Help Your Employees Feel Like They Belong In Your Business
Your employees need to feel as though they belong if you want them to want to stay with you. If you don’t care one way or another, that’s an entirely different story, but be prepared for a high turnover rate if you take this attitude. A happy employee is a hard working employee, and nobody is happier than when they feel as though they have found somewhere they work well. In this article, we are going to be looking at some of the things that you can do to ensure that your employees feel like they belong with you and your business. Keep reading if you would like to find out more.
Assign Them A ‘Buddy’
We know that this might sound like something that is from middle school, and that’s probably because they use the buddy system in school. The reason that we suggest this is because getting to know people can be really awkward and tough at first, but if you have someone by your side who is talking you through things, it’s easier to manage. They can talk them through one thing at a time, introduce them to other members of the team, and make their experience generally more pleasant.
While not everyone will get on with the buddy system, it ensures that at some point, everyone will greet a new arrival. Your team needs to work together with the incoming people no matter when they are introduced. Ideally, you want to have a work environment that is like family, and to break some of the tension and awkwardness, a buddy can be extremely helpful.
Teach Them What They Need To Know
If you want your employees to feel as though they belong in your business, then you are going to teach them what they need to know. This goes for their actual job if they don’t know exactly what they should be doing and in terms of being social. You can always set them up with a digital learning platform so that they can learn the things they need to before they officially start, or they can learn on the job. If you have hired someone who is still learning, you need to make the team aware of this. We all had to learn at some point, and hopefully your existing team will take it upon themselves to help the new person get through it, and welcome them to the family.
Give Them Encouragement
You may not be dealing with children, but encouragement goes a long way. We’re not talking about your standard ‘good boy’ and ‘good girl’ because they aren’t children nor dogs. Instead, you should make sure that they know what an awesome job they are doing for your business. Tell them something about what they have done that you liked, something that you thought they could improve, and then end on another high. This is the best way for the human brain to learn without getting offended about the thing in the middle, because it is too focused on the two compliments you got.
Encouragement is important for someone to feel as though they are in the right place. Some people just don’t feel like they belong, but when someone tells them how well they are doing, or how nice it is to work with them, all of this can change.
Have Team Bonding Days
If you are worried about the bonding of the team, then you are going to need to have team bonding days. On these days, your employees will have to come together to complete a range of activities, learn to work together, and learn to trust each other. Of course, you should join in if you can as you are the boss. They all belong with you, and you need to show them that by making the effort to turn up to more business events, and be more present for them. Your actions are going to speak louder than anything else on this one, so make sure that you follow through.
Keep in mind that team bonding days aren’t usually something that people look forward to. However, they are a fantastic opportunity to get to know everyone, and by the end everyone usually enjoys themselves.
Show Them How Invaluable They Are
Finally, it’s important that you show them how invaluable they are to your business. Try to take examples from their work, and then say things like ‘I really liked it when you did this’, or ‘I think X was a fantastic idea’. It’s just simple things and you might not think anything of it, but when an employee hears that from an employer, it’s like sweet singing in the ears. You feel as though you have done something worth noticing, and that if you are good enough for that then maybe you really do belong.
You want all of your employees to feel this way, so you are going to need more people. If you have various teams throughout the business, then we recommend going through them one group at a time. Tell them what you like about them as a group such as the way you work together. Tell them that you like a specific example of something that they did and highlight what was so good about it. It’s the simple things that often mean the most to people, and this is going to go a long way.
We hope that you have found this article helpful, and now see some of the things that you can do if you want to help your employees feel like they belong in your business. The thing is that the more attached people feel to your company, the more likely they are to stay for the foreseeable future. You want to create a workforce that enjoys working for you, and to do this, you need to make them feel as though they belong there with you. Hopefully, you can manage this, and we wish you the best of luck trying to do so.
