Our employees and colleagues, whether we like it or not are the people that we spend the most waking hours with during the week. It is crazy to think that sometimes employers don't make the time to develop interpersonal relationships with employees, and ensure that employees are also forming those relationships at a peer level. GiftCard Partners prides itself on functioning as a company, but also as a family, making time to get to know each other outside of work, and spend recreational time together throughout the year. Treating employees like family build a bond, trust, and an environment that is going to make employees productive and keep them satisfied with their jobs for longer. Here are 3 ways to treat your employees like family to make sure they maintain a lasting relationship with your organization:
- Open Communication: Knowledge is power. Employees who feel informed about the company's larger goals and direction feel empowered in their jobs and more comfortable with their place in the organization. Creating open channels of communication between management and employees is critical. These channels can take a variety of forms, including regular staff meetings or forums, a digital bulletin board with announcements as part of an intranet, a company wiki, or even an internal social network. However you choose to execute, ensuring that there is 360 degree communication throughout your organization is key to fostering a familial environment.
- Family Time: Ensuring that employees and management get to spend some recreational time together outside of the office setting is crucial. Letting loose together and getting to know each other outside of the work environment builds relationships and fosters connections that only make your organization stronger, and build bonds that will keep employees together, and within the organization for an extended timeframe.
- Care: This seems corny and trite but it holds true. Showing employees that you genuinely care for them, and look out for their best interests is crucial. Whether it is allowing employees to explore internal transfer within your organization, or showing compassion for an employee going through a difficult time outside of work, or simply helping guide employees to help achieve personal career objectives; showing empathy and compassion will return higher rates of employee engagement and job satisfaction.
An engaged, happy workforce is the best thing for your organizations' bottom line, so treating your employees like family will not only bring you closer together, but will bring organizational success.
For more information on the benefits of treating your employees like family check out this article from Inc.com.
