SnatchIt!

Keeping employees productive is easy if you do it right.  It basically requires two things: Keeping them driven and keeping them happy.

Keep them challenged, don’t let them get bored.  They will take pride in their accomplishments.  This doesn’t mean overload them with difficult tasks that cause them to be stressed.  It means make work exciting for them.  Drive them to do a good job by giving them reasonable goals.  Encouragement is key.

Not only do employees need to be driven, but they also need positive morale.  There are several ways to do this.  Let’s name a few:

1.  Offer Schedule Options:  Everyone is different.  Some people have children (or others that they need to take care of ) and would prefer a steady eight hour a day schedule.  Others would rather work longer hours and have a three-day weekend.  For some, a 10 hour day might be too long, but they’ll work nine, allowing themselves to leave a half a day early, once a week.  Some way want to start early and leave early.  Others may prefer to have a later start. Offering employees modified schedules to chose from is usually easy, free to the employer, and lets the employee pick the best one to fit their wants or needs. Not to mention, it saves the employee transportation costs.

2.  Allow Employees to Work From Home:  Who doesn’t want to work from home?  Letting an employee work from home, one day a week, once every other week, or just once a month will definitely boost morale.  It shows them that you trust them to work under minimal supervision and lets them spend less money on gas and less time away from home due to driving time.  That extra hour or two a day of personal time is valuable!  They can start as early or late as they want and even split their shift if they need to run special errands.  If their job can’t be done off site, give them something they can do.  Allowing them to spend a day working from home once in a while will help employees appreciate their job more and they’ll be more productive for the company.

3.  Reward Them:  When employees get little extras, they’ll definitely be happier and more productive.  Most likely, money will always be the number one desired reward, but if a company can’t afford it for their employees, there is always extra paid time off.  Yes, PTO is the next best thing to cash and it’s virtually free to the employer.  A day, an hour or two, or even 15 minutes of extra PTO every so often will work wonders in improving employee morale.  Employers aren’t sacrificing much to give it, because the employee either finishes their work before they leave, or they are covered while they are away.  If these extras are earned, employees will be more motivated to work harder to acheive their goal.  Don’t make the reward impossible to earn, or it will become more of a discouragement.

4.  Hang the Code:  Employees don’t like to be uncomfortable when they work and they don’t like to waste their money on work attire. Enforcing a dress code that is above what is sensible is counter-productive to keeping morale up.  Don’t force women to wear nylons (they’re a waste of money, and bad for the environment anyway).  Offer lots of opportunity for casual days.  They don’t have to be on Fridays alone.  Technically, tennis shoes are safer that dress shoes and healthier to spend all day in.  If there is no real need to dress up, don’t force it.  Jeans and a T-shirt are way more comfortable and more affordable.  Employees will cover more territory when their feet don’t hurt.  If they really care about looks, they’ll pay the price.

Employers, we would like you to share your methods of boosting employee morale. Tell us about what works, and what doesn’t.  Employees, let us know what would make you want to get up and go to work every day.  Maybe we can all learn a thing or two.