As adults, we spend a lot of our time in work and it’s always a good thing when we find an environment which is positive and suits our needs as employees.

At CBS, we see creating a great working environment as essential for employee happiness and wellbeing. However, according  to HR magazine, in 2014 only 37% of workers said they were encouraged to be innovative and only 57% believed their overall wellbeing was a concern. As an employer or HR manager, it’s important to look after your staff in order to get the most out of your team and retain your valuable employees. In 2015, 27% of staff believed that they would change companies in the next five years but a well structured HR strategy can help change this. Your HR strategy needs to be well thought out and display the vision of your business culture. Here are our top tips on how to create a happy workplace.

Give feedback

Although you are trying to create a productive working environment, both positive and negative feedback are essential. This will help your employees to know where they stand, helping to avoid any anxious feelings of what an employer actually thinks of you. This feedback will also help both you and your employee to set goals and realise them, ultimately aiding in your overall business goals.

Reward and recognise

After giving feedback, it’s always good to give your employees recognition for their achievements. 25% of British workers do not feel valued at all, leading to a lack of motivation so recognition could be key to improving any ill feelings. This recognition can be anything from certificates, cash or even company merchandise depending on your business. Whatever reward you give, it will help ensure that your employees feel valued and appreciated in your business. This will leave them feeling more productive for the next task you set.

Build trust and open communication

You often hear this advice in companies across all industries but unfortunately, sometimes this isn’t implemented as well as it should be. According to Unum, UK companies lose up to £2.7 billion a year for failure to communicate what benefits staff are entitled too. This in turn leads to increase staff turnover and ‘sickies’. At CBS, we believe in an open door policy where staff and management have lines of communication open at all times. We also use internal newsletters where we share company updates and staff news to ensure that no details are lost in the busy office. We also believe in having one-to-one meetings every month where our team can voice their opinions, share any troubles and we can feedback information on performance.

Not only does this allow information to be exchanged every month but it builds a level of trust with your employees. Employees who trust and value their employers are more likely to remain happy in a role and will overall increase levels of retained staff.

Flexible working

As of 2014, any employee who has been working at a business for longer than six months can request flexible working such as working part-time or working from home. Although employers don’t necessarily have to grant this, it shows that employees are now looking for different ways to work in which they can balance their work and home life. We believe that no area of your life should be compromised, and this tends to work with our employees. This does involve a level of trust but it’s a great approach to ensure employee happiness.

Encourage employees to step away from their desk

When going through particularly busy periods, it can be very easy to become glued to your desk, even through your lunch hour. In 2015, two thirds of British workers failed to take even a twenty minute lunch break. But this actually isn’t healthy for employee wellbeing and can increase levels of stress and anxiety towards work. It will also decrease productivity levels. Encouraging a short break away from the screen will help employees to think more calmly and clearly.

Getting the right team on board

Obviously once staff are in your company, it’s important to include our previously mentioned advice. But of course, before doing this, it’s vital that you get the right people into your company. These people need to be reliable, trustworthy and staff that will overall help your business. To do this, you should know as much about your potential employees as possible. Employment referencing can be a valuable asset during the employment process as it will allow a background screening company like ourselves to produce a person’s employment timeline that may not have been provided on a CV. This can give information such as why they left their employment and what type of employee they were in their previous company.

Looking after your employees is crucial for the overall success of your business. Not only do you want your employees to be happy in your business, but overall happiness can help increase employee creativity and productivity. And of course, it will help to maintain your staff and reduce costs for employee turnover. These are all positive things, so isn’t it time you started to create a good environment for your employees?

If you’d like any information about the services that CBS offers or would like to speak to a member of our team, email:info@cbscreening.co.uk or call us on 01443 799 900.