5 Ways to Keep Your Employees Happy

A happy workplace is a productive one. Success in the business world is built upon the hard work of dedicated employees; the people who commit to the task at hand, solve complicated problems, and help business leaders build positive and resilient teams primed for greatness.

So, it’s important to keep your employees happy. However, maintaining a positive workplace isn’t always as easy as it seems, with some studies suggesting that employee happiness has dipped significantly in recent years, leaving 17% of workers feeling actively disengaged.

If you’re a committed business owner who wants to build and maintain a productive team, focusing on practical ways to improve employee happiness is a smart move. To help you achieve this goal, we discuss 5 actionable ways to keep your employees happy in this post.

Why It’s Important to Keep Your Employees Happy

Keeping your employees happy isn’t just a nice perk; it can be a practical and impactful way to improve business performance. A happy, fulfilled, and contented workforce is a productive and engaged one, creating a positive feedback loop that helps drive measurable success.

Keeping your employees happy can bring about major benefits such as:

• Improved Productivity: Data shows that happy workers are 43% more productive.
• Less Absenteeism: Engaged workforces experience almost 80% less absenteeism.
• Reduced Turnover: Happy and engaged teams report 21% to 51% less turnover.
• Increased Sales: High engagement can increase sales productivity by almost 20%.
• Higher Profitability: Keeping staff happy can help to raise profitability by up to 23%.

The happier and more supported your employees feel, the better able they are to focus on their work and perform to their fullest potential, helping you to outperform your competition.

5 Ways to Keep Your Employees Happy at Work

Most full-time employees spend about a quarter of their week at work, so it’s no surprise that the atmosphere you create can have a big impact on employee wellbeing. To help keep your employees happy at work, it’s critical to implement policies that speak to their biggest needs.

1. Prioritize Open Communication

Consistent, open communication between workers and leaders helps to build camaraderie and facilitate a supportive environment. Regular meetings, one-on-one chats, and optional surveys give your employees practical opportunities to request assistance, voice concerns, and form unique, impactful relationships that can help to bring the workforce closer together.

2. Offer Flexible Schedules

Flexible work arrangements help employees find their own ideal ways to balance their work and personal lives, with 83% saying this freedom improves their overall happiness. Granting staff flexibility at work is easy nowadays, with technologies like key fob access and digital collaboration tools allowing people to work whenever and from wherever they please.

3. Recognize and Reward Hard Work

Achieving and maintaining professional success can be hard work, but most committed staff are happy to do it so long as their efforts are recognized.

Studies show that employees who receive regular recognition and rewards for their hard work are 45% less likely to leave their roles, with over 80% believing that recognition is essential to maintaining happiness at work.

4. Act On Employee Ideas

In many ways, your employees are your business; they’re the ones who solve problems and represent your company to the wider world.

Providing avenues for employees to voice their ideas about how things could be improved can provide them a sense of ownership over their work, with data revealing that employees who feel heard are 74% more likely to be engaged.

5. Provide Personalized Growth Opportunities

People are much more productive when they feel like they’re working towards an achievable goal and learning new skills that can benefit their professional lives.

By taking the time to talk with your staff and invest in their growth, you can help them feel happier and more engaged, with satisfaction in professional development referenced by 91% of highly-engaged workers.

Final Word: Happy Employees Build Successful Companies

Building a successful company isn’t easy. However, with the right team of professionals, a positive workplace culture and a good helping of drive and determination, it’s more than possible for leaders to achieve long-lasting success, even in the most competitive markets.

While difficult-to-manage factors such as timing and luck do play a part in business success, you’ll find almost any obstacle can become an opportunity with an engaged and enthusiastic workforce by your side. So, above all else, it’s vital to view employee happiness as a priority.

The key to keeping your employees happy is simple, just give them the respect and support they deserve. By prioritizing things like open communication, flexibility in the workplace and the sharing and fulfilment of employee ideas, it’s easy to create a positive work environment.