employees

4 Ways to Improve Employee Relationships

Angela Manning Business , , ,
4 Ways to Improve Employee Relationships

Running a business is tough, but it can be made a great deal tougher if you don’t have solid working relationships with your employees, and you don’t promote that across the board. You want your employees to see themselves as part of a team, and as a business owner, it’s your responsibility to ensure this happens.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at four ways in which business owners can build and improve working relationships with their employees:

Install an Open Door Policy

Some business owners use the term ‘My door is always open’ but what they mean is ‘Please get on with your work and leave me alone.’ This should never be the case. If you want your employees to open up to you about what they feel works and doesn’t work, their hopes and fears, and anything else that might help the business, an open door policy is essential, and will go a long way to help build a strong team dynamic. Your entire team will feel like they can come forward and speak to you, and a sharing workspace will be created as a result.

Leave the Office From Time to Time

The importance of time spent away from the office on team building activities and days out to reward staff for all their hard work cannot be underestimated. When employees don’t feel valued, they start job seeking, or an air of negativity starts to spread through the office because issues are being bottled up rather than discussed and dealt with.

A great idea is to book an activity where your employees will have to work together to succeed, such as an Escape Room. Solving a mystery in 60 minutes with teamwork will require a solid escape room strategy, but you’ll have a lot of fun while passing each task, and build stronger relationships between all of your staff as a result.

Put an Emphasis on Development

How many people leave their job roles because of a lack of opportunity or there is not another promotion available within their department. For example, if you become a manager within a 12-18 month period where do you go after that? How do you keep motivating yourself?

One way for business owners to improve employee relationships and decrease staff turnover is to emphasize development. This can be achieved by encouraging your staff to come forward with any new skills they would like to learn and improve upon, seeking out courses to enroll staff upon, and by working employees towards further qualifications. This will show all of your team that you value their commitment to improving their skills and expertise, and that keeping them happy and engaged is high on your list of priorities.

Promote a Collaborative Environment

Your employees can become stale and disinterested if they don’t feel like they are contributing to the day-to-day operation of the business. Managers should encourage collaboration and the sharing of ideas, both in meetings and within the working day. There could be some great ideas within your workforce that are not seeing the light of day because your employees feel like they won’t be heard or that their ideas won’t be good enough. You won’t know for sure unless you create the kind of atmosphere where all voices are heard.

Martin Lloyd Sanders on Why Health and Safety at Work Matters

Angela Manning Business, Health , , ,
Martin Lloyd Sanders on Why Health and Safety at Work Matters

Martin Lloyd Sanders is a true American her. As CAPT Martin Lloyd Sanders, he protects his countrymen and his services, but he goes above and beyond that as well. He is also an officer in the U.S. Public Health Service and he is the Director of the Environmental Health Services Division for Occupational Health. He is brave and valiant in all walks of life, and his aim is to ensure people are safe at all times. This is also why he has made a push towards increasing workers’ health and safety (H&S), something for which he feels exists a real need.

Martin Lloyd Sanders on Why H&S Matters

Ever year, over 200 people die as a result of workplace accidents, and hundreds of thousands are injured. Between 2009/10, around businesses and organizations lost 23.4 million working days because of injuries and illnesses related to work. Falls and vehicular accidents are the greatest killers and slips and trips the greatest injurers.

Clearly, H&S must be managed effectively. For Martin Lloyd Sanders, this starts by having risk assessments in place. Not all risks can be eliminated, but they can be properly managed. When a risk assessment is performed, an organization knows what the risk is and how likely it is to happen. It identifies the hazards, and who can be affected by them.

This isn’t just an ethical consideration either. By law, an organization with more than five employees must keep risk assessment records. These should show the hazards, who is at risk from them, and how safety can be improved. Unfortunately, many businesses don’t know how to do this properly.

Countries across the world have legal regulations that are often updated as well. The main law in this country is the OSH (Occupational Health and Safety) Act. This act shows the duty of care employers have towards their staff, contractors, and other people. Meanwhile, the Mine Safety and Health Act 1977 is responsible for the health and safety of those working in mines, a particularly dangerous occupation. Additionally, there is the Fair Labor Standards Act, the SHARE Initiative, and the Workers’ Compensation Program.

Action to Be Taken

For Martin Lloyd Sanders, these various acts, rules, and regulations being in place is just the starting point. They are vital to ensure and maintain the safety of people at work, but they do not provide enough guidance in terms of how this can be implemented. Large organizations in particular often struggle with implementing the rules in such a way that they actually increase safety, rather than just play lip service to the various acts.

Many actions need to be taken above and beyond making risk assessments and ensuring the various acts are adhered to. One of the things CAPT Martin Lloyd Sanders feels is of particular importance is that businesses and organizations learn to discuss safety matters with their workers, so that they are able to raise their own concerns as well. Being inclusive in these matters is a great way for larger organizations in particular to spot the things they may have overlooked.

Why It’s Important to Invest in Your Employees Training and Education

Angela Manning Business , , , , ,
Why It’s Important to Invest in Your Employees Training and Education

Do you look for ways to continually improve your employee’s skills and increase their working knowledge? If not, your business could be losing out and it could affect the success of your organization. However, by investing in your employee’s education and training, your business could benefit in many different ways. Below are some of the reasons why it’s important to invest in employee training and education.

Employees Get Better at Their Jobs

In most cases, a business is only as good as the people who work in it. If your employees are highly skilled, they are more likely to be more efficient and they will produce higher quality work. For example, if you want certain members of your business to lead and carry out business functions on your company’s behalf, they should have completed a relevant business course such as the online MBA degree. Once your employees have completed a business course like the masters in business administration online program, they will have much more confidence in their ability and possess the tools required to do their jobs much better.

Employees Become Leaders Themselves

You should view your business as a well-oiled machine where teamwork is a priority. However, for any team to function properly, you need a number of different leaders. Training and educating your staff members will make it more likely that leaders emerge who will ensure that your business becomes a much more professional outfit.

It Improves Morale

Most people want to feel appreciated and they also want to feel that they are an important part of a business. Sending your employees on regular training courses is a clear indication that you want them to keep improving at their jobs and that they have a key role to play in your organization. This, in turn, is almost certain to motivate your employees and increase the likelihood that they will become much more efficient and professional and show more loyalty to you and your business, unlike employees who are neglected by their employers.

It Enhances Your Business Reputation

If people and organizations outside of your business realize how much you invest in your employee training and education, this will enhance your business’s reputation in different ways. Other companies and individuals will want to deal with you because of your professional approach to this area of your business and high caliber workers will want to join your company.

It Increases Overall Efficiency and Profitability in Your Business

Ultimately, a business has to make money and a highly educated workforce gives you a much better chance to do this. Fewer mistakes will be made, there should be less waste and more people and businesses will want to buy your products or services, so your bottom line should look a lot healthier when you invest in your employee’s education and training.

There are many good reasons to invest in your employee’s education and training. Once you do make this investment, it should pay you back.