A successful business would be nothing without its employees. Employees at the heart of the business need strong leadership and guidance to help them excel at what they do.
The atmosphere you create within your business is everything. Employees should feel that they want to come to work and reach their full potential while they’re there. When you dedicate time and resources to building up your employees and creating a bustling and positive work environment, your business can achieve great things.
Creating a business where people want to work helps set you apart from other companies. Here are 12 ways to make it happen so that you can give the very best to your employees.
1. Create a workplace that inspires creativity and collaboration
One of the things that attract potential applicants to a company is the location. A great location with fantastic facilities can be a place that people want to work in, giving you a choice of talented recruits to choose from.
So what makes a desirable workplace? There are a lot of great modern office designs to inspire your company’s own ambitions. A modern workplace should be built to inspire creativity and collaboration. A mix of spaces (both open plan and private), in addition to some additional facilities where people can socialise and recharge, can make sure your space has what it needs to encourage idea-sharing and bring your employees closer together.
2. Encourage ideas and conversation
Some people can find it difficult to make their voice heard in some organisations, which is why you should encourage ideas and conversation as much as possible, at all levels of your business. Regular brainstorming and feedback sessions can help encourage creative idea sharing from everyone, helping anyone in your company contribute to your overall objectives.
Inspiring your employees is another way to encourage ideas and creative thinking. Inviting guest speakers to talk to your employees can bring some much-needed inspiration while attending conferences and events can also be an effective way of bringing new ideas to your business.
3. Empower employees from the very beginning
It can take as long as 12-18 months for someone to settle into a new role. As an employer, it’s important that you help with this process as much as possible, helping to develop confident and empowered employees from the beginning.
Mastering employee onboarding can help new employees develop a sound knowledge of the business and their role within it, helping them feel at ease from the beginning.
4. Provide flexible working opportunities
Flexible working has increased as a result of the pandemic. Many workers are used to being able to work from home, choose their working hours, etc. A lot of workplaces have returned to pre-pandemic working practices, and with half of employees have said they would quit without flexible working, you could make your company a much more attractive place to work by providing flexible working policies.
Flexible working can help boost productivity and helps your employees maintain a healthy work/life balance. There are ways you can make flexible working effective without compromising output or results, benefiting both your business and your employees.
5. Get creative with your benefits
People want more out of working life, and flexible working is just one of the things that people look for when applying for jobs today. Incredible staff benefits can help you attract a wide range of candidates to your organisation, while also showing them that you’re a company that values and rewards its employees.
What can you offer that other companies can’t? Four-day work weeks? Early finishes on a Friday? Nights out and experiences paid for by the company? There are a lot of different benefits you can offer, and the more creative and appealing, the better.
6. Take health and wellbeing seriously
Employee health and wellbeing is something that should be a priority for all employers. Having policies in place that can really help your employees stay healthy will be appreciated. You can help your employees stay fit and healthy by providing them with resources on how to maintain self-care, providing counselling and mental health services.
Maintaining health and wellbeing in the office can involve healthy lunch and snack options and even providing fitness facilities on site. For those working remotely, advice on staying healthy while working from home could be useful for many employees.
7. Provide ongoing development opportunities
Providing development opportunities helps your staff to grow and progress in their careers, while also learning new skills that will benefit the business. Successful workplace development programmes are employee-centred, with adequate time given to employees to carry out any training or learning required. Regular development talks can help keep employees on track and make sure they’re making the most of the training and development opportunities available.
8. Make your workplace fun
‘Fun’ isn’t a word you typically associate with the workplace, but why shouldn’t it be? A fun workplace can still be productive, but employees will be happy, relaxed and excited about going to work. Nobody wants to dread going to work, so having a fun and positive atmosphere could make a big difference to your employees’ job satisfaction.
It’s easier to create a fun workplace than you think. Celebrate your employees, plan social events and encourage teams to eat away from their desks. A ‘bring your dog to work’ day can also be an effective way of making the office a fun place to be.
9. Do your bit for others
People want to work for a company that they’re proud to work for. Having a sustainability policy and giving back as a business can show that profits aren’t the only driver for the business. Giving opportunities for staff to be a part of these activities can also help them feel motivated and passionate about the company they work for.
From community outreach to fundraising, discuss ways your employees can get involved so that you can all make a difference together.
10. Make communication open and transparent
Your business wouldn’t get very far without its employees, and it’s important to trust and value them across all aspects of the company. Clear and transparent communication between employees and management is a must to instil confidence and to show employees that their opinions matter. There should be regular communication from the top down, and regular communication between management and their teams. Employees should feel confident raising issues and feeling like they’re listened to when they do so.
11. Get to know everyone
As a business leader, you can feel cut off from the rest of your employees. But that doesn’t have to be the case. Getting to know your teams can make you more approachable, but it also helps you feel more connected to what’s going on. Making an effort to learn names and other personal details will go a long way, and spending time with your employees socially can also make your own experience at work more positive too.
12. Keep things interesting
It’s easy for things in the workplace to get stale. Your employees will benefit from fresh motivation to keep them engaged in their work. Review objectives regularly to keep things interesting and to ensure your employees are always given new challenges.
A positive workplace can help reduce your turnover, attract top talent and help your business achieve its goals. Take action to build a business that people are proud and happy to work for to experience all the best bits of running a successful business.