Employers are starting to realize that their profit levels, productivity, and staff retention rates correlate with employee well-being. Look after their health and well-being, and you’re also looking after your bottom line.
Even if you pride yourself on being an excellent boss who cares for your team, you may still not quite understand what it takes to nurture your employees in a way that inspires them to take care of your business. The following tips should help:
Foster a Diverse and Inclusive Workplace
Encouraging workplace diversity and inclusive employment might be how you immediately start creating an environment where employees feel like their well-being is valued.
Inclusive work environments can support employees’ well-being through career achievements, progression, self-esteem, social connectedness, and pro-social behavior. You could also make use of diversity and inclusion surveys to uncover insights into inclusion at work helping create a healthier work environment. Reduced discrimination, harassment, and prejudice in the workplace can also have more of a positive impact than you might think.
Prioritize Recognition and Praise
The unfortunate reality is that many managers highlight employee mistakes more often than they highlight the incredible work they have achieved. While errors do need to be addressed for employees to learn from them, forgetting to recognize and praise people for what they do well every day can be incredibly detrimental.
Studies have shown that employees who receive recognition are happier at home. It’s also true that happier employees are more productive ones, which means something as simple as a compliment may make all the difference to your bottom line. For big successes, consider giving out awards for outstanding work. To go above and beyond in recognizing your employees’ big wins, you can get custom awards made to commemorate the big event.
Consider Wellness Classes
It can’t be all work and no play in the workplace. While you must allow your employees to take breaks, you can do much more to support their well-being. Consider introducing wellness classes to your weekly work schedule.
Yoga, fitness classes, and even mindfulness meditation will likely be well-received by your team. These classes provide a wide range of benefits. For example, mindfulness is known to reduce stress, enhance relationships, and improve focus.
Surprise Them With Gifts
Showering your employees with gifts doesn’t have to be the only thing you do to make them feel happy, healthy, and respected, but it can be a kind gesture.
When you order corporate merchandise for your clients, add a few thoughtful products for your employees. Reusable coffee cups, notebooks, and other goodies are bound to be appreciated, especially when your employees realize you were thinking of them.
Create a Healthy Work Environment
We’re learning more about healthy work environments with each passing year, and we now know enough to make a significant difference. Start looking into the many small changes you can make to benefit your employees’ health and well-being, such as bringing in plants, natural lighting, and ergonomic furniture.
Consider creating comfort zones for creativity and relaxation and getting rid of box-like cubicles. Such moves can make more of a difference than you realize.
Encourage Flexible Working Hours
Upwards of 36 million Americans could be working from home by 2025, and many of them prefer to have this flexibility in their everyday life. By working from home, employees can avoid the commute, spend more time with their loved ones, and attend milestone events like children’s sports games and music recitals.
If your workplace can accommodate a WFH structure, consider this as one of the most significant changes you make to benefit your team.
It’s easy to think that providing employment is enough to make your team happy, but as a responsible business owner or manager, there’s so much more you need to do. Making your workplace inclusive, encouraging flexible work hours, and even giving out corporate gifts may benefit you and your team in more ways than one.
