Employee engagement and satisfaction is an important indicator of the health of your organization. Knowing how to keep your employees happy and engaged in their work is critical to the success of your organization.
Be Transparent
Keep your employees in the loop. Trust and transparency is paramount to employee happiness. Let them know what’s going well and what’s not going so well. Communicate the same message with consistency knowing that someone may have “missed the memo” the first time. Commit to sharing the good, bad, and ugly to build trust and loyalty with your team members. Ask for feedback from your team members and share the results publicly with how you are going to address the issues raised. This inclusive environment with transparent communication is critical to keep your employees happy.
Show Your Appreciation
Your employees don’t need big bonuses (while nice) or office perks to feel appreciated. A genuine thank you or recognition of a job well done goes much further than you think. According to Gallup’s research, employees who feel ignored are the least engaged employees in your organization and are most likely to leave or create a toxic environment for others. Opt for a genuine, personal thanks versus a forced employee recognition program. Making your thanks personal and heartfelt is a great way to keep your employees happy and engaged.
Offer Flexible Work Arrangements
With work/life balance taking a hit over the past year, offering families the flexibility they need to accommodate their work and life can go a long way toward keeping your employees happy. Women fled the workplace in droves as nearly 2.2 million women left the workforce between October 2019 and October 2020. The need for companies to flex with the needs of families has never been more apparent and companies that offer flexibility for care providers will retain top talent in the years ahead.
Know their Strengths
According to Gallup, employees who know and use their strengths every day are 6x more likely to be engaged in their jobs and 3x more likely to report having a higher quality of life. These important indicators should encourage employers to invest in the strengths of their employees. The CliftonStrengths assessment is one of the best tools for uncovering the greatest contributions of your employees and providing important information about how to keep your employees happy and doing what they do best every day.
Invest in their Development
Learning opportunities and professional development lead to happier and more productive employees. Investing in their future is a good way to keep your employees happy and committed to their growth with your organization. Let employees know that there are opportunities available for them as they continue to do good work and be honest if there’s a cap on their role. Set your employees up to stay, or leave if they choose, feeling like they are a better version of themselves for having worked with you.
If you’re an organizational leader, it’s imperative that you know how to keep your employees happy and engaged in their daily work. The health of your organization depends on it!
