Creating a positive work environment is a determining factor for the success of a business.
A negative work culture will leadto further difficulties down the track, such as decreased productivity, potential damage to brand image, and further workplace tension. Unhappy employees will obviously not be enthusiastic members of a team and workplace tension often leads to disputes amongst employee.
On the other hand, if your employees are happy, satisfied with their work life and feel valued, they will be more productive and produce better work. In turn, raising the overall moral in your workplace has a positive impact on loyalty and employee retention rates.
Making positivity a priority in your work culture is a vital factor in keeping motivation high and cementing the long-term success a business.
1. Evaluate the current culture
Before you know what needs to change in your work environment, you need to have a good understanding of what the current culture is like.
Take some time to ask questions to your employees and listen carefully to any comments or complaints they have. Ask what they like about their current work life and what they would like to change.While not every employee will have identical ideas, there will likely be recurring thoughts about what isn’tworking, and common themes of what they would like in an ideal world.
Knowing what isn’t working well is the first step to solving workplace problems. Although you may feel like justifying your processes or explaining why things must be this way, remember to openly listen and give your employees a chance to tell you what they think. On evaluation, you may find that these ideas have more merit than you initially gave them credit for.
2. Establish your ideal workplace culture
Once you have a clearer idea of what your employees do and don’t want, you can hone in on exactly what your ideal workplace looks like.
Weigh up what is most important when you visualise what a positive work environment looks like to you. This may be flexibility, comradery, productivity, pride in work, celebrating others successes. Whatever this dynamic is, you will struggle to create a work environment that you are satisfied with unless you know what that looks like in action for you.
A good way to help you establish what your ideal workplace environment looks like is to combine the ideas your employees have offered. Not everyone’s ideal working day will be the same. That is why it is so important to take that feedback on board and see what can be done to adjust the work environment into one that everyone can benefit from.
3. Make values and goals clear
Make your vision for the business common knowledge.
Ensuring the collective values and goals of a workplace are clear is a great way to encourage your employees to self-manage their behaviour. If they know exactly what you are working towards and what is expected of them, they are able to adjust their own work habits to align with this. Additionally, employees will notice and value the behaviours in others that assist in creating a more positive workplace.
It is important that you don’t simply declare your goals, but that you take steps to follow through and show them in action yourself. For example if you want a more open communication style in the business, then make sure you are being transparent with your employees and answering whatever difficult questions they may have.
If your employees know which behaviours are valued and encouraged in your business, they will feel a greater sense of satisfaction when enacting them. Also, seeing them performed by higher level employees, and you as their boss, further cements the importance of those values as part of the work culture.
4. Show appreciation
Showing appreciation to your employees will increase workplace morale and encourage positive work behaviours throughout your business. This is one of the most effective ways to boost workplace positivity, and it can be as easy to enact as giving a simple thanks.
You don’t need to find elaborate ways to show appreciation to employees, a big gift basket is nowhere near as valuable as consistent and genuine thanks for their work. Of course it is easy to be swamped with work yourself and expect everyone to just get on with things, but if you take the time to give praise to your employees you are sure to see improvements.
Receiving praise for good work encourages employees to increase productivity, work quality, and ensures they are feeling proud of what they do. The better your employees feel while doing their work, the better the work will be. This in turn leads to a more positive work environment.
5. Foster open communication
One thing most positive workplaces have in common is a culture that allows open and honest communication. Allowing feedback, being transparent and encouraging ideas are workplace practices that will have multiple benefits.
A culture of open communication not only increases positivity, it also allows for any issues or disputes to be dealt with quicker. If employees feel comfortable and confident voicing concerns, you will be informed of problems as soon as they arise. This allows you to have time to resolve the issue before it causes further problems, and means that your employees will never have to sit with a concern they are uncomfortable bringing up.
Additionally, a culture of open communication allows for more ideas to be presented that could help the way your business runs. While not all ideas brought to you by employees will be useful or possible to implement, allowing open discussion of potential changes means that you won’t miss out on the amazing ones.
By allowing feedback and encouraging ideas from your employees, you are creating a positive work environment and opening your business up to every opportunity for success and strength within the industry.
Taking steps to examine your current work culture and improve it in a positive way is vital in ensuring the continuing success of your business. A positive work environment will boost productivity and the quality of work of your employees, as well as increase employee retention.
This in turn benefits your business on multiple levels by increasing its longevity within its industry and its current market, further strengthening your business’s overall value. Seeking out a business valuation is usually required when changing a business’s future direction. This may be in cases of succession planning, pre-sale advice or settlement purposes. No matter what direction your business is headed, it’s important to seek out a professional team to determine your business’s accurate value.
In the meantime, making even the smallest changes in your business structure and work culture can have a lasting impact on the strength of your business and its overall value.
Article Submitted By Community Writer
