Happy Employees = Healthy Profits. Creating a positive work environment is key to a successful business. It plays an integral part in strengthening the bond with your team members, whom you actively rely upon everyday to help your business progress. Ultimately, your business is only as good as your employees, and you need a team that can be productive to help meet every facet of the business. For this reason, we feel it's important to share these 5 team building strategies that can help you strengthen the employee bond:

1. Provide Room for Growth. Growth is important for any employee. Although an employee is working for you, they still want to be able to grow within your organization. For instance, give employees more responsibilities that challenge them and help them learn. Additionally, create opportunities for employees to move up in the company. This will help them build an expansive resume that they can feel proud of, and they will value their current role at your company.

2. Decision Making. Your employees are working diligently to help build your business. For this reason, it's a good idea to let them feel included in the decision making process when it is appropriate. Even small decisions go a long way because employees will feel they are a valuable asset to the business. For instance, give team members the opportunity to contribute their ideas in meetings and try to implement an idea if possible. One of the benefits of doing this is that it allows you to mold leaders within your business, giving you confidence that you have a team you can rely on.

3. Feedback. As a business owner, it's important to be able to give and receive feedback. Keep an open door policy where team members can express their feelings about their current role and maybe even talk about where they see themselves within your company. It's also a good idea to allow team members to give constructive feedback about you as their boss. Offer constructive feedback to your employees so they can feel confident in their role and address weakness as needed to make them more well-rounded employees. The end goal is for everyone in the business to be happy and the only way to do that is by communicating with one another. Keeping the line of communication open between you and your employees will lead to a strengthened bond. 

4. Implement a Reward System. A reward system is extremely beneficial when it comes to your employees. With a reward system in place, your employees are more likely to perform better, remain motivated and be loyal to your company. This leads to a more conducive work environment, which will benefit your business in the long-run. Your employees want to feel appreciated and know that their hard work and dedication matters. You can implement a reward system by offering incentives. For instance, you can reward your employees with things such as gift cards or have an employee of the month.

5. Connect Outside of Work. Although work is important, express interest in your team members' lives outside of work. This is an easy way to show that you care about your employees. Have a social gathering where you and your team members can unwind and enjoy each other's company. You can do things such as going to dinner or bowling. This helps you better connect with your employees and helps to create a fun and productive working environment. 

Business owners should never underestimate the power of an employee bond. Your employees work for you and they want to feel a part of the team. Employees perform better when their needs are being met. With that said, use these 5 strategies to help strengthen your bond with your employees.

We hope these insights will keep your team connected and your business thriving!

Platinum Group is a full service human capital management (HCM) resource that allows businesses to manage their payroll, benefits compliance, track time and attendance and other various human resources functions in a way that maximizes efficiency and eliminates redundancies with the platform, iSolved. For more information about Platinum Group or to schedule a demo of iSolved please visit our website.