When you become an employer, it’s generally because you need some helping hands to complete all the work your business needs to good quality. Many of us start out independently. We’ll come up with everything you need to start up yourself.
You might come up with your own business concept, your own branding, and maybe even your own product design. You might take up your own market research. But at some point or another, your business is going to experience success and expand and you will take on helping hands to deal with problems you face and keep things ticking over and moving forward.
When you become an employer, however, you will take on a whole host of new responsibilities. Sure, your staff need to be able to perform. But it’s also important that you provide them with everything they need to perform to the best of their ability on an ongoing basis! Here are just a few steps you can take to get this journey started on the right track!
Make Sure They Have the Equipment & Tools They Need
It’s absolutely essential that your employees have all of the tools and equipment that they need to safely and competently complete the work that you set out for them. You can have the best and most competent team member out there.
But if they don’t have the tools they need to complete the job, they’re not going to be able to get the work done to the standard you expect of them. The tools your staff need will depend entirely on their job role. You may need to supply them with anything from custom software to condition monitoring services.
It’s also a good idea to regularly survey your staff to see whether there’s anything that your staff doesn’t have that could make their day to day workflow more streamlined. This can save time, improve productivity, and benefit everyone at a low cost. It might simply be a programme you’re unaware of or haven’t considered investing in before, but it could make all the difference!
Encourage Team Bonding
When team building activities are mentioned, people will usually sigh and raise their eyebrows. This is a standard response to being put into a situation they’d probably initially rather avoid – talking to people they don’t know and making an effort to get to know strangers can be a little awkward at first and many people would rather avoid this social situation.
However, when it’s for the sake of work, people usually end up getting pretty involved in the activity and will surprisingly enjoy themselves. Team building is a great way of breaking the ice between your employees and can encourage a better teamwork ethic.
Team building also helps to generate better communication between people who might not have spoken otherwise. This communication is likely to be transferred to the workplace, helping staff to tackle problems head-on with a cross-team approach. Team building can be casual or more organised. Here are some ideas for some organised team building to try out!
Idea 1 – Drawing Games
Drawing games are a great way to show your employees how to problem solve and overcome confusion with effective communication. Split your staff members into pairs – preferably match together people who aren’t already friends or who don’t already work together closely on projects.
Give one staff member a piece of paper with a word on it and the other staff member a pen and a piece of paper to draw the item on. The first staff member needs to dictate a way to draw whatever it is that’s listed on their piece of paper without giving away the word on their paper. This will see both people tackle a problem together through the sheer use of words.
Idea 2 – Treasure Hunts
Another great (and pretty fun) option is treasure hunts. Many of your staff members won’t have done a treasure hunt since they were little. Some will have set them up for their own children, but won’t have engaged with one in a while themselves.
Treasure hunting necessitates clear communication, collaboration, problem-solving abilities, and teamwork successfully requires effective time management, collaboration and problem-solving. You can set up a treasure hunt yourself, or there are specific agencies who can help you along the way!
Ongoing Support
It’s important to check in with your staff on a regular basis. You need to provide them with ongoing support so they’re happy in the workplace. Happy staff are more productive staff and open communication with your employees, in general, can help with this.
Make sure that there is a management system in place so that everyone has someone they can report to and talk to about issues that may arise in their work. You may also want to consider distributing satisfaction surveys. These should be anonymous, or you are likely to experience unreliable feedback, as people will be reluctant to put forward any worries or concerns for fear of repercussion.
If your business grows large, you should also implement an HR system. A HR department will provide all staff with someone to contact about serious problems, or can provide a source of support through trying times for all of your employees.
If there are issues in the office or workplace, they are likely to fly under your radar, as people are reluctant to get the boss involved or take up their bosses’ time. An HR department will serve the main purpose of resolving issues, so people will be more likely to approach them with concerns.
These are just a few different steps you can implement in your business to make sure your staff is able to perform to the best of their ability at all times. Hopefully, the above advice will help you to manage and run a more productive and happier workplace! Small changes can make all the difference, so never underestimate the impact you can have without investing all too much.