There’s a common problem that business owners have. It’s not finding people who are interested in taking the job. It’s not getting people eager to accept the position. The problem they have is keeping them engaged once they’re working for the company. There’s a big difference between an employee who puts in the bare minimum and one who really wants to progress and get things right. But if they’re getting paid the same amount of money regardless of how hard they work, how do you get the most out of them? We take a look at five ways below.

Make Them Happy

It’s becoming accepted as fact that happy employees are more productive. You can usually intuitively sense this when you visit a place of business and take a look at the staff. If they’re happy, there’s a positive atmosphere, and things are moving along nicely. If they’re not happy, then things seem to be a little disjointed. So it’s in your interest to keep them smiling. You can do this by creating a pleasant working environment, offering benefits, and being open to conversations about how to improve things.

Engaged With the Company

Your staff is going to work harder for your business is they’re engaged with all that’s going on. But it’s also true that knowing how to increase employee engagement is one of the great challenges that face business owners. So what can be done? The most important step is to measure employee engagement. If you’re told by a number of your employees that they’re not feeling totally connected to what they’re doing, then you’ll be able to figure out bespoke solutions that address their concerns. How you remedy will depend on your type of business; the key is to monitor and adjust your approach based on the feedback.

Setting Challenges

It doesn’t matter what the task is: if a person is doing the same old task day in, day out, then they’re going to get bored. The longer they do it without a break to the routine, the slower and less creatively they’ll work. So make sure you’re mixing things up every now and again by setting challenges to your team. Giving them something else to work on is a great way to keep them interested in their job, and who knows what might happen if they’re given exciting projects to work on?

Opportunities For Growth

There are many employees who loved their company but had to move on. It’s because they weren’t given any opportunity to progress. No-one wants to stand still for too long. They want to move forward! So make sure you’re creating a pathway for your best employees to get promoted. If you don’t, then they’ll just find a company who can offer them what they want.

More Than a Cog

Finally, remember to get personal from time to time. No-one wants to be treated like a cog in a machine. Treat them as individuals, and they’ll give you their full human experience.