If you were to ask your employees how happy they were in their job role, what would they say?
The chances are they wouldn’t be as honest as they should be, or you wouldn’t get the replies you expect.
A recent revelation by StandOut CV noted that 65% of Americans are unhappy in their workplace, while 1 in 10 Brits would consider moving to another country for a better work-life balance. According to Zippia, India has the highest rates of job satisfaction in the world as of 2023.
So, on the whole, it’s not exactly positive, is it?
But why do you need employees to feel happy and satisfied in their job roles? Happy employees are more likely to do more work, deliver better results and standards, take fewer sick days, and be more content every single day. Especially when compared to those working in a more hostile or toxic environment.
Having a happy workforce benefits the company and the customers, and these tips can help you achieve just that.
Let’s look at ways to improve your workplace culture.
Improve Payroll
A really understated way to improve employee culture and satisfaction in the workplace is to improve how you approach payroll.
One such option to improve payroll is to utilize third-party payroll services that can help you make changes across the board. Customized payroll services allow businesses to set their own payroll calendars and activities relating to employee pay. This means setting deadlines for hours worked, i.e., a cut-off point before payroll is processed and sent to employees, and providing an online portal for employees to check their wage slips and know what pay they are receiving. It allows you to keep track of PTO and more, so you can eliminate mistakes from the manual processing of payroll activities. Employees who are paid on time are more likely to be satisfied than those who are constantly having to harass employers for their wages.
Recognize and Reward
Simply put, you need to make sure that your company runs a recognition-rich culture. This means recognizing and rewarding valuable contributions from your employees.
You need to monitor their performance and pinpoint areas where they excel or offer benefits to the company or those around them.
One survey suggests that nearly half of respondents have left jobs because they felt unappreciated, and another 65% in the same survey admitted they would work harder if they felt like their contributions would be recognized and rewarded.
Unsurprisingly, companies with a recognition-rich culture enjoy a 31% lower turnover rate. This means more experienced and capable employees staying with the company, ready to contribute their skills.
Implementing a system that ensures everyone, regardless of their role, receives the recognition they deserve can foster a culture of appreciation and trust, which is something to work towards.
Embrace Autonomy
Absolutely no one likes to be micromanaged at work. It’s ineffective and inefficient, and all it does is break the trust and bond between employees and members of management.
Think of it this way: if you were impressed enough by a person to hire them for a specific job role within your company, then you must have been confident that they are capable of doing the job, if not from the very start, but in time with training.
Employers need to lean on this and trust employees to manage their responsibilities effectively and do the job to the best of their abilities. This means reigning in overzealous bosses or coworkers. And it means offering support to people to allow them to make the right decisions at the right time for the company’s benefit.
