Nine Workplace Assessments Every Manager Should Consider to Keep Employees Happy
If you are a manager and would like to keep your workers happy and motivated, you will need to monitor the culture and policies regularly. At the same time, you must learn to listen to the views of employees, and make sure that your business goals and their individual aspirations are aligned. Without this strong relationship, you will not be able to motivate your workers and improve their skills and assessments. Below you will find a few tips on how to carry out essential employee assessments for a better retention rate and more positive workforce relationships.
Skills Assessment
You must check whether your workers’ skills are up to date, and if they are able to do the job at hand as effectively as possible. If your workers’ skills are underutilized, you might find that your retention rate is lower than the industry average, and you will have to work on creating new opportunities for employees to grow. At the same time, if your workers’ skills need updating, you might want to provide them with extra support, or pair them up with a more experienced colleague, who can help them do their job better and improve their productivity.
Career Development
You will also need to assess your employees’ career development opportunities and goals. If you are unable to provide the position or opportunity they need, you might consider outplacement to help them grow and learn new skills necessary to move onto a management or supervisory position. Your employees with goals that are supported by you will be more motivated and loyal long term. If you cannot provide the training they need to achieve their career development goals, you might want to reach out to other companies that have the service.
Training Needs Assessment
Every employee has different training needs, and you need to know what you should provide them to enable them to do their work better. Some of your office workers might be struggling with the newly introduced cloud technology, while others will need to get their regulatory knowledge updated. When you complete your monthly or quarterly employee performance report or appraisal, you will need to ask them whether there are any areas of their work they are struggling with and would like to be further trained on. In some cases, training needs arise from your workers’ desire to move to a different department or position. Without asking the right questions, however, you will never find out.
Health and Safety Policies
As a manager, it is your responsibility to keep your workers safe at the office. You must carry out regular health and safety assessments, and make sure that your employees get adequate training on the current procedures. You might want to employ an outside consultant firm to develop your policies and deliver the training, or involve your employees in creating the internal documents, and providing them with an opportunity to show off their knowledge and skills.
Well-being
You must make sure that your employees are feeling comfortable in the business environment you provide. Office workers with health conditions and lower back problems might need to get their workstations assessed and adjusted according to their needs. This intervention will not cost you a lot of money, but can significantly improve your workers’ well-being and commitment. Making adjustments to workers with handicaps will also show that you are a manager who cares about the well-being of each individual.
Work-Life Balance
Happy employees are connected and motivated. Their productivity is generally higher than those who struggle to manage their home life and business hours. There are several benefits of exploring the needs of your employees on an individual basis. You might offer flexible holidays or hours, allowing your workers to have more time to spend with their family member. An office worker might like their job, but they could be looking after their elderly parent at home on weeknights, therefore, they might want to take one day off and pay the time back at the weekend. Ask your employees how you could improve their work-life balance.
Workplace Culture Check
The better your organization’s culture is aligned with the individuals’ values and preferences the more effective your workforce will be. It is important that you conduct employee surveys regularly and check whether their preferences and values are aligned with your company’s. You can improve your workplace culture by setting shared goals and asking employees to contribute ideas. Involving your workers in decision making and project management can also have several culture-related benefits.
Collaboration Assessment
Workers need to be able to work with each other and collaborate with other departments. Communication is key, but providing the skills to collaborate and provide constructive feedback on ideas is also important. You need to monitor the processes within your team, and make sure that everyone’s views are represented. Promote democratic approaches, and make sure you lead by example.
Communication Technology
Communication tools and technologies change rapidly, and you need to keep on upgrading your software to suit your business needs and the working practices of your employees. Gather feedback and ask them whether or not they are satisfied with the effectiveness of the software used in the office. Try to implement new technologies that will save your employees time and effort, and reduce the risk of errors. Create a project team and brainstorm together, to make your technology suit your business and employee needs better.
As a manager, you will need to make sure that you keep your business growing while making sure your workers are happy and motivated. Keep an eye on health and safety, well-being, and workplace practices. Create and communicate a strong vision that will be the foundation of a strong culture. Assess your workers’ individual needs for training and development, and help them achieve a healthier work-life balance. You will be rewarded by a more productive and better skilled, more motivated workforce that will work towards your shared goals. Being a manager means looking after your business interests and considering the needs of all your stakeholders, including your workers.
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