What potential employees want from their jobs has changed. Certainly, they need to earn an income, but they want so much more from work than just a paycheck. They want their work environment to provide them with a way to meaningfully engage with their community, to have more fun, and to allow them to be healthier in the process. Employers must respond to this if they want to attract and retain top talent. Savvy employers offer their employees opportunities for personal growth, professional development, and the chance to have some fun at work, too. Here are five ways that employers can make their workplace a more desirable place to work.
Create Volunteer Programs
One way to attract top talent to your company is by adding a work-based volunteer program. Volunteering provides employees with an opportunity to make new connections, give back to the community, and take on new challenges. Knowing that their work is making a difference in the community they live in allows them to take pride in the role they play in their communities. This can have a positive effect on both their self-esteem and their view of work.
Implement Adventure Programs
Adventure programs encourage employees to try something that tests their limits and in the process can build character qualities like courage, endurance, and problem-solving skills. They also happen to be a lot of fun. You can try things like rock climbing that builds trust with co-workers or a ropes course that tests courage.
Meaningful Incentives
Most companies tend to do bonuses for incentives, which can help when people are depending on bonuses to care for their families. However, when it comes to employee motivation, alternative incentives may be more meaningful. For example, many sales companies use travel incentives with paid vacations for the employee that has the highest numbers. Along with the idea of adventure, offering activities that would bring be memorable such as a skydive may be more meaningful. Skydiving, for example, pushes the limits of a person that not only helps the person feel better about themselves but also gives them more confidence with everything they do, including the job you want them to be happy with.
Foster a Wellness Program
Employee wellness programs foster a work environment that encourages healthy behaviors. The lifestyle changes that are brought on by implementing a wellness program have benefits not only for the employees but for the employer as well. Entrepreneur points out, wellness programs can reduce the number of sick days employees use, lower healthcare costs (which can affect insurance costs), and promote productivity.
Encourage Lifelong Learning
The world is changing faster than ever before. Business owners need to keep up or risk being left behind. Not only must they commit to lifelong learning, but they should foster a work environment that embraces lifelong learning, too. That’s the only way they can truly compete in the marketplace.
Given that most employees spend more time at work than they do almost anyplace else, it is to an employer’s advantage to develop a lifelong learning program. Some ways to do this could include starting a work-based book club or offering subsidies for employees who go through continuing education programs.
It’s no secret that company cultures that foster engagement also foster employee loyalty. If employees know that all they have to look forward to is work and nothing else, you’re not likely to get the best work out of them. The five programs in this list capitalize on human nature. That is, they tie fun activities to the work environment.