10 Tips for a Better Workplace & Happier Employees

Happy employees are both more productive and more likely to remain loyal to the business in the long run, so it makes sense to ensure that the workplace you run is as positive and appealing as possible.

To that end, here are just 10 tips that should allow you to improve morale, keep team members satisfied, meet expectations and ensure that everyone feels fulfilled at the end of each day.

1. Optimize onboarding

First impressions are formed in an instant, so your approach to enhancing the workplace experience needs to start with a top-tier approach to integrating new hires from the moment they arrive.

There are lots of ways to achieve this, from greeting them effectively and introducing them to the rest of the team to checking in regularly to ensure they are getting settled. Just follow these 7 steps for an onboarding process that prioritizes employee wellbeing.

2. Offer exciting opportunities

Most people will want to know that the organizations they work for provide a consistent career trajectory to pursue, as this gives them something to aim for and provides meaning and worth to their existing roles.

One way to increase engagement and hang onto talented team members is to give them the opportunity to relocate to another office in pursuit of their workplace goals. Of course, planning employee relocation is a process that needs to be taken seriously as there are a lot of factors at play, but for certain people, this will be a major selling point and the key to satisfaction at work.

3. Ensure safety

To feel fulfilled and happy, employees also need to feel safe in the workplace, yet injuries are surprisingly common. Each year there are an average of 18.3 injuries per million working people due to falls, slips, and trips in South Dakota alone, so being proactive in your approach to workplace safety is a necessity.

This can mean going above and beyond to protect employees, meeting or exceeding industry standards for safety, and ensuring that adequate training is provided to show team members that you care about protecting them.

4. Harness team-building

People will feel better about arriving to work each morning if they know and like their colleagues, as well as have confidence in their abilities to communicate and collaborate effectively.

Hosting regular team-building events can go a long way toward fostering just such an environment. Once again there are lots of options available, from quiz nights and team drinks to away days and weekend retreats; just pick an approach that fits your business and your budget.

5. Embrace employee recognition

Unless employees feel like their efforts are being appreciated, they will likely become disillusioned and will ultimately leave to find greener pastures elsewhere, or else lapse into a rut from which they may never remove themselves.

Treating this is simple by formalizing the process of providing recognition to the people you manage. In fact, there are lots of impactful software solutions built around ensuring just that. This is not just about bosses showing their subordinates that they value their contributions, but also about allowing coworkers to pat each other on the back for a job well done.

6. Encourage social responsibility

Modern businesses need to view themselves not only in the context of competitors in a marketplace but also as organizations that have a responsibility to the communities they operate within.

This is not just a good way of boosting the ethical credentials of a brand in the eyes of customers, but can also help with providing employees with more fulfillment in their roles. By partnering with local charity groups, for example, you can create events and initiatives that team members can contribute to and thus feel part of a wider social tapestry.

7. Allow flexibility

While some people are incredibly focused on their careers, most will aim to strike a balance between the responsibilities of their job and their life outside of the office.

while this is a crucial part of an employee’s experience at work, options like shift planning show your employees that you value their input and respect their role in your company.

In recent years, being able to offer more flexibility to team members so that they do not feel overly restricted or penned in by their work obligations, to the detriment of their family and social life, has become particularly important. There are several solutions to improving job flexibility, such as allowing home working and remote collaboration, covering childcare costs, increasing vacation day allocations, break times(in which they can just do nothing or play a card game), and more.

8. Accommodate health and fitness

Employees who are fit and healthy will also be happy and satisfied, so it makes sense for you to integrate this with the workplace culture.

For example, you could lay on nutritious lunches that are available on-site so that staff does not need to scour the surrounding area for something wholesome to eat. As an extension to this initiative, partnering with meal delivery services like HelloFresh could be considered. This way, even if the onsite lunches don't suit everyone's taste or dietary needs, employees still have a vast variety of healthy options directly delivered to the workplace. You could also partner with a local fitness center to provide discounts to employees, or even have on-site facilities for exercise equipment and even classes led by professionals.

9. Demonstrate trust

If employees feel like their managers are always watching over their shoulders or getting involved in every tiny detail of what they do, it will seem to them that their superiors place little stock in their abilities. This can lead to frustration, as too much micromanaging is bad for morale and performance can even be hampered through excessive scrutiny.

The answer is to trust the people you have recruited to do their jobs well and only provide input and guidance when it is clearly necessary, rather than being an all-encompassing overseer who can potentially stifle creativity and generate consternation. To avoid such issues, you can do proper research about their past work and performance along with a detailed background check.

10. Seek out spontaneity

While a routine is necessary for most workplaces, you should also remember that employee happiness can be increased through the careful use of events that break this cycle from time to time.

This does not need to be anything particularly outlandish; sometimes the simple step of arranging a meeting to take place in a different location than usual is enough to breathe new life into the office for the day.

Conclusion

Ultimately it is important to take a multifaceted approach to build a better workplace and put employee happiness at the top of the agenda since the results will be good for individuals and great for the business as a whole as well.

Experiment with a few of the tips provided, see which ones fit your organizational culture, and make adjustments if issues arise. The ability to adapt will be a major asset in any manager who is looking to keep team members content.