How to Keep Your Employees Happy at Work

Employee happiness and engagement is difficult at all times, none more so than in times where there are extra restrictions and lack of ability for involvement in the more ‘fun’ or social side of work. However, ensuring that your employees are happy is just as important as ever. Happier employees are more likely to be engaged in the company, so will work harder and be more productive. They are also less likely to leave, saving you on the time and expenses of recruiting and training new people.

But how can you ensure that your employees are happy at work? Here are a few suggestions to get you started:

· Make sure an employee understands their role and what is expected of them – nothing is worse than feeling like you are unable to carry out your job, or that you never seem to get anything right. So, by making sure that all employees fully understand what you want them to do in their role and what you expect them to achieve can help reduce any negative feelings they may have. Not only this, but it means that you will get the output that you actually need, rather than what the employee thought you wanted.

· Celebrate their success – no matter how small it may be, any appreciation of what an employee has achieved can make them feel valued and happier at work.

· Don’t make it all about work – we all know that the work aspect is important, however with people being at work for a significant part of their waking day, for many employees work needs to be more than just about the job to keep them happy. By arranging socials, coffee breaks, in office competitions, etc, it can help make an employee feel more fulfilled in their role. Given current restrictions with social distances some of these may not be possible at the moment or may need to be taken virtually instead.

· Provide support – employees can’t be expected to be happy at work the whole time. There will always be moments where they will struggle either with a situation in the workplace itself, or with a personal circumstance. Therefore, as an employer you need to be supportive to help them through these situations. If the situation has arisen due to something in the workplace, there may be action that you can take, or measures put in place to help. However sometimes it can be as simple as giving them someone to talk to, and for them to know that they have your support.