“Happiness is its own reward!” - Right?
While it’s true that improving your team’s morale will help you create a more positive workplace, studies consistently show that there are also more tangible benefits that your business can enjoy from a happy workplace.
The pandemic has seen high levels of labour shortages, especially for skilled roles. You’re well trained, productive staff may be harder than ever to replace, so keeping your team happy with their job is crucial.
Team members are more likely to leave jobs where they are dissatisfied, so creating a good workplace can help you retain staff, or attract new staff if needed.
Studies show that happy workers can be up to 20% more productive than unhappy ones. By increasing your staff’s job satisfaction, you can get more from each hour you pay your staff for.
Team members that enjoy their work, feel loyal to their workplace and coworkers and love what they do will be more likely to push the limits and go above and beyond for your business.
Research cited in Industry Today found that for manufacturing teams, the key drivers of workplace happiness are operational efficiency, safety and hygiene and organization of work environments, closely followed by advancements in technology and machinery.
So, what are the best ways for your business to improve these factors? The specifics will depend on where your business is currently sitting with these factors. As you go through the points, consider where you're at and how you can improve each point.
No one likes to do busy work. When work is streamlined and your processes make sense from start to finish the amount of productive work that can be done drastically increases. Your team will be able to get more out of their time and feel more accomplished at the end of the day. Plus, being able to do more with less time can mean less stressing over last-minute deadlines and overtime work.
It goes without saying that a safe working environment will give your team peace of mind. Not only do well thought out and compliant OH&S requirements help your team feel at ease when at work, but can also help them feel valued. Demonstrating respect for your team’s safety above productivity & output can help build a loyal and committed team that looks out for each other at all levels of your business.
According to the study, “9 in 10 manufacturing employees identify quality on-the-job tools as a top enhancer of their productivity and happiness”. Ensuring that the equipment, tools, resources that your team need on a regular basis are well maintained & easy to find will boost your team’s happiness.
Good signage, placement & organisation rules will make it easier for your team to do what they need to do to get the job done.
New technology plays a huge part in all of the above points, from making it easier to get jobs done, to providing a safer way to work and staying organised. Whether it’s an updated piece of machinery that cuts down the time it takes to produce a product or new software that helps you organise your workshop & stock better.
It’s especially effective when paired with training to get the most out of your new systems and help your team use them more efficiently. Good training can also help ensure your team use new equipment safely, which helps with the points above as well!
Keep Reading: 8 MORE tools & tips to keep your fabrication workforce happy