How To Ensure Your Staff Are Happy And Motivated

Collaborative post – may contain affiliate links

As the owner of your own business, one of the most exciting things you can do is hire your own staff. It’s a great sign that things are going well within your business as not only do you need to hire staff to help you, but you’re in a financial position where you can do so. When it comes to hiring staff, however, you need to ensure you’re doing everything you can to keep them happy. With that in mind, here are a number of ways you can ensure your staff are happy and motivated to work:

– Tell Them When They Have Done A Good Job

Although this may seem obvious, it’s important you’re telling your staff members when they have done a good job. People like to know that their hard work is paying off and often within a business, people don’t know this unless they’re told. Even if it’s just a simple thank you email after a job well done, your employees will appreciate the recognition.

– Encourage Them To Have A Say In Big Decisions

Although your team members can’t make ALL of the big decisions within the business, getting them involved is a great way to help them feel part of the team. Whether it’s deciding on a new product to launch or having a say in a huge social media campaign, approaching your team for ideas and suggestions is a great way to get involved. Even if you don’t use any of their suggestions, they will definitely appreciate that you asked. For tips and tricks when it comes to getting employees involved, you can visit this guide here.

– Make Sure You’re Paying Them On Time

Another important aspect of having staff in your team is ensuring you pay them on time. Most of the time the staff you hire will be freelancers and they’re really on you to pay them when you say you’re going to pay them. If this is something you struggle with, it may be worth investing in software that allows you to set up monthly payments for your staff depending on the hours that they have worked. For professional payroll solutions, you can visit this site here.

– Don’t Micro-Manage And Allow Creative Freedom Where Possible

Although it may be tempting to micro-manage your staff, it’s important you’re not doing this on a regular basis. Whilst it’s good to have a certain amount of control over your team, allowing them to have creative freedom and the ability to create their own schedules is what will help them stick around. For tips and tricks when it comes to avoiding micro-management, you can visit this site here.

– Ensure They Have A Place To Relax When They Need A Break

If your staff work in the same office space as you, you need to ensure they have a place they can go when they need to relax and take a break. For the best results when it comes to productivity you should be letting your team take a break from their screens whenever they need it. Whether it’s a five-minute break every hour or an hour-long lunch break during the middle of the day, having that time away from their computer will help them refresh and stay focussed. For more tips when it comes to staying focussed, you can visit this site here.

– Host Regular Team Outings And Out-Of-Work Activities

Finally, no matter how big or small your team are, you should be hosting regular out-of-work activities. Whether it’s a couple of drinks after work or an activity to help you bond, you want to ensure everyone has a good working relationship with one another. If you’re stuck for ideas, ask your team what they’d like to do.

Are you struggling to keep your staff happy and motivated at work? What can you do to ensure that changes?  Let me know in the comments section below.

Blunders To Avoid When Buying Business Equipment

Collaborative post – may contain affiliate links

Buying equipment for your business? Here are a few common mistakes to avoid when acquiring new business equipment.

Skimping on quality

Everybody loves a bargain, but you should be careful of putting cost before quality. Equipment that is poor quality could reflect badly on your brand if it’s seen or used by customers. Meanwhile, poor quality tools could provide less accurate results. Such equipment could also negatively affect the morale of your employees if it makes their job harder due to less accuracy or less comfort (for instance, cheap office chairs may not be very ergonomic and may make your employees uncomfortable). On top of this, you could even end up paying more in the long run in maintenance as such equipment is more likely to break.

Splurging on gimmicks

On the other end of the spectrum, you should also avoid spending unnecessary amounts of money on equipment beyond your needs. Such equipment could be unnecessarily complex and could actually make life harder for yourself. For instance, if you’re looking to buy a drone for your photography business, consider whether you really need an all-weather drone – not only could it be more expensive, but it may have more complex controls.

Not considering rented equipment

It could be more financially sensible to rent certain equipment rather than buying it. This could include single-use machinery such as an air conditioner for a short-term construction project – you may be better off looking into portable air conditioner rental rather than buying an air conditioner. Renting machinery could also be more financially sensible for very expensive equipment if you can’t afford the upfront cost of purchasing it and don’t want to take out a loan.  

Overlooking energy efficiency

You should also be careful of overlooking energy efficiency when buying machinery. If equipment isn’t energy-efficient, it could cost a lot to run in energy bills. Energy-efficiency can also be important for the reputation of your business. In most cases, newer equipment is greener than older equipment. For instance, newer computers tend to be more energy-efficient than older models.

Failing to include your team in decision making

If you’ve got employees, you should make sure to include them in decision making when choosing which equipment to buy – especially if they’re going to be using the equipment. They may even be able to help to research new equipment. By acknowledging your employees’ preferences, you’ll make them feel more appreciated and you can avoid choosing the wrong equipment.

How Much Is Your Free Time Worth?

Braveheart Freedom

If you’re working, you know how much you make per hour, but do you know how much your free time is worth?

Since time is the most important currency, you need to factor this into your decision making. If you know how much your free time is worth: it will help you decide to skip an activity, pay someone else to help or complete it yourself. Find out the value of your free time here.

Based on that number, how does that influence your decision making moving forward? Controlling my free time is immensely important to me, that’s why I want to help you get your freedom back during this 8-week online bootcamp geared towards achieving work life balance. Join us because can you really put a price time on the investment in your personal freedom? Yes.