International Week of Happiness at Work 2022

During International Week of Happiness 2022, we took time to think what helps an employee feel happy at work. With ever changing trends in the workplace following the COVID-19 pandemic and rising stresses in our personal lives, it’s harder but still more important than ever to support employees to be happy and productive. It’s consistently a critical factor in keeping a business successful. Happy employees tend to work harder more consistently, rarely missing a day and are engaged to the company and how it’s performing.

When employees are unhappy and are not feeling inspired, their productivity can be affected tremendously. As well as this, sick days can increase, and staff turnover can also rise. Replacing a team member can cost over 30% of their salary and when unhappy employees are costing companies over £500bn annually, it’s imperative we meet the problem head on and look at ways in which we can keep our employees happy.

 

Ensure employees keep a work-life balance

Work often comes to be the most important in our employee’s lives, and whilst this has benefits for the company, it can have significant to our staff’s mental health as they push aside their well-being. When employees are taking on increasing responsibility at work, working longer hours at work or overtime, or are becoming over-pressured, they are at risk of burning themselves out and resenting the workplace because of it.

Instead, employers can try these tips to encourage a positive work-life balance for their employees:

• Offer more flexibility, such as allowing staff to work from home, even if it’s only on specific days.
• Encourage managers to measure productivity rather than time spent on a project.
• Encourage staff to take breaks when they need to.
• Conduct regular reviews of an employee’s workload, ensuring they’re not feeling under pressure and help them with task management where possible.
• Ensure parents are best supported.

 

Make staff a part of the big picture

When employees aren’t a part of the big picture it reduces their engagement and productivity, as they don’t have an overarching aim to work towards. It can also affect their customer service or sales ability as they may not be inspired by their own company.

Give employees the opportunity to make an impact through their work, ensuring that they have the opportunity to guide the course of the company. Employees acting on direction rather than understanding why they’re taking on a task, will encourage staff to be reactive rather than proactive, when proactivity is what ultimately helps the business the most and encourages positive wellbeing.

 

Foster honesty in the workplace

Honesty can be difficult in the office. Employees can often avoid voicing any disappointment, frustration, or general ideas and opinions on how to change their company’s operating procedure. Instead, these grievances can progress in the form of gossip, which can escalate any frustrations without any reliable outlet. Instead, employers must be open to hearing their employee’s truths and work with them to resolve an issue. Even if it’s a tough pill to swallow, it’s essential we meet underlying frustrations to build integrity and boost morale in the workplace.

You can help foster honesty in the workplace by offering employees the freedom to be honest, in an environment which will not judge them on what’s said but instead work with them. In the same light, employees must be held accountable and need to back up their opinions with facts and substance. With this in mind, employers can work with their staff to find solutions and communicate any positives and negatives if need be.

 

Recognise employees regularly

In recognising the efforts of our staff, by consistently recognising positive behaviour it will leave a greater impact on our employees than a single event every month or year. Employees can become let down by their employers when they feel like their efforts aren’t being recognised or feel unengaged by their workplace. Positive workplace cultures and environments are very helpful because they promote teamwork and communication, which raises engagement and presents opportunity for co-workers to learn from one another. Additionally, it’s important to recognise employees at all levels of the company for outstanding performance or exceptional effort. These compliments are free but offer valuable public appreciation for a job well done.

 

Provide benefits to your employees

One of the best ways to keep employees satisfied is through benefits. It goes without saying that when workers feel cared for by their employer, they are much more likely to feel content and productive. However, most businesses do not want to spend any further funds on benefits, particularly after they have recently invested a significant sum of money and resources in employing someone new.

The topic of benefits can be challenging. Employers can work around this though by creating a complete benefits plan that truly meets their employee’s needs. By encouraging conversations with staff, leaders can find out exactly what they want. This can be made possible through feedback mechanisms, office-wide polls, and more.

It’s important to determine exactly what each employee needs—and how you can best support them—whether you’re providing them extra maternity or paternity leave or giving them the day off on their birthday. Employees will be considerably happier and work harder if they believe you are genuinely interested in meeting their needs.

 

Contact Us

If you want to best support your teams and help them be the best versions of themselves, contact the team today and we’ll create a tailored plan which supports your team best. Contact the Valentine team at 0800 020 9913 or email us at service@valentineoh.co.uk .