Making your company a great place to work will help you attract — and keep — great employees. But creating an employee-friendly work environment involves more than just offering an attractive paycheck. Keep the following tips in mind to build an appealing and stimulating workplace:
Invest in your employees. Offering a variety of training programs shows your workers that your firm is dedicated to helping them improve their skills and grow professionally.
Build career plans. Help employees set career plans so they understand the next steps on their career ladders and what they must do to reach them, as well as how they can develop skills that will aid them — and the business — in the future. This provides motivation and helps combat a challenge many small and midsize businesses face: a perceived lack of advancement opportunities due to the size of the company.
Establish a mentoring program. Identify colleagues workers can go to for guidance and advice. This can be especially valuable to new employees, who may feel out of place at a new organization.
Consider alternate work arrangements. These types of programs — which may include telecommuting, flexible hours, or job sharing — help workers maintain a healthy work/life balance (and, in the case of disabled employees, may be required as a form of reasonable accommodation).
Be a good corporate citizen. More and more professionals want to work for firms that do the right thing. Establish programs so employees can become involved in the community and support causes that are meaningful to them.
Survey employees. Getting regular feedback enables you to know how your employees feel about their jobs. Not only can surveys identify problem areas, but they also can point out strategies and ideas that can make your workplace even better.
Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons. Inc.
Copyright © 2013 Robert Half International, Inc., as to Author-Created Materials
