Lucy - BQ Magazine EditorAs a business owner, employer, and a leader, your job is to do more than simply direct your employees on what to do. You want to make sure that they are engaged, motivated, and productive, and often, to do that, you need to focus on things more intangible than KPIs and deadlines. You want them to take their job seriously, to have some pride in the business they represent, and to feel like a part of something bigger than just their role. Here, we’re going to look at how you can establish them as a real part of them.
Ensure Their Needs Are Well-Met
Your employees have needs, including the need to get paid, to be treated fairly in the workplace, and to have the means to address any serious complaints that they may have. To that end, you need strong HR policies to lay the foundation for a workplace that’s healthy and respectful.
Clear guidelines around compensation, grievance handling, career development, and benefits help employees feel secure and respected. Equally important is how policies are communicated and enforced, so focus on creating the processes by which any complaints are handled, and make sure that any HR representatives you have are kept accessible and approachable.
Employees who know their rights are protected by their employers, rather than threatened by them, are a lot more likely to feel truly valued.
Involve Employees In The Decision-Making Process
Top-down ruling systems may be common in many businesses, but that doesn’t mean that they’re always the most effective way to handle things. Whether you’re setting goals, planning projects, or updating policies, if they involve your employees, then they should be involved.
This might be through surveys, open forums, or smaller team discussions, but what matters is that you demonstrate you’re listening to their feedback and implementing it where it works. Your employees need to feel heard, but they also need to see tangible change as a result of their input, not just lip service to that end.
Put Some Care Into Their Surroundings
If you want your team to take their job seriously and to show up and give it their all, then you have to demonstrate the same level of investment in them. In the most basic sense, this might mean something as simple as maintaining a clean, orderly environment. Working with commercial cleaners to ensure their surroundings are clean and well-organised shows that their health, comfort, and ability to work productively in fitting settings actually matter to you.
Making meaningful improvements to that work space, such as investing in ergonomic furniture for them, creating private spaces for high-focus work, or even giving them a break room, can make your workers feel like integral, cared-for parts of the team, rather than just cogs in a goal-meeting machine.
Recognise And Celebrate Them
Beyond valuing your employees as people with needs and rights, it’s important to show that they’re valued for what they bring to the company, as well. As such, you should make an effort to regularly acknowledge team members for what they do.
A basic thank you for the work they do can be meaningful, but if they put in extra, whether it’s working particularly hard, contributing ideas that make a difference, and otherwise going further to achieve more, then you should put more effort into recognising them as well.
This might be taking the time to shout them out in a meeting, inviting them to commend them, or even offering a bonus personally. Tangible rewards are an improvement over gestures alone, but routine gestures are important, too.
Build Bonds With Shared Experiences
Your employee’s ability to feel like part of a team goes beyond the employer-employee relationship. They will build bonds with their coworkers, and taking the time to build on these relationships can help them form a stronger, more cohesive unit. Create opportunities for connection through team-building activities, social events, and collaborative projects.
Even simple traditions like a longer coffee chat on a Friday morning can help foster further interaction and positive association that makes them not only better able to communicate and collaborate, but also makes them more likely to act with courtesy and integrity in the workplace. A strong sense of community turns coworkers into teammates and the workplace into a team people are proud to belong to.
Businesses that treat their employees as little more than workers should not be surprised in the least when they’re not willing to show up and do more, or even to stay for too long. Creating a real team means investing time and effort into it.