Friday 28 December 2018

How to Maintain Happy Staff



Whether it’s your support staff in the office, your fundraisers, or even your volunteers, it’s important to take steps to keep your entire team happy. After all, job satisfaction and morale have a direct effect on performance, and happy staff are more likely to be a productive one! All it takes is just one or two disengaged members to affect the mood and ability of your entire organisation!

Take the following steps to create a workplace environment that’s energising and enjoyable, and that will support your staff and encourage them to give their best effort every single day!

Trust

No one likes to feel as though someone is always looking over their shoulder trying to catch them in a mistake. One of the best things that you can do to create a healthy workspace is to trust your team and their abilities. Empower them to make decisions and act to fix minor issues. Trust them with meaningful work. Give them opportunities to learn new things by cross-training in other departments and encourage task sharing and teamwork.

Education

Make sure that your team is ready to perform its duties well by giving them everything that they need to be well equipped and prepared. This means offering them training and guidance and providing them with updated tools and equipment that will increase their productivity and make it easier to complete their assigned tasks. Nothing is quite so frustrating as trying to use outdated hardware and software to complete duties that would be easier and faster to perform with current equipment and continuing education.

Communication

Does your team know what’s expected of them? Do they understand your workplace culture and are they a good fit for your organisation’s values and goals? Do they share your vision and mission? Regardless of someone’s position in your organisation, make sure that you have clearly communicated to them their roles, responsibilities and rights. Talk with them on a regular basis about their performance, as well as their short, mid-range and long-term career goals. Learn about each member’s needs and seek ways to help them meet their career objectives, including connecting them with people and resources that can help them learn new skills and gain new experience that will help them grow on both a personal and professional level.

Respect

Be realistic in your expectations for your team regarding their performance and the commitments you ask from them in terms of time and effort. Show them that you respect them as people by being sensitive to their needs for time away from your organisation to meet other obligations and have time to rest and relax. Offer flexible scheduling and other accommodations to be more inclusive, diverse and fair. Acknowledge your team and specific members when their performance truly stands out and exceeds your expectations. In addition to regular praise, look for ways to express your gratitude for their hard work on a personal level that your individual members will find meaningful.

As you repeat each of the four steps over time, the bonds between you and your team will strengthen, performance will improve as will comradery and morale. You will have created a robust and resilient organisation one interaction, and person, at a time!

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