive practice that leads workers down a steep, quick path to burnout and unhappiness.
To help avoid unnecessary stress and improve work habits, encourage employees to take breaks throughout the day and they should return refreshed with a clear mind and ready to pick up work.
4. Prioritise work-life balance
A good work-life balance plays a big part in employees happiness at work and making sure your team has an equal balance of work and personal life is a crucial part of building a healthy work environment and keeping employees happy while preventing burnout.
Many employees experience stress at work, for example, if they are working on a demanding project, working overtime, or feel too much pressure, it can leave a negative impact on their mental health. So, to instil a better work-life balance at your company, you could try some of these tips to make a big difference to your team while they balance their work-life:
- Measure progress in the productivity of projects, instead of time spent in the office
- Offer flexible working patterns if able to, allowing employees to work a hybrid model or flexi-hours to fit around their personal responsibilities
- Utilise video conferencing platforms to include everyone into team meetings if they are working from home
- Conduct regular reviews of employees’ workloads, making sure these are easily manageable
- Increase support options for working parents
5. Allow flexible working
If you can offer flexible working patterns in your company, it will allow your team to feel less stressed about the balance of their personal and professional lives.
When employees have the freedom to work on their own schedule, they will be much more productive as everyone is different. Some employees might be early risers, some may work better in evenings, and some might have to do the good old school-run, so each of these people can work better at different times of the day without the stress of sticking to a 9-5 routine.
6. Build a happy working environment
Employees spend a lot of time in the office and with their colleagues, so it’s important to create a positive work environment. The key factor for a happy team is to have transparency and open dialogue, where they can discuss anything that is on their mind with no discrimination or judgement. Make sure you have clear processes for reporting concerns, and everyone is aware of the company policies for a happy working environment.
Want something to make a happy working environment that costs nothing and takes very little effort? Smile & complements! Smiling is contagious and it’s one of the easiest ways to convey happiness and positive energy amounts your team. And if someone has changed their hairstyle or wearing something that looks good on them, offer a friendly complement – you never know, you may have just made their day!
7. Involve your team on company decisions
With most companies the leaders will make big decisions, and sometimes the first time their employees hear of them are once the change has been implemented.
If you are looking at making a change that will affect your employees, why not get them involved in the decision making and take their suggestions into consideration. These gestures will not only indicate, that you value their input and their opinion, they might have an idea that you never thought of!
8. Offer company benefits
It’s important to have a company benefits package that suits your team’s needs, but that can be adapted if needed.
Get to know your team and can look at benefits packages that will fit round them – is there a point on offering free gym access if everyone prefers to eat the naughty snacks at lunch or is everyone using a day’s holiday to celebrate their birthdays?
You can never get benefits that everyone will use 100% of, so when planning your packages, consider thinking about both big and small employee needs. For example, can you afford to give birthdays as a free day off outside of a holiday allowance, can you add wellbeing benefits that will help employees to stay healthy and can you give extra maternity or paternity leave? No matter what you choose, when an employee feels their company takes care of them with a great benefits package, they have a greater job satisfaction.
9. Look at your office space
From comfortable office furniture to live plants and ample fridge space, your office environment can play a much greater role in employees’ happiness than you may expect.
Here are some great features for your office space that can help with employee wellbeing and happiness:
- Comfortable and ergonomic office furniture
- Desks placed near to the larger windows to allow natural lighting
- Live plants
- Collaborative workspaces so people can work together on projects
- A breakroom area or kitchen with a fridge, fresh water & kettle
10. Offer Career Advancements
As well as feeling motivated, productive and secure in a role, everyone strives for career growth and whether that be more responsibility, a pay-rise or promotion, if there is this option within your company your employees will not need to look elsewhere for their next opportunity.
When it comes to employee happiness, offering support, training and mentorship to employees wanting to grow in their career allows them to work on their skills, pitch new ideas and grow as an employee and person.
If you are looking for a new role, somewhere to make you happy at work, we can help! We have a team of amazing recruiters who can assist you in finding the perfect role for you. Check out our current live roles and get in touch if you’re ready to make that next step.
