5 Ways to Keep Your Small Business Employees Happy
If you’re a small business owner, keeping your employees happy is hopefully a priority. But did you know it can also have a big impact on your bottom line?
A recent poll from human resources titan Randstad delivered a few important data points showing how difficult it is to remain fully staffed in today’s workforce environment if your employees are unsatisfied and sour:
- 61% of workers said they would decline a job offer if it negatively impacted their work-life balance.
- 42% said they would quit a job if their boss ignored a request for better working conditions.
- 33% said they would rather be unemployed than unhappy at a job.
True, you can always hire new employees — but at a greater cost than you might realize. The exact numbers differ by report, but the most frequently quoted costs of replacing a salaried employee are anywhere between 50% to 200% of their salary, and north of 200% for C-suite positions. That includes training, recruiting and other related expenses.
In short: It pays to keep employees happy.
5 Ways to Keep Your Small Business Employees Happy
1. Pay a Competitive Salary
The most obvious method of keeping your employees satisfied is much easier said than done. Small businesses aren’t always flush with cash, after all. Still, you need to determine whether you can afford to do this before dismissing it outright.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics website can help you determine the proper wages for a job, for instance. Third-party sites such as PayScale and Indeed can provide similar information.
2. Offer Competitive Benefits
Three of the most popular workplace benefits are:
- Retirement plans such as 401(k)s, SEP IRAs and SIMPLE IRAs
- Health insurance (including medical, dental and vision)
- Paid time off (vacation days, sick days, etc.)
Providing competitive terms for each of these will put you on the most solid footing from a retention perspective.
Other perks — like free snacks and comped gym memberships — can be interesting to employees, too. But never make the mistake of thinking that they’re more important than the essentials to care for themselves, their families and their futures.
3. Provide Work-Life Balance
Many employers claim they care about work-life balance — but a smaller number actually ensure it. In fact, being untruthful about this particular perk is so prevalent, many employees are conditioned to become suspicious as soon as the claim is made.
But it’s a perk worth providing. Having a poor work-life balance can cause numerous physical ailments and psychological issues, which can also compound into financial problems as workers pay for the appropriate treatment. And, after enough time, these issues can cause worker burnout, which is a major cause of employee turnover.
4. Provide Flexible Working Conditions
“You can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube,” they say. And that’s the situation employers face as it pertains to flexible work options such as working from home and alternative hours. While some employers are trying to bring people back into the office, they’re being met with resistance and often enforcing only partial returns.
Flexible hours and working from home are both two outstanding perks that have changed the lives of millions of workers — for the better. It has lessened the burdens of childcare, medical care and life’s necessary errands. Many workers aren’t willing to let go of their now higher quality of life — and if you can help it, you shouldn’t force them to.
5. Let Your Employees Have a Voice — And Heed It
One of the easiest perks to enact at a small business is listening to your employees.
Many employees don’t want to feel like they’re just cogs in the machine — they want to feel like they’re able to enact real change. Obviously, it’s not possible to delegate every company decision to every worker on your staff. But when possible, getting employee feedback can not only produce buy-in among your staff — you can also gain valuable insight into your company and field apt suggestions.
These are only a few of the benefits you should consider to ensure your workers are content. Wondering about how else you can keep your small business employees happy? Or how to set up many of these benefits? Talk to us!
McManamon & Co. is a business services firm that offers consulting services across a wide array of subjects, including hiring and retaining high-quality talent. If you’d like to know more about what we can do for you, call us at 440.892.8900 or contact us online today.
Tags: consulting, McManamon, McManamon & Co., small business | Posted in McManamon & Co., small business