How to Keep Your Team Happy and Productive

— March 21, 2019

Happy employees are more efficient and productive, and they tend to stick around longer than their unhappy counterparts. This is why it is important to learn effective strategies to keep your team happy and productive!

Happy employees are more productive

Happy employees are more efficient and productive, and they tend to stick around longer than their unhappy counterparts. Most team leaders and HR professionals know that form their own professional experience, however, now there is also science-based research that confirms it.

A recent interesting study conducted in Britain by the Social Market Foundation and the University of Warwick’s Centre for Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy has reported concrete evidence that happier employees are more productive in the workplace.

Another research conducted by iOpener Institute developed questionnaires, conducted focus groups, and aggregated results from 3,000 respondents across all disciplines in 79 countries. The numbers say it all. The happiest employees are:

• 180% more energized
• 155% happier with their jobs
• 150% happier with life
• 108% more engaged
• 50% more motivated

The last stat is the kicker: Happy employees are 50% more productive. Happy employees are more motivated to do their job and more engaged in their work. As a result, companies with motivated and engaged employees have significantly higher revenue growth.

According to UNC Kenanflager Business School, organizations with highly engaged employees have an average 3-year revenue growth 2.3 times greater than companies whose employees were only engaged at an average level.

The message is clear: If you want your company to achieve higher revenue growth, you should invest in making your employees happier! In this article, I will share some of the most effective ways to keep your team happy and productive.

How to keep your team happy and productive?

Here is a proven two-step strategy for keeping your team happy and productive:

Step #1: Hire the right people

Step #2: Keep them engaged

“Yeah…this is easier said than done!”, you might be thinking. Hiring the right people and keeping them happy and productive is a monumental task. It really is. But it can be done! Read on to learn how to do it!

Step #1: Hire the right people

The first step in keeping your team happy and productive is hiring the right type of people for your open job position and your company culture. Hiring solely on the basis of professional experience and expertise doesn’t guarantee that your new employee will be super productive. A

n employee with a perfect track record in another company maybe won’t be able to perform just as well in your company, especially if s/he doesn’t fit in your existing team and your company culture.

In an ill-suited company culture, talented employees won’t perform well and they may even decide to leave your company! According to LinkedIn’s research, company culture is among the top reasons for changing jobs. 25% of candidates said that better company culture is among their top reasons for changing jobs.

If your new employees decide to leave, you will be left with an open job position and significant costs of a bad hire. According to Career Builder, an average cost of losing a good hire is nearly $ 30,000!

So how to make sure that you are hiring the right person, not just for your open job position, but also for your company culture?

Here are my top 6 tips:

1. Define your candidate persona

Start by creating your candidate persona. A candidate persona is a semi-fictional representation of your ideal candidate. In order to create your candidate persona, you have to think beyond a job title and job requirements. The emphasis is on creating the persona and trying to imagine a real person that would be perfect for your job and company culture.

Here are a few questions to help you get started: What is our ideal candidate like? What are the interests, motivation and goals of this person? What makes this person tick? What type of person would be happy in your working environment? These are the questions that can help you define your ideal candidate

2. Define your employee value proposition

Once you’ve created your candidate persona, you should focus on defining your employee value proposition. Simply put, your employee value proposition is everything you offer to your employees in turn for their work. Think beyond the salary. What else do you offer to your employees?

More importantly, what can you offer to your candidate persona? What is important for your candidate persona? Working with exciting new technologies? Relaxed, friendly company culture? A competitive company culture? Work-life balance? Define your company value proposition in accordance with the profile of your ideal candidate.

3. Write an outstanding job advertisement

Once you know exactly what type of person you are looking for and why your company is a perfect workplace for that person, it’s time to communicate that to your potential candidates. Craft an outstanding job advertisement by following the job advertisement best practices.

Upgrade your job description by adding your employee value proposition. Make it clear what’s in it for your ideal candidates and give them a reason to apply. Give them an offer they can refuse! You should try to think like a marketer and really sell the job to your target audience.

4. Involve your employees

The best way to hire a person who will fit in with your existing team and your company culture is to involve your current employees in your hiring process. First of all, ask your employees to recommend great candidates for your open job position. They know and live your company culture every day, so they will be able to provide some suitable recommendations through your employee referral program.

A good practice is also to involve your employees in your interviewing process. Invite them to join your interview with the candidate, listen and ask questions. Encourage them to share their working experience with candidates. That way, candidates will get a feeling of their potential future colleagues. Thus, they will be able to assess more accurately if they’d be happy working at your company.

5. Ask the right interview questions

Besides the standard job interview questions related to your candidates’ previous job experience, education and motivation, make sure to ask a set of cultural fit intreview questions as well.

For example, as your candidates to describe the type of work environment in which they can really give their best and be most productive. Investigate when they feel appreciated and motivated to their job. Try to get at the bottom of what really makes them happy at work.

Step #2: Keep them engaged

Once you’ve hired the right people, you should constantly work on keeping them happy and productive. Here are a few key strategies that will help you keep your team engaged in the long run:

1. Show your employees that you appreciate them

Showing your employees that you appreciate their hard work is probably the most important thing you can do to ensure that your employees stay happy and motivated. According to Work.com, 69% of employees worked harder when they felt they were appreciated, and 54% of employees would quit working at a company where they didn’t feel appreciated.

If you’re contemplating about implementing an effective recognition system at your company, you should know that different types of rewards and bonuses are a great way to motivate your employees. However, don’t forget about the power of simple, honest feedback. Regularly tell your employees how much you appreciate their hard work in meetings, in the halls, at the end of the week, whenever!

2. Offer flexible work options

Help your employees prioritize work-life balance by offering flexible working options. A new survey conducted by Fractl found that, after health insurance, employees place the highest value on benefits that are relatively low-cost to employers, such as flexible hours, more paid vacation time, and work-from-home options.

Offering flexible working options to your employees will help them achieve a good work/life balance. As a result, they will be happier and productive at work!

3. Create a fun work environment

Of course, your employees are very serious about doing their job, as they should be. However, creating opportunities for a little bit of play at work has many benefits. It relieves stress, builds up the atmosphere of good vibes and encourages team cohesion and innovation.

There are many ways to foster a fun work environment. Of course, every company has its unique company culture and ideas on “fun at work”. However, here are a few ideas to help you start brainstorming about making your office more fun: introduce company-wide happy hours, team-building games and activities, dance or baking contests, pancake days, bring your dog to work day, etc.

4. Provide opportunities for growth

Check in with your employees regularly in order to check if they feel like their job is challenging. This way, you can notice when they get bored and offer them new exciting challenges. Ask them what kind of projects they would like to work on, and try to cater to their interests.

Also, make sure to offer them learning opportunities. You can organize in-house educational workshops with your company experts on a specific subject, pay for your employees’ online courses, offer them attend conferences etc.

5. Ask them what they need

Show that you care by asking your employees what they want and need. It sounds so simple, yet many companies forget to do it. This simple gesture can mean a lot to your employees. And you might be surprised at the things you discover!

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