Making great business decisions when you have staff can seem a bit daunting. More so if you are a small business and have been burned in the past (feuds between employee and employer). It isn’t uncommon for there to be some bad blood in the early days of a startup, or indeed a little bit later one when you are in a growth period. You need to think about policies and procedures, how to protect your products, and protect your staff it can all be a bit of a headache. And sometimes it goes less than smoothly, and you end up needing a law firm like Ogletree Deakins Gender to get involved.
Once you have all of that stuff straightened out, what can you do to make your employee work environment the best it can be?
Staff Matters
You might have a few staff that are fantastic and one bad apple. It is important not to be afraid to get rid of that person. Lazy, insubordinate or rude staff will have a long term impact on your business and you. The job market is very competitive, and you are likely to get someone great to fill their place without too much of an issue. The longer that bad apple stays in the workplace the more sway they will have with other staff.
Staff Room
If you have somewhere that you workforce (even if there are just 2 or 3 of them) can go to relax for their break times that is going to go a long way with them. Make an effort to supply comfortable chairs, great coffee and tea, a range of easy to grab snacks and the office or room a decent temperature. Somewhere for them to store and heat up their food that they bring for lunch is a minimum. If you aren’t sure what else you can do – then ask them!
Light It Up
The office lighting really matters. If you have poor lighting, you are going to have staff with eye strain, headaches, and a noticeable downward turn in their performance. Get as much natural light into the space as you can. If you are limited with windows, then look into daylight replication bulbs. The daylight will reduce any fatigue and keep your workers calm, and concentrated on the task at hand.
Lean and Green
Keep the main working space free of clutter. A mess can put some people off their work, they might feel like they can’t focus or stay concentrated on the task at hand. It’s a simple case of setting rules about cleaning desk space, tidying up at the end of each day and hiring a cleaner to help. Along with that add some plants to the area. Plant not only purify the air but they have a significant impact on you psychologically.
Keeping staff happy with ensuring that you have a productive team, who work well together and enjoy what they do. Giving you great results (and profits) in the long run and short term.
[…] you have to say no. If you can’t juggle any more balls, there’s no shame in saying no, and your boss should understand. When time is a precious commodity, you have to be selfish from time to […]