Mala McAlpin It’s no secret that one of the keys to creating a long-lasting and happy team is motivation. Over the past several years, we have witnessed the dawn of the new era of working arrangements that, thanks to disrupters like Google, Apple, Endota, Medibank and Flight Centre, aim to improve staff motivation, productivity and happiness through flexible hours, incredible workspaces and special activities. These unique facilities and perks can include anything from pool tables, themed rooms, communal gardens and slippery dips, to complimentary beauty treatments like spray tans, light therapy, or group yoga sessions.
But for those businesses that can’t quite afford the luxury of ping pong and pinball machines, or the space for tennis courts or hammock lounges, there are still plenty of simple tricks for keeping staff happiness and productivity to a high:
Encouragement goes a long way
Ensuring your staff know that you appreciate their work is absolutely crucial. They need to know that they are valued in the workplace, that they are an integral part of your team and that they are achieving goals – not only personal ones, but also contributing to the goals of the business. If there is a lack of reward and recognition, it will evoke the sense that they aren’t working towards anything, and eventually, if your staff aren’t feeling valued, they will seek recognition and validation elsewhere. It’s particularly important to recognise your staff when they go above and beyond what’s expected. Maybe they’re over-delivering on their workload or hours, have assisted another staff member in a big way, or handled a client situation particularly well. Recognition should be delivered wherever possible in varying degrees depending on the context – anywhere from small gifts, to formal emails, even as simple as a ‘thank you’ or ‘great job’ – never underestimate the value of these small statements.
Schedule regular meetings
Give your staff something to look forward to with regular catch ups. This will not only improve the quality of relations between each staff member, but provide a platform to go over any updates within the business, share personal news, or allow staff to voice any concerns. Weekly, fortnightly or monthly staff meetings are best, and if you really want to treat your staff, make the occasion a breakfast or lunch event. You could even introduce goals at each meeting and assess the results upon return.
Sales initiatives
In most cases, this can be a lot of fun for your team to engage in. Sales targets allow for healthy competition, and motivate staff to perform to the best of their abilities in an exciting and positive way. You also have the freedom to customise this however you choose, and could even mix it up regularly to keep things fresh. Targets could be number of clients treated, number of products sold or purchase amount achieved, or maybe even the highest number of positive reviews. The reward is also totally up to you – perhaps a product allowance, bottle of wine, dinner or gift voucher. To keep the challenge pressure-free, we would recommend allowing staff to opt out. If you have spas or clinics across multiple locations, why not set the challenge across all of them? This will bring your teams at each location closer together.
Training
Not only will this benefit the quality of the treatments your staff are able to offer, but investing in the development of your staff will make them feel they are a growing alongside the business, and there for the long haul.
Inspire your team
Share your business goals with your team – keep them in the loop about any future plans or development in the works, whether it be the introduction of new treatments or establishing new business locations. Who knows, they could even contribute some valuable insight or ideas to your plans. You could even create a mood board in your shared team space for ideas, concept images or inspirational quotes.
Create a comfortable space
Make sure your staff have a space where they can relax and recuperate when away from treatments. This is particularly important for busy clinics and back to back treatment days, allowing a few moments of quiet comfort to eat lunch or just have a breather – but instead of a pool table, opt for things like plush seating, calming tunes, charging station, shared device or scented candles!
Team building
Invest in some team building activities outside of work, improve teamwork and bring your staff closer together. We’ve put together some unique team activities here.
