Did you know that 86% of workers would leave a role where their well-being wasn't respected?
This figure alone speaks to the need to change the way in which the modern workplace runs. After all, nobody’s job should come before their mental health and well-being, despite this being a common occurrence.
While employees have an individual responsibility to advocate for themselves, speaking up is often difficult. For example, they may be worried that voicing their concerns will have an impact on their career or role within your company. As such, it's important that you work to take good care of your team from an employer's perspective. This will come with additional benefits such as:
- Improved performance
- Heightened productivity and efficiency levels
- Improved employee retention rates
With that in mind, here are some top tips that you can follow to ensure that you are taking good care of your team as an employer.
Avoid scheduling pitfalls. Ensuring your employees are not burnt out is one of the easiest ways to show up for them as an employer. One way in which you can achieve this goal is through effective scheduling and rota management. This is particularly important when an employee is working across different types of shifts (such as working a mixture of night and day shifts), as you need to make sure they have enough time between shifts to relax and recoup.
Wherever possible, you may want to give your team some freedom as to the kind of shifts they take on. For example, those with young children may be less keen to take on night shifts or weekend work due to childcare responsibilities.
Work on your management skills. Whether you’re managing a customer support team or a sales personnel, your ability to manage your team effectively will also heavily influence an employee’s sense of workplace satisfaction. This is because poor leadership breeds disinterest and frustration.
You can work on your management skills by asking for direct feedback from those beneath you or enrolling in leadership courses. The latter will help you to develop the traits and skills that make up a good leader, such as being able to boost morale, provide constructive feedback, or delegate tasks effectively and fairly.
Encourage your employees to take time off when they need it. While employees are likely allotted a specific amount of vacation time each year (in addition to sick leave), a growing number of workers avoid taking time off. For example, a recent study found that last year, only half of Americans used up their allotted vacation time. While there are many potential reasons for this, such as financial difficulties, it could also be attributed to the fact that they are anxious about taking time away from their desks.
As taking a break is pivotal to an employee’s wellness and happiness, this is something that you should actively encourage as an employer. Let it be known that they will not face any drawbacks for taking time off.
On a similar note, you should make it clear that you are able and willing to make adjustments to their absence allowances in exceptional circumstances, such as when they are sick or dealing with bereavement.
Ensure that they can hit the ground running. Whenever you welcome a new hire to your team, you should ensure that they receive the support they need to hit the ground running. Otherwise, this can quickly sour their perception of your business and encourage them to seek employment elsewhere.
One way in which you can achieve this goal is by implementing a gradual induction process, where you allow them to shadow other employees in a similar role. This way, they better understand what is expected of them and feel as confident as possible in their new role. You should provide them with on the job training, which can help employees from diverse backgrounds get up to speed.
Be open to criticism. Being open to receiving criticism is another great way in which you can make sure you are taking good care of your team. This is because they will feel much more confident in approaching you should they have any problems or concerns, as opposed to feeling they cannot voice their opinion. As such, you can address issues and challenges near-instantly before they are given the chance to drive a wedge between yourself and your team.
However, being receptive and open to feedback also means that you need to be open to receiving criticism. There will likely be times when employees express their dissatisfaction with the way you have acted or handled a situation, and it's important that you respond to this appropriately - by making a concentrated effort to get to the bottom of things and do better moving forward.
Develop an employee wellness scheme. Developing an employee wellness scheme is another great way in which you can start to show up for your team. This is because it can give them the support they need to thrive in and out of the workplace.
Your workplace scheme could provide employees with access to various mental and physical health support services, such as discounted or subsidised therapy and gym membership, exercise classes, and more. Some companies have found great success in giving employees a monthly or yearly allowance that they can spend on wellness-boosting products or activities.
If you are not sure what should be included in your wellness plan, ask your employees! They will be able to provide you with more insight into what you are doing right (or wrong) in this regard so that you can ensure that your wellness scheme covers all bases and is as effective as possible.
Allow your team to work remotely. If your employees are struggling with developing a healthy work-life balance, then it is your responsibility to help make things better. One way in which you can achieve this goal is by giving them the chance to work remotely where possible. For example, if they are not required to be on-site to carry out their duties, then you should give them the chance to work remotely at least a few days a week. Studies have shown that this is a great way to boost morale and enthusiasm, which in turn can be a real driver in terms of productivity.
When it comes to developing a healthy work-life balance, you should also lead by example. This means that you should avoid overworking yourself or acting as though you are chained to your desk - otherwise, your team may feel inclined to follow suit.
Final thoughts. In short, there are many steps that you can take to take good care of your team as an employer. This means that you can avoid becoming the ‘nightmare boss’ that they talk about for years to come and instead remain an employer that they are happy and proud to work with.
This, in turn, will help you to take your company from strength to strength. After all, it is far more expensive to hire new employees than it is to retain existing ones, even when taking into account annual bonuses and pay rises. This is because you’ll otherwise be spending thousands of pounds on hiring and rehiring as opposed to investing this money into business growth and development.
Furthermore, when your team feels as though their best interests are protected, they’re more likely to give back. This means that they will put 100% into their work, meaning that you’ll quickly notice the benefits of making thechangess outlined above.
