Show Them You Care: Maintaining and Improving Employee Happiness

People who are satisfied with their jobs and content with their workplace tend to be more productive. Workers who enjoy what they do are more likely to produce higher quality output. Keeping everyone happy can be a challenge, but there are a few things organizations can do that can generally increase employee happiness.

First and foremost, treat your employees like people. If you can convey that you respect them as individuals who work for the company, rather than faceless role-fillers, it can help establish trust between the company and the worker. Treat them courteously, listen to their thoughts, and take an interest in the things they value. Knowing the company cares about them as a person can result in employees feeling more respected and emotionally linked to their team, and the organization. Thus, they will be less likely to leave.

Celebrating victories and milestones is a good way to let your employees know that you care about their work, and their development. “Lack of appreciation” is an often-cited reason for exiting a company, so making your team feel valued can be important. Having an awards program is one way to show gratitude – but even just asking the individual to share work advice with colleagues can let them know that they are valued. Providing development opportunities to high performers can show that the organization wants to invest in them.

Giving employees more control over their work lives can be a way to establish higher levels of trust and engagement. Flexible work schedules, for example, can help employees optimize their time working, particularly if they can more efficiently prioritize their time for non-work-related endeavors. Allowing employees to decorate their workstations in an aesthetically pleasing way to the worker can also help them to feel more in charge of their work life, so long as it maintains company standards.

If all else fails, more money can be a good way to increase employee happiness and loyalty. Everyone wants to make good money – it is the reason the employees are there in the first place, after all. It not only helps to pay the bills, but a satisfactory income allows employees to live the life that they want to live. If the organization they work for does not allow for that, then there may be less reason for them to stay if a better opportunity arises.

Making sure employees are happy with the company is important. Those who excel – particularly the ones companies will want to keep – can find better opportunities, and if they are unhappy or unsure about the level of commitment from their company, they may leave, which can leave the organization hurting.