As a company grows, the business owner realizes that they must rely on their employees to create long-term success.  Yet, giving up responsibility to employees can be a daunting task.  Will they go beyond to help the company succeed? Can they help grow the business? Can they can be trusted to work when the owner is not around? Are they fulfilled in their job?

The most successful businesses work hard to ensure the answers to those questions are a resounding “yes.”  In fact, successful owners have figured out one way to keep employees performing at all times – by keeping them happy.  Happy employees have been proven to be more effective at stressful work tasks than their counterparts, because being happy negates the effect that stress has on performance.

Creating an environment that breeds happy workers can often start with providing the appropriate technology needed to get their jobs done efficiently.  Here are five ways to use technology to keep employees happy and engaged while at work:

1. Provide fast internet

   Keeping employees connected on all of their devices seems like an easy task, yet businesses often don’t have the bandwidth to support each device an employee may need to use during their work day.  For business owners it is crucial to understand how many devices your employees are trying to connect and have the bandwidth required to keep those devices running smoothly.

2. Give them the apps that will help boost their productivity

   An owner should make sure that each of their employees has access to the right business applications for their business. One example is providing Microsoft Office 365, a powerful collaboration app that gives people the opportunity to work together from anywhere…making their job easier and increasing productivity. It provides flexible and familiar tools for collaboration across teams, devices, and platforms.

3. Provide them with the tools necessary to work remotely

   Offering the flexibility to work from home, or anywhere out of the office, boosts employee morale.  One of the best tools for working remotely is a phone system that can take the office phone and transfer the calls and messages to a cellphone.  This gives customers the professional appearance required, while allowing employees more flexibility in their personal lives. In fact, as many as 70% of employees reported that having flexible work hours was very important to them.

4. Use advanced technology to put them in a position to succeed

   There is nothing more frustrating than either being too busy or not busy enough. Owners must use their employees when they are needed, and give them time off when they are not – especially in the retail and restaurant industries.  One great way to be sure everyone is being utilized appropriately is with a video monitoring system. The more sophisticated ones provide actionable insights based on foot traffic. This allows for the appropriate scheduling of employees, which can be vital to their happiness. 

5. Offer them live TV to keep up on the news and for downtime
   As much as owners may like to believe it, employees do have downtime during the day.  This could be during lunch or in between meetings – no employee is productive during every second they are at work.
   
   And they all have different demands that one TV may not meet…so streaming live TV coverage on any device can keep them connected to the community and the national events they want to see. Offering live TV on company-provided devices can boost morale and keep your employees connected.
   
   But don’t stop at the breakrooms. Think about your lobby or waiting rooms.  While waiting is something that can’t be avoided, how your customers wait can make the difference in their satisfaction level.  Customers and clients need to be entertained while they wait. By offering a wide selection of news and entertainment channels, that wait will be a breeze.  Yet another way to make your employees’ lives easier….”no complaint” waiting!

The relationship between happy employees and successful business is clear.  Every single business metric that can be measured goes up when employees are happy.  A simple way of creating an atmosphere where people are happy to work is offering amenities they want. 

And with Comcast Business Private View TV and Xfinity Stream you can bring live TV to any device – mobile, tablet, or computer while at your business, making it easier than ever to keep your employees up-to-date with the latest in live news and entertainment. For more information, visit business.comcast.com/stream.