Make Work Fun With These 6 Easy Tips
It’s no secret that a happy employee is a productive employee. Modern companies realise that, in order to extract the most efficiency from their workforce, it pays to make work more enjoyable. Stress, deadlines and overtime are a natural part of employment, but too much with no counterbalance can lead to employee burnout. With an increased understanding of the importance of mental health, companies that manage to balance productivity with enjoyment will find improved employee morale has many benefits, from increased efficiency to lower turnover rates.
Here are our six top tips to make work fun and keep employees happy.
Team outings
Whether you work in a small company with single-digit employees or a large multinational corporation, your team probably has to work together to get the job done. Your employees will spend all day interacting with one another, so it pays that they all get along. Interpersonal relationships are important, but it’s tricky to achieve proper social bonding during the work day. As such, group outings to events like crazy golf, go-karting or team dinners can help promote team cohesion and socialising in a more natural, relaxed and fun environment.
Team building exercises
The trust fall exercise might be a bit cliché, but coming up with activities during the work day that promote team work is a great way to develop a sense of camaraderie that can easily transition into smoother day-to-day team operations. Competitions are an excellent way to promote competitiveness and co-operation, so try to incorporate a competitive aspect into your team building exercises, with a prize for the winners. Improve teamwork and communication skills consistently, as these skills translate into the workplace tasks.
Celebrate special occasions
Make sure all that hard work pays off. There are few things more demoralising to an employee than not feeling appreciated. This means it’s important to recognise those who have gone above and beyond in their line of work and to reward them in some way. It doesn’t have to be expensive, but it will pay dividends down the line. Don’t forget to also treat your employees like humans – take note of birthdays, workplace anniversaries and other major milestones.
Keep them fed
They say the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach and this is especially true when it comes to employees. Having snacks around the office helps keep energy levels up and tasty treats can provide a small mood boost for employees having a rough day. Try not to go too heavy on the sugary stuff and provide some healthy alternatives too! A quick and effective way to stock up on snacks is with a snack subscription service such as SnackNation.
Be social online
These days socializing takes place just as much in the online world as it does offline. Take this opportunity to broadcast your employees’ achievements and milestones on social media. Not only does it show your current employees you care, it also shows clients and prospective employees how you treat your staff. Take pictures of group outings and let everyone know how much your employees mean to you. People pay attention!
Volunteering
Earmark a day or an event for your employees to take off work and volunteer to a good cause. This could be anything from a running marathon to hosting a bake sale or volunteering at a food bank. Charity work helps give back to the community and promotes corporate social responsibility. Not only do you directly benefit from helping a good cause, but it also helps promote teamwork and it’s great to post about on social media. It gets employees out of the office for the day and everybody gets to feel good about themselves for helping their community in some way.
Boosting employee morale pays dividends in terms of workforce productivity and employee happiness. Moreover, it can be great fun to take part in these events! Above are just some of the many ways you can help to make work more enjoyable for your employees. Good staff are hard to keep, but by putting the tips above into action you can help make your employees feel good about themselves and feel good about the company they work for. Work might be hard, but it can be fun!