It’s quite difficult to make a business flourish. Hundreds of thousands of businesses around the globe fail trying to accomplish this feat. It’s only a mere few that survive. The ones that do; either have a large start-up capital or they don’t make the most common mistakes most small businesses commit.

In fact, it’s quite astonishing to see that so many small businesses tend to make the exact same mistakes. One of the most common is treating employees badly. A common trait of the most successful companies in the world is that they value their employees. It’s this minute difference that can take a business to a prolific route or make it bankrupt.

In short, for any business that wants to make it to the top, it’s of utmost importance that it treats its employees in the best manner possible. They are your workforce. They represent your business. If your employees are happy, it’s a proven fact that their productivity will rise by a great margin. If their productivity rises, it will also lead your business to an uphill path.

The point is; how do you make your employees happy? This is where most businessmen get stuck. If you are also looking forward to keeping your workforce content, here are six great ways to do just that.

Make them Feel Important

The last thing you would want for your employees is to make them feel unimportant. It happens more often than not that employees don’t feel like they are doing anything meaningful. They come to work, get done with their assigned work, and go back. This makes them feel as if they are a meagrely part of a process and that they can easily be replaced.

This is a key point you must focus on. You should make your employees feel like they are a great attribute to the company. There are numerous ways of doing so. You could do this by offering a reward scheme, or setting up an Employee of The Month competition for example. When they realise that their hard work is being acknowledged more, then they will push themselves further and improve their productivity.

Conduct Team Building Events

Another great way to improve the productivity of your team is to conduct regular team building events. For businesses in the UK, London team building events are a core expertise of Team Tactics. You can simply hire companies like these to conduct events that gel your employees together.

These events can include everything from games to competitions. For example, a team building scavenger hunt could be a great option that you may want to try. Such games tend to let your employees bond better with each other outside the work environment which also adds to their productivity at work, as they are more comfortable. This consequently translates into a better building opportunity for your business.

Growth Opportunities

A great way to reward your staff is to offer them growth opportunities. This is another thing most small businesses lack. You don’t necessarily have to offer every employee a higher post every time they perform well, but a monetary appraisal is something that would raise their morale.

It’s understandable that as a small business, you don’t have many positions, which is why appraisals are a great alternative. The point is, let every employee enjoy some kind of growth, if not hierarchal, then monetary!

Award Their Behaviour

Your main goal should always be to make sure that your employees are motivated to work harder. What you can do to promote that hard-working behaviour is you can start giving out awards for small things. Recognise minute achievements like the completion of a project prior to a deadline or a point system to rate their efforts and productivity.

This will create a healthy competition between the employees and let them grow, ultimately taking your business a long way.

Unexpected Gift

As cheesy as it may sound, your employees will never expect a gift from their employer. Surprise them for their great work on a certain project by offering a gift as a token of appreciation. Make this a regular thing in your organisation so employees continue to give their best. Everybody needs a token of appreciation for their work, so do your employees.

What’s in it for you? A contented employee can offer far greater productivity taking your business to higher grounds.

Give them A Shout-Out!

Leave a memo to the entire department about a certain achievement of your employee. It can certainly be a morale-booster for the person being praised, and they will continue to try and prove their efficiency and productivity to everyone.

The smallest of gestures will have a massive impact on your business’s overall productivity, thus creating a positive culture. Employees will feel valued and therefore motivation will be shooting through the roof. These are just a few simple ways of how rewarding your staff will improve your business. Just remember, if your colleagues feel negative, it will reflect in their work.