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Happy Workers are Productive Workers

Once you have your chosen employees hired and in place, you have two aims: keep them there and encourage them to stay actively involved on the job. On the one hand, a job is just that, and, to use an old adage, “there’s a reason why they call it ‘work’.” But if you want to create a base of happy, productive employees and continue improving your business, you need to focus on job satisfaction to make this happen. Think of it this way: The more satisfied the worker, the more likely he is to engage in his work. Check out the strategies listed below that will promote happiness on the job and, in turn, result in increased productivity.

  • Recognize employees. Want to keep your employees happy and productive? A simple solution exists: Tell them they’re doing a good job. Everyone, including the company overall, will thank you for it.  Employee recognition does not mean everyone gets an award for doing their basic job. Rather, it entails an employer understanding that those who do their jobs diligently and well have earned some form of acknowledgement of their efforts. This is all about using a basic principle of behavioral psychology — positive reinforcement of good behavior increases the likelihood of that behavior repeating.  Strategies such as day-to-day recognition, setting goals and objectives for recognition, and even monetary motivation all work to keep employees loyal and engaged.
  • Give employees some control. This can come in different forms. Allowing for flexible scheduling or even telecommuting opportunities a few days a week can give employees much-desired control and allows for focus on the job during work hours rather than worrying about how to balance work and personal life. Even something as small as allowing for personalization of work space means you recognize employees as people with varying interests outside of the office, and you’re allowing them to make a space they enjoy and want to be in. And employee-driven competitions (e.g., sales) give them the control of their own success and satisfaction at doing a job well.
  • Create a positive company culture. A job seeker wants to get hired, but when considering the long term, he also wants to work somewhere that has a culture he can get on board with. If the fit doesn’t seem right for his personality as well as his skills, he probably won’t last long. Consider this: Studies show that employees who matched up with their employers, supervisors, and overall company felt more satisfaction in the position, were more likely to stay on long term, were more committed, identified more with their organization, and demonstrated better job performance.

Keeping these considerations in mind will help you keep satisfied, productive employees, ensuring quality and a strong workforce over the long term for all involved. For more information on how to improve job satisfaction and productivity, reach out to our expert recruiting team at PrideStaff Thousand Oaks today!

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