While other companies are investing in training, you just have to make do with what you have. And though, it is not much, a lot of the small things you do for an employee can make a big difference in the long run.
To help you, here are some tips on how you can make your employees happier:
Help your employees gain new skills
Yup, you don’t have the budget to provide training for your employees. What you failed to remember is that training is not the only way employees learn. I am pretty sure you have heard of the phrase “experience is the best teacher.” Live by that phrase by helping your employees expand their skill sets. Personally mentor them or have some of your senior staff take some of your exceptional employees under their wings. Foster a culture of collaboration where everyone learns from each other.
Through this, your employees get to grow professionally and experience a new function on the job while not worrying about botching it because they are being guided by their peers.
Make their jobs easier through technology
You would have to invest in certain technologies sooner or later, you just have to be smart about it and choose those that will make it easier for your employees to do their jobs. Take QuickBooks for example; the software makes bookkeeping for your company much easier compared to doing it manually. Another example would be VoIP phone systems like RingCentral where each employee can now be assigned their own virtual extension, so they do not have to share a single landline.
Give and take feedbacks
Being in a small business usually also translates to smaller workforce. Get to know them and go out of your way to provide compliments and provide constructive suggestions on how you think they can improve their performance. Provide regular evaluations for your employees and make sure that you recognize accomplishments made.
But feedbacks should not only come from you; be open to suggestions yourself. Open your office doors to let everybody know that they can talk to you. Put up a suggestion box so that employees can give suggestions anonymously.
Create a great work environment
This is easier said than done because you have to strike a balance between being too strict and being too lenient. If you are too strict, you will be labeled as a jerk. If you are too lenient, employees may try to abuse that leniency and production suffers.
Some of the things you can do is set reasonable deadlines and emphasize that you expect them to be met, but give them the freedom to work at their own pace so that they do not feel too pressured to perform their task.
Last, foster friendliness and mutual respect in the workplace so that your employees will look forward to going to work.