Building a happy office culture is part of maintaining a thriving business. If the morale is low at the office, you risk employees cutting corners, or even leaving the company.
Fortunately, there are many methods of building a happy office culture. Here are just a few.
Reduce staff turnover
A certain amount of turnover is bound to happen, however, there are plenty of steps you can take to ensure the happiness of your team, leading to reduced turnover and higher employee retention.
Investing in employees may not be cheap, but it is far cheaper than advertising, interviewing, and training new team members every time an employee leaves the company.
To reduce staff turnover, consider offering:
- Fair wages – You cannot blame staff for moving on to a higher-paid position, so do your homework and ensure that you are paying your staff competitively.
- Training – Inability to keep up with the demands of the job will lead to stress and low morale, so be sure that you are providing staff with the necessary training to carry out their roles with the company. This can also lead to growth within the company, which keeps morale high.
- Responsibility – Provide opportunities for your team to have ownership over certain tasks. Jobs without responsibility will lead to bored staff members looking to move on.
Quarterly check-in meetings between employee and supervisor
A common complaint from employees is that they don’t have a clear vision of their career growth with the company.
By taking the time for employee and supervisor to meet privately on a regular basis (be it monthly or quarterly), employees will feel like their work is recognized, their role is important, and the trajectory of their career path within the company is more clear.
Regularly meeting to discuss goals and growth keeps staff feeling happy, productive, and keeps morale high. It also allows staff and supervisor to set measurable, achievable goals together.
Team building and staff outings
Your day job can’t be all fun and games, but there should be a little bit of fun to keep the morale up.
By planning regular staff outings and team building activities, your staff can get out of the office, get to know each other on a more personal level, and be that much more invested in each other and the company itself. Depending on how stressful the office is, your team may not even know that much about each other. Give them the chance to discuss their kids, their pets, or their hobbies (like that fast Ford Mustang they’re so proud off that can go 0-60 in under 5 seconds.)
And, staff outings don’t have to break the bank. Check out IHOP prices for affordable options to get your staff out of the office enjoying a meal together.
Another activity bound to help your team bond for the day is volunteering together. Helping those who are less fortunate is a great way for your team to do something selfless together. Volunteer days can be semi-regular, and you can ask your staff to suggest different causes or charities to choose from each time.
The bottom line
A happy office is a productive office. By taking steps to reduce turnover, meeting regularly, and offering staff outings and team building, the office morale can grow substantially.
