What do employees actually want from their jobs and their employers? Employers need to think about their employees’ wants and needs if they want to create loyalty, keep up productivity, and ensure their staff is happy. If you take care of your employees and give them what they want, they’re much more likely to work hard and to want to stick around and work for you for longer. There are many ways you can make sure you really take care of your employees in a way that benefits them and not just your business.
Employees want to see that you treat them well, not by telling them that your business is like one big family but by recognizing that they have their own families to go home to. If you want to show them humanity and treat them in the right way, here are some of the things they want.
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Competitive Pay and Benefits
The first thing that most people will consider when they’re looking for a new job is the pay and benefits they will receive. They need to know that the salary meets their expectations, whether they’re looking for enough to pay their expenses or they want to maintain a certain lifestyle. Employers can start by being clear about salaries and benefits so that potential employees don’t have to dig for the information. Even providing a pay scale between two amounts can be helpful. When it comes to benefits, prioritize the essentials over fun perks.
Engagement
Keeping your employees engaged is vital if you want to reduce employee turnover and ensure productivity is high. If they’re not engaged, they will check out and probably won’t be doing great work. There are plenty of ways to keep your employees engaged so they’re interested in their jobs. One of the ways to engage everyone is to allow them to have their say. This might mean giving them more input on the projects they’re working on or setting up a suggestions box so people can suggest improvements to the way things are done. Furthermore, promoting the Best practice sharing not only aids in promoting a more productive and engaging workforce but also encourages your employees to be innovative and get involved in different activities.
Clear Expectations
When an employee doesn’t know what they’re meant to be doing, they’re not very likely to be productive. And if they can’t get clarification on what they should be doing or have to constantly ask for more direction, they can feel like they’re wasting their time. Setting clear expectations, responsibilities, and roles can help to ensure your employees are happy at work. They should also have clear goals and objectives so that they know what they’re working toward, as well as deadlines to give them a date by which tasks need to be completed. Clear expectations and goals can improve performance.
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Recognition
Everyone wants to be recognized for their work. If you’re working hard and contributing, you want to be rewarded. Getting paid isn’t enough when it’s not the kind of recognition that will really motivate people at work. It’s important to offer praise for a job well done and give rewards for hard work. This could range from thanking someone after they’ve done something to providing cash rewards after a project has been successfully completed. Recognizing both individuals and teams is important if you want to keep them motivated.
Opportunities for Growth
One of the reasons employees might seek employment elsewhere is that there are no opportunities for them to grow or progress. They want to keep moving in their career, whether it means seeking a promotion, new responsibilities, or keeping their skills up to date. Providing them with opportunities for growth can show them that there is a future for them with your company. This could include creating clear career paths for your employees to follow, hiring and promoting internally, offering training opportunities, and more.
Work-Life Balance
Some people might do their job because it’s what they love to do, but the reality is that most wouldn’t do it if they weren’t getting paid to. Work-life balance is vital to most people because they have a life outside of work that most likely means more to them than their job. While it’s not necessarily up to you to prioritize your employees’ personal lives above your business, it is important to remember that they have personal lives. Helping them to create a balance between their work and home lives will create happier and healthier employees.
Giving employees what they want is a must if you want them to be loyal to your business. Ask them how to improve if you want to make them happy.
