In any business, your employees matter. Maintaining good employees is essential to the growth of your business. As a small business owner, there’s a lot on your page already, but it’s necessary to offer the benefits and support they need so they’ll want to stay.

It can be easy to get caught up in the day-to-day of running your business, but be sure to dedicate time to your employees. 

Below are some easy ways to go the extra mile and support your employees. 

Benefits

krakenimages 376KN ISplE unsplash

Benefits are a great way to show your employees you support the work they do. While they may seem extra, they’re essential parts of any employee’s drive or decision to work for you.

Health, dental, and life insurance are all common benefits that are great for your employees. The quantity and quality of benefits you provide can grow over time.

Still, insufficient benefits like life insurance can have your employees contacting a life insurance lawyer when a severe case arises, so consider it as insurance for your business too.  

Paid time off (PTO) is another excellent way to reward your employees for the service they provide. It takes some stress off because now employees can take time away from work when they think is best.

In addition, for some employees, PTO acts as a reward for the work they’ve done and makes the time away feel more earned. 

PTO also reduces the stress of taking time off since, by definition, you will continue to be paid. All of this will lead to better morale, fewer absences, and better employee satisfaction and retention.

PTO is well worth the benefit it’ll bring to your business. 

Transparency 

Transparency in the workplace can create a sense of solidarity. By being forward about what the company is working toward, it helps your employees understand what they do is helping achieve a goal.

In addition, encouraging communication between employees and management is a definite way to get feedback that will help your operation grow. 

Be an open space for questions, and lead by example. Good leaders are transparent; transparency helps reduce miscommunication of goals, expectations, and duties.

There are simple ways to be more transparent, such as always being available to talk (or zoom) with your team, having regular meetings with them to discuss company goals and check in on them, and taking time to meet with each employee individually.

While it may not seem like much, individual communication and feedback go a long way to creating a good working environment and relationship between employer and employee. 

Invest in their Growth

Invest

As employees spend more time at your business, they may want to learn more and grow into new positions.

As your business grows, you’ll want to retain familiar faces and promising talent, so investing in your employees should be a given.

Stagnant employees can lose motivation to continue outstanding work, so giving them opportunities to grow should be pursued when possible. 

Investing in your employees is investing in your business, and it’ll lead to less employee turnover, higher productivity, and greater flexibility among your staff. 

Investing in their personal growth is another way to show your employees that you value their efforts. Supporting their endeavors outside of the workplace will make them feel valued and show them that they’re more than just employees. 

Personal Time

It’s essential to stress a work-life balance for your employees. We touched on earlier in the article about investing in their personal growth, which goes along with it.

Know the signs of when your employees are feeling burnt out, and know when you need to step in.

We all have lives outside of work, and if your employees believe they have to sacrifice more of their personal time to the job, then they may not stick around. 

Feedback

Feedback

All employees want feedback, and they want to know how they can improve. As a manager and business owner, it’s your responsibility to lead by example.

Feedback in the moment is a great way to show you see the work your employees do and are there to help them learn.

Consistently providing feedback and learning opportunities when they arise is a definite way to support your employees, which will make them want to stay and feel valued. 

In addition to feedback, it is important to set easy and achievable goals for your employees. This will help reduce the chance of burnout from taking on an impossible task.

These goals provide purpose and direction for your employees and allow you to gauge their abilities and measure their growth. 

No matter how you decide to go about it, don’t overlook the importance, your employees are to your business.

People matter, and supporting them through their employment and growth is essential to maintaining healthy growth for your business.