Each employee desires to work with an empathic employer who treats them as deserving human beings and not just agents of profit generation. It makes a whole difference in treating them humanely. It encourages better business performances, increases worker’s productivity, and subsequently motivates your employees.
While as a company you can also show solidarity with your employees in times of need such as the death of a loved one and personal challenges like financial difficulties, there is more you can do to show you care for your employees. Check out the following simple but highly effective acts of care:
Compensate Your Employees Accordingly
It is indisputable that many people get employed so that they can earn some money to meet their many insatiable needs. The simplest way to care for your employees, therefore, is to give them decent compensation. Offer your employees both direct compensation like giving them salaries, offering them incentives and bonuses. Your direct compensation must be commensurate with the number of hours worked and the type and amount of work done. Indirect compensation is also a good way to show your employees you care for them. You could offer your employees old-age care and child care.
An expert South Carolina workers compensation lawyer also advises that you offer your employees personal injury compensation in case they are hurt at work. If you’re unsure about how to compensate your workers, compensation attorneys can offer you legal advice. They have good insights on how much you should compensate your employees to avoid attracting lawsuits
Cover for Your Employees
Your employees will feel like part of your company if you cover them. Offer your employees paid paternity and maternity leaves. Provide them with sick leaves when they require. Cover, transport, housing, and the healthcare of your employees. These covers will assure your employees of your care in times of certain crises. It reaps them off a lot of stress and encourages them to become very loyal to your company. It comes with myriad benefits you wouldn’t want to miss out on.
Provide a Safe Work Environment
Your employees will feel valued and confident while working in a safe work environment. It is crucial to ensure your employees have comfortable seats that enable them to work without much strain which would otherwise cause some back problems. Similarly, you should provide your employees with protective gear like gloves and gumboots if they handle pesticides or herbicides. You can also take care of your employees’ mental health by ensuring the company has a counseling department where employees can seek appropriate guidance and counseling. It is also important to allow your employees to take some short breaks in between tasks to keep them active as too much sitting can be boring and can contribute to undesired weight gain. You can give them some additional time to complete pending tasks so that they do not work under too much pressure which may lower their productivity.
Communicate Consistently Sincerely
It is vital to consistently communicate with your employees. Provide a bottom-up communication approach where your employees can share their concerns and give suggestions on how your company can better be managed. Make your employees feel comfortable sharing their worries without the fear of being fired or punished.
As a company, you should also often communicate the company rules and employees’ responsibilities to remind them to do their work accordingly and also hold you accountable should the need arise. Also communicate with your employees when they are on holiday or attending to personal issues. You can regularly text them and remind them how much they are missed at work. While they are at work, once in a while surprise them with personalized cards.
Offer Private Criticism
It is advisable that you praise your employees in public and only criticize them in private. This is to protect their self-esteem. Your employees will feel cared for if they are publicly recognized for every achievement. It also helps teammates learn from the acknowledged employees. On the contrary, disciplining your employees in public or giving them negative feedback in a group setting will embarrass them and could make colleagues look down upon them. Individualized criticism is however important as it shows concern and encourages a change of behavior.
Showing empathy to your employees by all the means possible is the best way a company can show care for their employees which in turn makes them feel appreciated and increases their productivity. Adhering to your responsibilities like providing a safe work environment for your employees and compensating them decently, are obvious things but they show you care for your employees.