When caring for your staff, it’s important to know that they aren’t machines. You can’t just throw money at a problem to make it go away, or to improve things. Of course, this can work to some degree, sometimes to a great degree, but if there are deeper problems, money can’t solve it. For instance, you can’t guarantee that your staff will follow safety protocol more closely or work more productively by giving them more money to do so. That being said, investing in safety equipment and training can help these results come about more efficiently.  So perhaps it’s not about throwing money at a problem, but rather knowing where to divert it, and use what you know about people management to aid you.

Yet all of this is unimportant if you cannot look after your staff correctly. They require careful maintenance, and must be given the tools to succeed. More than that, looking after your staff isn’t just a nice thing to do to get into the ‘best employer awards’, it’s also something that you must practice to abide by employment law.

So, let’s consider how we can improve in our approach:

Give Them Regular Breaks

Give your staff regular breaks. This is more than just being nice. It can be a statistic that you track in order to better understand how your staff are managed, and what changes you need to make. In any vehicle over 3.5 tonnes, the EU stipulates that a digital tachograph should be implemented to measure working time directive calculations and more. If working in a construction industry, this could be a vital new addition to ensure you’re abiding by the right rules, and helping your staff get the rest they need.

Improve Your HR Department

HR can sometimes be seen as a corporate tool of keeping staff in line, but that’s not the whole truth. From helping staff with mental health issues (as in referring them in the right location) to ensuring complains are dealt with, to offering a confidential space for staff to report issues within your firm, improving your HR department means investing in your people and ensuring they are cared for. This is more than a platitude. It’s a practical daily effort to increase your continual worth.

Celebrate & Praise Their Progress

Celebrate and praise the progress that they’re making. Furthermore, only give this praise when it’s due. Ironically, the more you do that, the more staff will trust it, and from there they will give you reasons to offer them praise. This serves as a means of both training and encouraging staff, as when you praise something you like to see, they will likely repeat that. For instance, if the safety equipment on site has been perfectly inventoried and tracked, complement the team the next day for it. This tool is free, and it gives you the chance to more easily develop your team and your relationship with them.

With this advice, we hope you can look after your staff more easily.