Could We Be Doing More To Help Our Employees Grow In The Workplace? Let’s Discuss

Running a business is not easy at all. There is always so much to think about. Your marketing strategy, where the next sales are coming from, the website content, the customer experience. But as a business grows so does your team. You may outsource at times but you also might end up having staff of your own. But does this present a whole new set of responsibilities now that you are an employer? The answer is yes. However, having people working with you towards the end goal can actually freeze up some time for you to focus on where your strengths lie in terms of moving the business forward and making it the success you imagined and hoped it would be.

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However, you do have the added responsibility of ensuring that your employees are happy working for you and you create the right working environment. So how do you do that? I thought I would share with you some of the ways you can help your employees grow within the workplace and effectively helping your business grow at the same time.

Grow their skills and knowledge

One of the first things you could consider doing would be to grow their skills and knowledge within the business and the sector that you work in. This can be a great way to establish commitment from employees as well as benefiting you as a business. If you invest in someone, they can often feel valued members of the team. You are also investing in their future so they may want to then progress further on in the career and perhaps take on more responsibility. As an employer, you want people like this with you. Committed and wanting to do more, it benefits them and it helps you grow your business further.

Communicate through individual reviews and team meetings

The next thing to think about would be how you communicate with your team and employees. Many people like to understand how they are doing in their job roles, especially if perhaps some of their wages is based on performance. You may want to think about regular performance reviews, which you could do as a team and individually. A quick look online will highlight the Best Employee Performance Review Examples that you can work through to ensure that you cover all of the bases. Setting goals is a great way to get more from your team.

Offer flexible working options

Flexible working is fast becoming a growing incentive for employees these days but it can also benefit you as the employer. At the moment, more people are finding it difficult to go back to work after starting a family, as strict working hours just don’t suit their current needs, childcare options and lifestyle. However, flexible working options such as being flexible with working hours can help you to make more of the working week as an employee. You can then work when it suits, and often as an employer you will find that you have more productive and motivated staff.

Create the right working environment

The working environment is also such an important aspect of the workplace. Having people working for you means that you have a responsibility for them, and so the place they work needs to be up to scratch. This means that you need to keep the place warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Offer places to make drinks and store food for lunches maybe. Even having the right level of recycling options and making the working environment clean and tidy to work in. These are important factors to people and can help people feel safe and secure in the workplace.

Provide incentives to create motivation

Incentives can be seen as a big deal to some, and if you find that you are getting close to the end of the month, a half year projection or the yearly target and need that final push of sales, incentives for the staff can be a great way to boost those last minute sales. It could be that you provide things as simple as bottles of wine, meal vouchers or movie tickets. Or it could be bigger cash prizes or electrical goods. It would all depend on the budgets youa have and what you want to do, but the motivation to do better is there and it could be a great way to boost the sales performance.

Make sure you schedule employees time efficiently

You also need to think about how you schedule the time for your employees. You need to consider things like shift patterns, time off or when people may be ill and unable to work. Having the right scheduling tool in place can help you monitor staff levels so that you are never off the clock. It’s might also indicate where you need to ask people to work and perhaps offer overtime incentives for doing it.

Have a decent healthy and safety policy in place

While you may have made sure that the working environment is easy and nice for people to work in, you also have a duty to ensure that it is a safe environment. This is when a health and safety policy can come into play. Whether someone is sat at a desk or working machinery, risk assessments need to take place so that you can ensure that you have the right level of care and attention so people can do the job you employ them to do.

What does their future hold?

Finally, what does the future hold for your employees? When was the last time you asked them what their career aspirations were? You may find that they are motivated to do more, but just couldn’t ask you themselves. Added responsibility and taking on more work perhaps. Knowing that you have a team wanting to develop their careers in your business is a great feeling, and something that needs to be nurtured.

I hope that these tips help you when it comes comes to doing more for your employees.