There is no word that can stress enough the role that your employees play in building a successful, sustainable business. They are the foundations of your business. 

No matter at what stage you are in, an efficient employee is the biggest asset for your long-term success. Fail to create the right team and your business is redirected towards untimely demise.

But, here's the thing.

Even if you are able to build a high-performance team, there is no guarantee that they will be able to deliver their very best at all times. Human efficiency has its own flaws and limitations. But there is almost nothing that a little strategic approach cannot resolve.

In this post, we dive deeper into the best ways in which you can improve your employee retention and keep them happy in the workspace. 

3 practical ways to have happy employees at work

In order to eradicate friction and bring the highest levels of performance to your employees, keeping them happy is practically the single element you should focus on. But achieving so is harder than it appears. There is so much that can take away their focus from work— low job satisfaction, misfit to the company culture, work stress, and so much more. This makes creating policies and methodologies to keep your employees happy a top priority.

You not only end up having your best employees at your disposal but ensure your talent acquisition costs go down in the long run. After all, higher employee retention has its own benefits.

The following section gives you detailed insights about the top 3 ways you can optimize your employee happiness. 

1.   Develop a comprehensive wellness program

Employee productivity and performance are frequently affected as a result of a variety of issues both inside and outside the workplace. Professional and personal stress might aggravate employee anxiety and melancholy.

It is the responsibility of a human resource professional to intervene when they perceive an employee struggling.

Keep in mind that your employees are humans. They may require assistance with a variety of concerns, including health issues, mental illness, debt, pregnancy, and others. HR should assist employees who are dealing with any of these or other problems. 

Establish a mental wellness program

If there is one factor that frequently contributes to an unproductive employee, it is their mental health. This can happen for a variety of reasons, many of which are beyond your organization's control. However, as an employer, implementing a program to address this issue can have a significant impact on your employee's overall performance, both individually and as a team player.

The best part is that there are numerous high-performance tools available to help you with this.

Start by creating a counseling program. Setting up employee counseling can be quite beneficial in navigating and resolving employees’ issues such as peer pressure, culture adaptation, and performance pressure so that your team can perform at their best.

With more productive hours and lower sick leaves, this program can enhance your employees' general health, resulting in reduced employee insurance costs.

However, your employee wellness programs must be in line with your company's goal. Here are a few well-being programs to think about right now. 

You can even invest resources in funding personal growth programs to help them improve their lifestyle and well-being. Mindvalley is an excellent platform to do so. 

Establish a corporate health program

Individuals spend more than half of their time at work; therefore, offering a health program in the workplace is crucial because it encourages positive behavioral patterns, improves food habits, reduces absenteeism levels, and helps to enhance overall productivity.

Individuals with poor health habits are unhealthy, which has a significant impact on the workplace.

Therefore, adopting a workplace health program benefits not only employees, but also employers, since it fosters a more dynamic, effective, and efficient working culture and environment. 

Provide employee assistance

The HR department is critical in the creation and execution of health and safety standards. Making these rules part of the business culture is one of the most important services HR can provide to its employees.

Shell, for example, has declared it illegal to walk down the stairs without holding the railing; this restriction also applies to the company's headquarters. 

2.   Invest in recognizing employee efforts

Being complimented for one's accomplishments is a basic human need. Employees care more about being recognized than they do about promotions and raises. When they are appreciated and recognized for their work, they feel good about themselves. It gives them the impression of being a part of the company's success.

Employees are more likely to contribute more when they are appreciated. They feel inspired to achieve their goals and stay with the organization.

Showing your appreciation for your staff shouldn't be difficult; think of it as a genuine act of generosity and caring.

Recognition and gratitude make the entire employee lifecycle more pleasurable, productive, memorable, and unique. According to Gallup’s research, 67 percent of employees who receive positive feedback from their employers are extremely engaged at work.

 As a result, demonstrate to your employees that you appreciate their ideas, effort, time, and abilities to improve their workplace experiences. Employees that are satisfied with their jobs and have positive work experiences are the most useful allies a company can have.

Integrate employee recognition platform

It's critical to maintain your employees happy and engaged at your company. If they are dissatisfied, the quality of their work will decline. This necessitates applauding employees for their efforts. It can be a powerful motivation for your employees at work. It not only shows that you value their effort, but it also makes them visible. 

To achieve this correctly, an employee recognition platform can be a game-changer. This platform makes it extremely simple to evaluate employee performance and recognize their efforts. This can be accomplished in a variety of ways. Whether it's prizes, rewards, or one-of-a-kind opportunities, the acknowledgment can be tailored to the employee's profile and previous performance. 

Invest in corporate gifting

There is probably no human who can resist the charm of gifts. Certainly, your employees are not immune to it.

Done right, corporate gifting can not only open doors to establish a productive and open work culture but ensure that your employees know that you value them. This will help you retain your best employees for a long time and help you optimize the talent acquisition costs.

The best part is with the advent of corporate gifting software, doing this has become very easy. It not only distributes your employee perks and benefits budget but optimizes them for maximum impact on the overall retention and efficiency of your employee. Automating the complete tasks right from storing, packing to personalizing on the basis of employee profile streamlines the complete process. You can even track the receipts and responses to measure the effectiveness of your programs.

3.   Invest in employee engagement

Employees that are engaged in their work are more interested in and passionate about it. This frequently leads to more innovation since these employees feel more engaged with the organization and want to provide good ideas and improvements.

Keeping your employees engaged is likely the most difficult task you face as a manager.

Here are some ideas for engaging your employees.

Integrate corporate volunteer program

Organizations are no longer solely for the purpose of running a business. They are boosting individuals and communities while also improving the world. An essential part of this is a corporate volunteer program.

Currently, more than a quarter of companies provide some type of corporate volunteering to their employees.

Corporate volunteering is a way for businesses to encourage their employees to give back to their communities by providing opportunities for them to volunteer. It's an important part of a company's CSR (corporate social responsibility) or employee engagement strategy.

Through a corporate volunteer program, employees can engage in meaningful volunteer activities alongside their coworkers, which boosts morale and leads to more productive and enjoyable work environments.

Various studies have also highlighted the benefits of this program, which include:

Integrate an employee engagement software

Employee engagement software can make engaging your employees look like a cakewalk. It is used to assess employee mood and encourage positive actions that benefit the organization's or employees' health and well-being.

Using the best employee engagement software can be a game-changer for firms looking to improve their work experience and reduce staff attrition.

 Employee engagement software is a strong tool that allows businesses to benefit from the many benefits of having a motivated workforce. It's extremely beneficial for increasing and maintaining remote employee engagement. Many remote workers struggle with feelings of isolation, a lack of visibility, and a lack of communication, all of which can be alleviated by engagement software. 

Conclusion

By now, you must have a comprehensive idea about some of the best ways you can ensure your employees are in the most balanced state of mind. However, you are far from being done. 

Sure, the above tips will give a strong head start. But to witness true success with your results, you need to get creative and think outside the box. 

Empathize with your employees. Get them talking and ask them for their feedback. This will only show them that you care. The best part is you would get to understand their real-time problems, challenges, and frustrations. This will help you to personalize and customize your programs according to what matters to your employees. This way, you not only get a chance to create an effective program but save money from wastage.

Now there is just one question left to answer. When are you applying the above tips for alleviating your employee's lives?

This article is a guest blog written by Atreyee Chowdhury. To contribute a guest post to Workast.com, please complete the expression of interest form here.