It may seem counterintuitive to think about the quality of your workplace environment for your green industry business, mainly because unlike so many other businesses, most of your employees are out in the community 95% of their workday. This can present a real challenge when it comes to boosting employee morale. How do you let your workers know that their work is appreciated and that their concerns are being heard if you only have 15 minutes a day in the shop with them? I run into the same problem with my company, HindSite Software, because our schedules are all different and I am frequently out of town with customers.
- Reward your employees - One solution we’ve found at my field service software company is to hold a meeting for an hour or two after work every month to help keep us all on the same page. Since my employees bust their butts for me every day, I like to treat them with a couple cases of beer and a ping pong table full of pizza. It’s a pleasure to see them in a more relaxed work environment as we normally keep a pretty fast pace throughout the week. At these meetings we start by giving a recap of the last month’s issues and solutions we’ve come up with, highlighting our star performers for that month. It’s a great way for us all to understand what each department is dealing with and how each works to find resolutions to their problems.
- Increase responsibility when you see an employee wanting more – At our meetings we also go over our Monthly, Quarterly, and Annual goals my managers have set to see how we are executing our game plan. These goals have been a great way for managers and myself to delegate tasks around the workplace. Giving your employees more responsibilities often increases their productivity and passion for their work. When I assign projects and tasks I ask that my employees “own” them. This not only shows that I trust them to complete the job but that I am holding them accountable for the quality of the work.
- Say “Thank you.” – One of my most time-honored traditions is handing out pay slips personally every 2 weeks to tell my employees, “Thank you,” for all that they’ve allowed me to accomplish as an entrepreneur. Because truly, if it wasn’t for our employees, we’d all be screwed.
- Allow your staff to take breaks without being hounded – Our office climate is pretty low pressure. I don’t get on my guys’ case when they take a ping pong break or need some time to clear their head because I know when they get back to work they’re going to bust ass to get their next task completed.
If your employees aren’t happy with work it will show up in their productivity and quality of work. So promote and project a positive attitude. Keep an upbeat demeanor and never forget to pay someone a compliment for a job well done. I don’t suck up to my staff to get them to like me, but I do give credit where credit is due. Remember, that a positive culture at work will translate to more than just a happy workplace. Happy employees make happy customers and quality work.