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Make your employees happy!

Happy Employees equals More Profits: A simple equation, but one that many businesses find difficult to achieve in practice or actually choose to ignore says Trevor Wilson of The FD Group. "Since the Thames Valley is an area of particularly low unemployment, if your staff aren't happy it's relatively easy for them to find alternative positions. This can leave you in a hole."

For any business, loss of key staff is extremely expensive and disruptive. Consider the cost of using a recruitment agency, management downtime, and the impact on other staff members. This may be the tip of the iceberg if there is significant impact on customer relationships and the loss of skills or technological know how.

Normally SME's can't offer top notch salaries. Even when they do, the people you want to keep will still leave if they are not happy. As the Beatles song goes "Money can't buy you love" or, in a business context, employee loyalty.

It is a fact that really successful businesses proactively look after their staff. They create a culture where people enjoy working. They make the work place fun. This is not something that can happen overnight and it is often a matter of investing time and resources at the expense of short term profit in building a model for the future.

Businesses must meet and fulfil their employees' basic human needs. In addition to a market rate of pay, people want to be involved, to have opinions valued, and feel that they can make a difference. They have a natural desire for recognition, progression and personal development. They seek a positive environment with good communication and high levels of support. They like to be trusted, empowered and incentivised for success.

Take time for training

Training is fundamental to this process. Investing in training allows the employee to grow, to do their work better and ultimately provide the best customer experience which will further drive a business's success. Training allows delegation, and creates the recognition that others are often better placed to carry out certain tasks. Training also leads to higher skill levels, more responsibility and promotion opportunities.

Keep lines of communication open

Good communication is another key factor to creating a strong positive culture. Take time out of the working day to talk to employees face to face. Arrange regular team meetings to impart information, exchange ideas and discuss what is and isn't working. Be open with goals and objectives and financial targets and performance.

Some businesses achieve this by holding a brief get together at the start and or end of each day. Others have a free breakfast or bacon roll or maybe buy cakes in weekly or monthly to create a forum to impart and learn the latest business news and developments.

Have away days to focus the mind and avoid interruptions. Hold different social events so that everyone gets to know each other and encourage communication between different departments. Conduct periodic surveys of staff as to what motivates them. Run staff suggestion schemes and reward all good ideas that are implemented.

Good employers have performance appraisal processes providing another opportunity for two way feedback and communication. It identifies an employee's development needs and sets out the road map for the employee to progress within the organisation as well as ensuring any concerns come to light as soon as possible.

Cost-effective perks can really pay off

And then there are the little low cost extras, which can make all the difference to effective staff retention. Some ideas we have come across include:

- Remembering people's birthdays
- Gifts such as flowers, champagne or vouchers for such occasions as special birthdays, weddings, births or long service
- Monthly awards for exceptional performance - perhaps a pair of tickets for a film or sporting event
- In-house beers last thing on a Friday
- £100 extra spending money for holidays
- Free use of holiday property accommodation

Recognition of achievement and celebration of success will always help motivation. Something as simple as ringing a bell when an order of a certain value is won or a target reached can boost the whole company's mood. Bringing in an element of competition and putting forward special prizes as incentives will get everyone working hard.

Remember that happy employees can be your best advocate as well as a possible source of candidates when recruiting. The introduction of friends looking to change jobs can significantly reduce recruitment costs and make for easier integration of new personnel into the team. Employees are unlikely to recommend a friend whose work would reflect badly on them and of course any successful introductions should be rewarded by a bonus.
Create a warm welcome

Following on from this, it is vital that systems are in place to make any new employee welcome from day one. This should include a formal induction process, arranging a desk and computer, setting up an email address or telephone number and printing business cards in advance. Each new employee should be allocated a 'buddy' to ask questions and help them settle in.
Don't be shy about getting rid of dead wood

A final characteristic of successful businesses is that they aren't shy about getting rid of people who do not perform or conform, or who are holding the business back, in order that they can bring in someone else who is right. Sometimes even top performers are let go if they do not fit and are holding back the team as a whole.

To give an example, at the time of writing this, Arsenal are two points ahead in the English Premier League with a game in hand even though their best player Thierry Henry left at the end of last season. His departure has given the opportunity for others to flourish and Arsenal is playing better and everyone within the club is happier as a result.

It is also worth mentioning that staff also need to understand what is expected of them. Staff need to know that they are accountable for their performance and actions and that they are clear as to what they are expected to deliver for the business.
Look after your staff and boost your bottom line

In summary, employees are the biggest asset of any business. Investing in people means they do clever things and work hard. At the other end of the spectrum, dissatisfaction in the workplace leads to underperformance and constant grumbling which will undermine the efforts of the entire organisation.

Happy employees stay longer enabling all stakeholders to enjoy the business success and higher rewards that a positive culture brings. So looking after your staff really will boost the bottom line!

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