Running your small business efficiently and productively is difficult when your employees are less than excited about work. So, how can you instill enthusiasm and spark the fire in your employees? It starts with you, their boss. In fact, did you know 38 percent of employees are more likely to be engaged in their job when they know their employer cares?
Having said that, here are the steps to instil enthusiasm in your employees and guide you to a unified, excited, and more productive small business.
How to Spark the Fire in Your Employees
Getting your employees enthused about work is fun. It’s a time where you get to dig deep within yourself and find out what makes you so excited about your small business. In order to get your employees as gung-ho as you are, it’s going to take three steps. Let’s get started.
Step 1 - Engage the Disengaged
Before you jump into rallying up your employees, you need to consider that your employees might be stressed out and overworked. If they are, this must be addressed first. The solution? Provide a way for your employees to unwind. Once you’ve done this, the steps to an enthusiastic employee are just around the corner.
Stress relief is the key to a happy employee. Did you know more than 80 percent of disengaged and hostile employees would prefer stress-relief breaks such as a nap, massage, or break? Accordingly, think of your employees like a rubberband. You can twist and twist a rubber band, but after a while it finally snaps. Similarly, your employees can only take so much before they snap. Thus, unwinding and stress relief are extremely important.
Make sure your employees are unwinding every day. If they’re not, they will have a harder time with the remaining steps.
Step 2 - Use Your Employees’ Strengths
Rather than using a one-size-fits-all method, remember each employee is unique. As such, find your employees’ strengths and help them utilize them to be a more successful employee.
To do this, talk to your employees individually. Ask them where they think they excel and what they love to do. Then, let them show you their strengths throughout the day at work to make your small business better than ever.
Using your employees’ strengths is a great way to show your employees you care about them and what they can do, and let’s be honest, being able to go to work every day and do something you’re exceptionally good at is all the better reason to be excited about work.
Step 3 - Give Them Something to Work For
It’s no secret, your employees come to work everyday because they need a paycheck--not because they love their job that much. So, you’ve got to give your employees a reason to work hard. How can this be done? Performance-based pay or incentives.
If you really want your employees to get excited about work, show them they have a reward waiting for them. Some companies do this collectively as a team, or on an individual basis. Choose the one that will work best with your small business.
To reward your employees based on their performance, track their progress and regularly check up with them. Give them a goal and a deadline, along with a way to accomplish it. Then, tell them what awaits them at the end. Doing this will excite your employees and get them to work harder and be more excited about work.
Other Factors in Your Employees’ Level of Enthusiasm
You’ve gone through the steps to spark the fire in your employees and instill enthusiasm, now what? There are a few more things you can do to keep the fire lit as times goes on.
Employee Health
If you want employees to feel good and be ready to work everyday, give them a reason to be healthy. How? If your budget allows, provide healthy snacks throughout the day. If you don’t have the budget, you can easily get a vending machine with healthy snacks in it.
Healthy snacks aren’t only good for your employees’ health and wellness, but they love them. Seventy-four percent of employees say they’d like healthy options. So, make healthy snacks available to your employees for healthier lifestyles and better overall attitudes.
Health Insurance
Another way to instill enthusiasm in your employees is to ensure they feel they have the health insurance coverage they need and are taken care of. Health insurance is not only required by the federal government for each individual, but it’s beneficial to have in the case of an accident. Furthermore, your employees greatly value health insurance.
Did you know 80.8 percent of employees over 25 value health insurance? Knowing this, it’s important to provide some type of health benefit to your employees. This can be in the form of a Health Reimbursement Plan or a group health plan.
Providing health benefits to your employees will give them peace of mind, show them you care, and will allow them to focus on the important matters of your small business.
Conclusion
Instilling enthusiasm in your employees is one of the greatest things you can do for your small business. As you incorporate stress relief, focus on your employees’ strengths, provide a goal and reward to work towards, and focus on your employees’ health, you’ll begin to see your employees become excited about coming to work everyday.
What other ideas do you have to instill enthusiasm in your employees? Comment below.
