Your staff are surly, despondent, snarling and seemingly lacking the most basic motivational skills. For all you know, they could be brain dead. They slump at their desks like extras from Shaun of the Dead, only ever moving when they need their mug of coffee refilled. Every question you ask of them is answered demurely and with about as much passion as a French existentialist staring into the abyss.
In short, they’re a little lacking.
But their mental faculties aren’t to blame. If you’ve created a working environment that’s as soul sucking as a Russian gulag, then no wonder they’re a little dissatisfied.
After a point, a poor workforce becomes the fault of the employer. So you’ll have to do a few things to regain your employees’ focus. Here are just a few strategies you can try.
Get to know the problems
“How am I supposed to help my employees,” you cry, sputtering a cigarette out of your mouth and spilling it into your cup of black coffee, “if I don’t know what their problem is?!!?”
Well, first things first, let’s just calm down. We’re here to help, not be shouted at by a chain smoker who’s had too much coffee. Second things second, you make a very good point.
Employees can be difficult to engage with, especially if they feel they haven’t been listened to in the past. But there are certain kinds of software that can help them feel as though their voices have been heard.
If you invest in sofware like Questback software, a programme that will issue surveys to employers, then you’ll find it far easier to know what’s bundling around in your employees’ noggins. What’s more, they’ll be able to write what they’re thinking anonymously, giving them a safe space to say what’s really on their mind.
Surveys should be done on regular basis. You might also want to consider a daily employee satisfaction survey, as it seems to offer plenty of benefits.
Less meetings and emails, please
Meetings are the bane of every employee’s existence. Long and boring meetings, that is. Now add a flooded inbox to those, you’ll get whiny and grumpy employees. Indeed, burying your employees in emails and exposing them to long meetings after long meetings will only make them unproductive and unhappy.
If you want to solve the meeting problem (well, you should!) you need to consider to either reduce the meeting frequency or cut the meeting duration. One big meeting once a quarter or series of 10 minutes briefing-style meetings might do the trick.
In term of emails, you may want to replace constant emailing with a messaging app or a collaboration platform, instead. This way it’s faster to communicate with one another and everything is tracked in the app/platform’s archive so it’s easy to catch up with the conversation.
A wee treat
Sometimes you can’t only be interested in the productivity levels of your employees, pushing them forward like an aggressive jockey at the Grand National. Every little while, it’s okay to put on the brakes and give your team a breather.
Treat them to a pint down the pub, a bacon butty on a Friday morning or even a full-blown night out every now and again (at the courtesy of the company credit card, naturally).
Plenty of staff members will grow restless if they don’t feel valued, regardless of their salary. With the occasional treat, you’re showing them that you care about their well-being. In turn, you’re illustrating your interest in strengthening the bond between the boss and their employees.
Now over to you
This is really just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to making your staff happy. If you’ve got any other suggestions, we’d love to hear them.