Study after study confirms it: Happy employees are productive employees. So what can managers do to ensure their staff is a happy – and productive – one?
According to Michael Hess, companies with the happiest workforces tend to share these common characteristics:
1. Mutual trust. Employees need to be able to trust upper management but, as a manager, it’s just as important to show employees that you trust them. That means delegating important tasks and allowing workers to make decisions.
2. Responsibility. Of course, with trust comes responsibility. That means managers need to give workers as much responsibility as they can handle. Giving employees increased responsibility will also help your top-performing workers stand out.
3. Growth opportunities. When it comes to their career paths, employees want to grow — and hopefully move up. That means the more advancement opportunities you can offer employees, the better they’re likely to perform (and the longer they’re likely to stay with your firm).