The world of employment is changing. In the olden days, employers would hire staff to do a job for them — the role was solely to make the boss’s life easier. But today, there’s a growing body of research that shows that companies that invest in making their staff’s life easier actually end up being more profitable. After all, if an employee has everything they need and likes being at work, then productivity will soar — and so will profits. The good news is that making your employees’ lives easier isn’t overly complicated. You can do it with a few simple steps, which we’ll outline below.
Hire Exceptional Talents
Hiring a substandard employee can have a hugely negative impact on a business in direct and indirect ways. Directly, they just don’t contribute all that much. Indirectly, they also make it harder for other employees to do their work. There’s nothing more annoying for an employee than having to do the work of someone else or not getting what they need because someone else didn’t do their job properly. When it comes to hiring, make sure you have no deadweights — if you do, then it’ll be other staff that have to do the heavy lifting.
Give Them Space to Work
Some people work best when they have all eyes on them. But most people don’t. The majority of workers want space to work, not to feel like every move is being scrutinized. You can give your team the freedom to work as they please by avoiding micromanaging, which is another way of saying just letting them get on with it without looking over their shoulders. You may also let them decide when and where they want to work — research has shown that, contrary to what many bosses think, productivity actually increases when employees have flexibility.
Invest in Powerful Tools
If you’ve hired correctly, then you’ll have a team of talented staff. But talent only takes you so far. To do their best, your team will need a framework that allows them to work to their highest standards. What this looks like will depend on the type of business you have. If you work in sales, then giving your team access to Autotask quoting software will help to boost performance. If your employees work in design, then Figma and photoshop access, as well as a good computer, will be required. If you’re not sure what tools your employees need, then it’s probably best to just ask them directly.
Create a Good Workplace
Finally, be sure to put together a pleasant workplace, one in which your employees like working. There are multiple things that contribute to having a pleasant environment, including making the space presentable and bright and making sure that employees have a chance to work together. Employees can run into problems pretty quickly when there’s an issue in the workplace! You can prevent small issues from becoming big problems by having an open-door policy so your team can come to you if they have problems.