Business owners have had a lot of difficult times to deal with in recent years. To build and maintain a successful business, you need to delight not only your customers but also your employees. However, knowing how to respond to employee problems isn’t always easy. Should your business be proactive or reactive in its approach to employee wellbeing?
Dealing with Employee Problems
There is a lot of evidence that employee engagement directly impacts workers’ productivity. Employers who engage with their staff find a 25-59% decrease in staff turnover as well as 41% lower absentee rates. However, it is a lesson that some businesses still have to learn.
How to Tell the Difference Between Employee Engagement and Happiness
Employee engagement is measured by how dedicated the workers are to their job. They need to have a strong emotional connection and enthusiasm to feel engaged and loyal to the company.
It can be easy to confuse happiness with engagement. Someone might be happy in their role, but not feel supported or valued as an employee. While happy employers will have increased productivity, those who feel engaged will often be even more productive.
Why Proactive is Better than Reactive
Businesses can sometimes become so engrossed in what they are selling that they don’t always see problems emerging in the workplace. This is often the reason why many companies are more reactive than proactive with their workforce.
Learning to be more proactive with your workers is essential to your company’s growth. By becoming proactive, you may find a sharp increase in productivity. This could be the difference between your business succeeding or failing.
Some problems may be unforeseen, but if you try to look for problems before they arise, you should be able to deal with them more effectively.
How Do You Build Employee Engagement?
There are a number of ways that you can grow employee engagement. Some of these depend on the business you are running – but, generally, there are several things you can improve.
- Increasing the recognition that your employees get can be a huge engagement factor. Try to recognize important achievements such as working overtime to complete a task, or going above and beyond to help a colleague.
- Having important benefits can show that you care about your employees. This can include having good health insurance from a company like YuLife and arranging other benefits or discounts with local companies.
- Asking for regular feedback from your workers is essential. You need to know if there are any problems that need resolving. However, you also have to be actively listening and making improvements; otherwise, the feedback will be practically worthless.
- Encourage the development of your employees to help them maximize their potential. Failing to heed this tip could risk your employees feeling resentful if they see people from outside the company making the kind of progress they reckon they should have made themselves.
Conclusion
Employee engagement is now more important than ever. With more people having started working from home, businesses must maintain that connection to make them feel like part of the team.
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