4 Ways To Improve Employee Satisfaction In The Workplace

Employee satisfaction refers to whether or not employees are happy and contented in fulfilling their job functions in their workplace. Happy employees are an asset for any business, as they’ve got a higher propensity to do even more than they were asked. They don’t settle, and they also stay with your company. Those employees experience a sense of achievement in their job, where they know they can grow and maximize their potential in your workplace. 

Overall, your company can operate more smoothly with your day-to-day tasks when you have satisfied employees. An overall better and more positive workplace is achieved with passionate and happy employees on board in your team.

When looking to address employee morale and satisfaction in the workplace, these are some of the best tips for managers and business owners to follow.

1. Give Company Merchandise

Company merchandise refers to products that have your company logo on them. These are usually given to customers as a part of your company’s marketing strategy. But, did you know that these are also good gifts for your employees, to increase their morale? Especially when handed out to new employees, your company merchandise will make them feel warmly welcomed, and that they matter. Apart from giving company merchandise to new materials, you can also use those items as rewards when employees meet, go beyond targets, or as prizes in competitions.

Here are convincing reasons why it matters to give company merchandise to your employees:

• It creates a positive work culture, as even a simple thank you gift or reward like your company merchandise can go a long way in making your employees look forward to coming to work and giving their best, as they know their efforts are recognized;
• It creates a sense of unity in your workplace when there’s no competition or jealousy as to who has a company branded umbrella, water bottle, work notebooks, pens, among other little things that your employees can.

2. Create A Good Office Environment

How your office feels and looks also creates an impact on employee satisfaction. Surely you wouldn’t want to work in a place that’s dirty, dingy, and without good ventilation. Your employees won’t get inspired to report to work in an office that’s less than pleasant.

Take the time to assess your office right now. If it’s been so long since you last gave it a face lift, it’s a good time for you to invest in an office renovation this year. Doing so brings in results, not just in terms of employee satisfaction, but also makes your office more presentable to your clients.

Here are some of the best office improvement ideas you can adopt:

• If you don’t have one already, have a well-functioning office pantry with a desk or couch to relax in during lunch break, and other extras which are nice to have like a water dispenser and a coffee machine.
• Bring in more natural light to your office by having more windows. 
• Provide quiet rooms for employees, if they need to step aside for a bit so they can focus on a very important virtual meeting or challenging task they need to finish.
• Equip your office with a small play area, as this can help reduce absenteeism for mothers and single parents who may have days when a sitter or nanny isn’t available.

3. Allow Employees To Own Their Roles

Employees are usually less satisfied when they’re micromanaged. This means the department manager is hovering around too much, dictating how to do certain tasks. It’s good to check on your employees once in a while, yes, but not to the point where they might feel they don’t have autonomy over their job function. You have to allow employees to own their roles, so they feel more satisfied and fulfilled, with the notion that you trust them enough to have the ability to complete their tasks accurately.

Here are ways you on how can begin allowing your employees to shape their own roles:

• Expose your employees to all the needed training, right from the beginning. And, don’t just stop there. Whenever there’s a new training available for your employees, do expose them to those new training. This boosts their skills, knowledge, and ability, which gives them more confidence to do their tasks on their own.
• Emphasize soft skills, as these are needed too, for any successful and happy workplace. It’s not just enough to have knowledgeable staff it’s important to have a good relationship. If the camaraderie with other workers is so bad, it’ll only make employees dread reporting to work, all because they’re unhappy. Building core relationship skills centred on good communication should be one of the things your company should encourage.

4. Show More Empathy To Employees

Empathy refers to the ability to understand the vulnerabilities and feelings of those around you, especially your subordinates. No employee would ever be satisfied with reporting to a boss or department head who’s nasty and seems to have no heart at all. Employees go through different situations, so injecting more empathy towards your employees can increase their satisfaction. They feel at home in an office where they don’t have to fear prejudice or judgment.

As your business expands to take in new members, you can retain the old ones and keep the new ones onboard happier, when you show more empathy. But, building an empathetic workplace doesn’t happen overnight. You can start with tips, like:

• Having engaging conversations with your team, from time to time, to ask about how they’re doing, without putting any judgment on any personal issues they might be going through;
• Taking good care of your team’s mental health, through activities that foster connection with each other, and giving adequate provision for employee’s health and mental wellness.

Key Takeaway

When you take all the tips together as one, there’s one common bottom line: improving employee satisfaction necessarily entails setting the right tone and environment at work. Your workplace is where employees spend a majority of their waking hours, so it’s just but fitting for them to also feel happy where they are. If not, then you can be sure your employee turnover rates are going to be high. This disrupts your daily flow of work, and it also turns out to be more costly for your workplace. Injecting more empathy and compassion in your workplace undoubtedly yields far better results for your company as a whole.