There are many reasons why you need to keep your employees motivated, not least to ensure that the people that have helped you to grow your business are happy, rewarded, and want to stick around.
Employee churn can be one of the main reasons people become disheartened at work. Teams that are constantly changing are disruptive, and it can be difficult for employees to have a sense of stability if everything is constantly changing. These are some easy tips that you can implement quickly to keep staff on board and keep your business growing.
Flexible Working
People are really concerned with keeping a healthy work-life balance. Too many hours in the office and away from home can lead people to become demotivated and leave a job for something that offers a little more freedom.
Flexible working can be done in many ways, although the two most common are having flexible office hours and offering remote working. Both have their pros and cons. You may even consider implementing both. One way you could do so is by having flexible office hours which enable people to come in later in the morning and leave early in the afternoon. Having a set number of hours that people must work for the week will ensure that they are maintaining their contracted hours.
Add into the mix remote working, and you have the ultimate work flexibility model. Some days it may just be impossible for people to come into the office because of public transport issues or issues at home. Getting your employees set up with a laptop and access to the network so they can work from home will stop them having to take it as holiday or losing out on a day of work.
Conduct Regular Pay Reviews
In some industries, it’s vital to conduct pay reviews every year to ensure that you are paying a fair salary. If not, people may move to a rival company where they will be paid more to do the same job. All of the training and support you have invested in that employee will be lost if you’re not prepared to meet the industry standard.
The other important factor to consider is people’s level of experience and qualifications they may have gained throughout the year. If you had an employee who has recently graduated, then that may warrant a pay increase. Similarly, if an employee has just completed a certain amount of time at the company or has taken on a new role with more responsibility then this will also warrant some kind of recognition.
Start an Employee Share Scheme
Getting your employees to literally invest in your business or giving them a share is a fantastic way to boost motivation and secure the future of your best workers. The benefits of a share incentive plan are that employees are likely to want to work harder and achieve more as their effort has a direct impact on the value of their shares. If the company is doing well their share value will increase.
There are a number of different share schemes that can be put in place, some of which offer employees tax-free incentives, and others will require tax and NI contributions. Either way, incorporating this into your employee motivation plan is great place to start.
Offer a Performance Related Bonus
Similar to share schemes but not requiring you to give away ownership of your business are performance-related bonuses. These can be found in almost every industry and are one of the most common ways business try to motivate their employees.
A lot of the time performance-related bonuses are handed out on a personal level. Sometimes they can just be limited to certain departments like sales or marketing or managers or directors. This is a sure-fire way to de-motive other employees in the business. One way to overcome this is to offer a business performance-related bonus.
A business-related performance business will reward all employees equally based on the business profit for that year. Variations include offering employees who have been with the business for a long time and not offering this bonus to employees who have only been in the business for a few months.
High levels of happiness, loyalty, and morale are all essential for keeping your best employees. And giving your staff rewards they value to increase their loyalty to your business. For example, offering your deserving employees a customized business incentive card featuring your brand can boost workforce loyalty. Unlike gift cards, they aren’t limited to a particular business or store and are easily reloadable.