How to Meet Employee Needs in an Organization

Create happy employees by assessing and meeting their needs.

Federal and local labor laws ensure that employers meet a minimum level of fairness and safety in the workplace. Based on the idea that satisfied employees produce better work than unhappy employees, companies offer benefits beyond government requirements to make employees happy. Some companies offer additional vacation time, free parking and discounted gym memberships, for example. However, an employer can offer any legal product or service that will keep employees happy.

Instructions

1. Institute mandatory guidelines. The government requires every employer to meet certain employee needs. Employees are required to receive a minimum wage and to work in a safe environment free from physical harm and harassment. Review guidelines from the U.S. Department of Labor and the labor laws within your state. If employees have unionized, also review the guidelines in the union contract. Companies must meet the guidelines to stay in business without being sued, fined or shut down.

2. Analyze your budget. Meeting mandatory guidelines is the cost of doing business and cannot be avoided. Once you are able to do that, look at your budget to see what kind of amenities you can offer your employees. Don’t think that just because you have a small budget, you cannot give your employees something valuable. For example, encouraging social interaction by developing an employee e-newsletter incurs a minimal cost for any company that already has a website.

3. Survey your employees. The survey will help you find out what employees want, and will give you the opportunity to identify trends in your organization. If 80 percent of your workforce has children younger than 5 years old, offering child care will help your employees get more work done without worrying about managing outside child care. They are more likely to stay later knowing that their child is in the same building. Develop an anonymous survey where employees can offer suggestions on how to make the workplace more enjoyable.

4. Hire human resource professionals who have the knowledge and contacts to bring benefits to the work place. They will be aware of various amenities that companies offer to businesses seeking to provide benefits to their employees. In addition, a human resources specialist can negotiate the best rates for your organization.

5. Save money. You don’t have to spend money to offer amenities to your employees. If work slows down during the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day, you may actually save money by closing the office and letting your employees have a week off. If you don’t have the money to pay your local gym, create a partnership to offer your services in exchange for a discounted membership for your employees.

6. Empower employees. Happy employees enjoy balance between their work and personal lives. Let the staff choose flexible work hours, or offer a telecommuting option. Employees will feel more in control of their work lives. In addition, they can ease their commute by coming in before or after peak rush hour.

References

• CNN Money: 100 Best Companies to Work For
• "Inc."; 7 Ways to Improve Employee Satisfaction; April Shetone, May 2011
• The Happiness Project; Gretchen Rubin; June 2007
• U.S. Department of Labor: Summary of the Major Laws of the Department of Labor
• Society for Human Resource Management; Benefits, Advancement Key to Worker Happiness, Report Says; August 2011