The happy workplace – every practice’s goal for 2022
Featured Products Promotional FeaturesPosted by: Dental Design 29th November 2021
To be happy at work, what do people need? It’s important to feel part of a team that gets along and that supports one another, also to know it’s OK to voice any concerns or problems freely. A happy practice will be a well-oiled machine too, with efficient structures in place.
Knowing you’re valued and heard is crucial. Workers must be treated well, in order to give their best every day. A satisfied patient – one that completes their treatment, stays loyal and sings your praises – is the result of co-ordinated, joint effort. So, whether you are a small, medium or large business, keeping people motivated, so they always give 100%, will be key to your ongoing success and future growth.
A talent exodus?
Since 2020, in every industry, employees are no longer willing to remain in unsupportive environments. We’ve all had enough on our plates – our health, the wellbeing of our families and friends, finances – the list is endless – which has inspired thousands to make the bold decision to leave a job they weren’t happy in. A HR survey published earlier this year talked of a “talent exodus”, with 38% of those questioned saying how they planned to quit their role in the next 6 to 12 months.[i] Companies that are seen to care and are well-resourced have good staff retention and, with recruitment costing time as well as money, it’s important that you don’t become a practice that lets brilliant people slip through the net.
Encourage them to feel that they are an essential part of the business and connected to its success. When there is a disconnect, motivation and productivity will fall, but there needs to be a work-life balance, too. Create a team atmosphere and ensure that everyone has all they need to do their job well: equipment that works, consumables that are in good supply and efficient processes with robust contingency plans should things go wrong (which they will, hopefully just not very often).
Audit your systems, to ensure they are running well. Is the workforce spread too thinly, do you need to recruit and are there any tasks that can be outsourced? Look at how you remunerate. If you do not have a benefits package, as we head to the end of a year that many of us will shed no tears to see the back of, maybe now is the time to think about how you can incentivise and reward your hard-working team. Perhaps ask them what would like to see in as a benefit and what would make their life easier. The benefits package has to be attractive and valuable for your existing employees and also a juicy carrot for when it’s time to bring in new talent (although you will not be able to please everybody equally, of course).
Reward and pay well, reward and pay correctly!
For administrating any benefits, as well as salaries and things like maternity and sickness pay and workplace pensions, your payroll must have no room for error. Payroll has to be delivered on time and free from mistakes, every month. Payroll is an increasingly complex responsibility for employers and it has to be fully compliant with HMRC and all the latest legislation. It has to be flexible too and able to be easily scaled up when required; this could mean adding self-employed workers or contractors who must be paid correctly in order to keep them happy and willing to continue supplying their services to you.
As well as being complex, payroll is also becoming time-consuming, particularly when you would rather be spending more time on creating a happy practice and developing your business. So, it makes sense to outsource to a specialist payroll provider who will deal with all the hassle. Pensions auto-enrolment can be puzzling, tax deadlines sometimes creep up on you, but when you outsource your payroll to experts who understand the details of these things, you will be able to answer any questions from your team far better. Specialist payroll providers like Wagemate also use the latest technology to provide a fully-secure service so you don’t ever have to worry about a system failure either.
Payroll is just one ingredient of a happy practice, and how you can retain as well as reward your staff. There are many others and, because a workplace culture starts at the top, outsourcing payroll gives you the space (literally and figuratively) to focus on what you need to do to make your practice a place where people want to be. A productive atmosphere will be picked up by your patients too, who will keep choosing you for their treatment and care. Your team is your most precious asset – treat them well and you can look forward to great year ahead.
Daniel Hull
Director – Wagemate Limited
“Money isn’t everything, but its right up there with oxygen”.
Staff are a business’s most important asset and peoples pay matters! Making sure employees are paid correctly, on time and have access to their pay information is one of the fundamentals to keeping staff happy. That is what we do and much more.
My goal is to take away the stress of payroll away from as many people as possible, making sure staff are paid accurately and on time and by adding value, providing excellent service and plenty of convenience to our clients.
To better manage your payroll, contact payroll specialists Wagemate today,
tel: 03330 102102 or email info@wagemate.com
[i] Counting the Cost: How Businesses Risk a Post Pandemic Talent Drain. Research by Personio and Opinium, published 13 May 2021. Link: https://www.personio.com/blog/post-pandemic-talent-exodus-could-cost-up-to-17-billion-for-businesses-in-uk-and-ireland/(accessed September 2021).
