If you run a small business you’ll need to take good care of your team. Unless your team is productive, you’ll fall short of your true potential. One of the biggest productivity lulls is unhappy employees. To keep your staff happy and thriving you’ll need to take steps to support their well-being. Here are a few ways that you can do this.

1 . Recognition

One of the top reasons that employees leave a company is because they don’t feel recognized for the work that they do. When employees feel undervalued this can negatively affect their well-being. Employees must receive praise and recognition for all of their hard work. It can be useful to use employee recognition software to support your efforts here. Some of the most popular software tools include Bonusly, Blueboard, and Kazoo. Using these tools you can encourage your employees and enhance wellness.

2. Employee benefits 

Studies show that offering employee benefits is a great way to improve employee well-being. Some of the key benefits you might offer include health insurance, retirement savings, life insurance, stock options, and wellness programs. If you need advice it can be helpful to talk to an Employee Benefits Specialist like Jordan Goldenberg.

Your company might not have a huge budget, but there are plenty of inexpensive employee perks that you can offer. Even small things can make a big difference to the well-being of your employees.

3. Workplace wellness program

In the last year or so there’s been an increased focus on employee well-being. Throughout COVID-19 people began to more closely consider their mental and physical health. Unless employers focus on employee well being they’ll experience unproductive staff and costly turnover. 

One of the best ways to improve employee wellness is to provide an employee wellbeing program. These programs can support staff members with all aspects of their health, from physical to mental and financial. Wellness programs can help employees to set goals for their well-being, and work towards these over time.

4. Be flexible 

If you’re a flexible employer you’re far more likely to have happy and healthy employees. There are lots of ways that you can provide flexibility including:

• Allow staff to work from home, (at least some of the time).
• Permit flexible shift patterns, let employees have some control.
• Offer paid days off for birthdays.
• Be flexible when it comes to family commitments outside of work.
• Create autonomous teams, and avoid overbearing leadership.

5. Help them grow

Arrange for one-to-one meetings with your employees, use these meetings to assess their goals, and offer support. Your employees want to feel like they have a future, and that their career is being supported. You might support them by providing extra training options, or mentorship programs. Offer your staff feedback, but be careful how you deliver it. You’ll want them to feel motivated as opposed to disheartened. If the nature of work is particularly stressful your staff will need tips to cope with a stressful job.

Using these steps you’ll support your staff members to achieve their full potential. There are so many ways that you can help your employees to thrive.