Building strong relationships with your employees

While every business owner understands the need for good customer relationships, they can sometimes underestimate the power of good relationships with their employees. Even with the best intentions, it’s easy to take these connections for granted.

According to a recent Indeed article, ‘employees who feel valued at work are often happier, more productive and less likely to look for other employment opportunities.’ Staff who feel valued for more than just their ability to do their job, are more likely to be engaged with their work – and isn’t that what every business owner wants?

Three simple ways to make your employees feel valued

• Take a few minutes to chat about their family or something else important in their life – that they’re comfortable sharing.
• Offer more than just the usual tea and coffee in the lunchroom. Perhaps arrange a weekly fruit delivery or pay for lunch each month or quarter.
• Recognise great work with a shout-out on social media, or their favourite cupcake waiting on their desk.

Even if you’re a small business with limited resources, there’s many ways you can build and maintain good relationships with employees that won’t cost the earth. And even when you do have to find some extra dollars, it’s still going to be less expensive than the cost of recruiting new people and getting them up to speed. That’s not to say your bottom line is your only consideration in nurturing camaraderie, but it’s certainly a bonus.

It goes both ways

Human interaction works both ways. When you’re being open and genuinely concerned about others, you’ll feel better about yourself – and your people will certainly feel better about you. Together, you’ll feel like a team with a shared objective, rather than a bunch of people working for no other reason than a salary.

Building better relationships with your people is also a great way to create a culture of better mental wellbeing. Strong relationships can result in lower rates of anxiety and depression, higher self-esteem, greater empathy and more trusting and cooperative connections.

As the quote attributed to renowned poet and civil rights activist, Maya Angelou says ‘people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.’

Learn more about Workers Compensation Insurance

Read more:

• Why negative thinking can be bad for business
• How to tell your mind the workday is over
• Why asking about a colleague’s mental health is never embarrassing

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