Creating a positive environment in the workplace is absolutely critical for ensuring team productivity and a high quality to the work you output. The positive reinforcement and levels of employee satisfaction that are achieved through building a healthy workplace environment boost employee retention and help to build a strong company culture. In the end, this stands to benefit employers just as much as it does their employees.
In the past, creating a positive workplace environment often meant employers focusing their efforts on the office itself. The advice for cultivating a positive workspace would often boil down to painting the walls a certain colour, decorating with houseplants, and offering free snacks in the office. But, in reality, creating a positive workspace extends far beyond these surface measures.
Especially in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, the number of teams working either in a hybrid set-up, or even entirely remotely, has multiplied greatly. This shift has left many employers scratching their heads as to how to continue to cultivate the kind of positive work environments that bond teams together and create a productive and harmonious team dynamic. In this article, we’ll go through the most critical ingredients to cultivating a workplace that promotes trust and motivation.
1. First impressions
It’s true what they say - first impressions count. This is particularly true for employees when they enter a new workplace environment. The impression given throughout the onboarding experience is likely to have a great impact on how they conduct themselves from that point onward. A negative or lacklustre onboarding experience is likely to leave your new employee feeling disengaged and uninspired.
The onboarding experience is an unmissable chance for you as an employer to show your employee the ifs and whats of their new role. It should comprehensively walk them through the company values, the expectations attached to their role, the various forms of company protocol, and give them the opportunity to ask any questions that might arise. A positive onboarding experience will give new employees a greater understanding of what lies ahead of them, and builds confidence and motivation.
2. Forge connections
The connections that develop between members of a team are as much keys to success as the strength or capability of the individual employees themselves. Employers should be well aware of this face, and facilitate the forging of connections between their employees to the utmost best of their abilities. Ensuring that employees feel like they are all part of a team leaves everyone feeling more valued and encourages more dynamic collaboration.
Team building exercises are a great way to encourage the formation of bonds between a team. If your team works remote or hybrid - fear not. There are plenty of ways that team-building can be done effectively through a virtual setting. Regular meetings that encourage team members to share their opinions and brain-storm ideas can go miles in cultivating a sense of shared responsibility and support within a team.
3. Listen to your team
As in all areas of life, workplace feedback is essential for the successful growth of a positive environment. Employers must take heed to listen to their employees’ experiences in order to understand where in the workplace they can identify room for improvement. Feedback sessions between employers, teams, and the HR department create a communicative environment that allows workplace flaws to be tackled before they become full-blown issues. Listening to your team will ensure that they feel valued and that their individual experiences and opinions are of greater value.
4. Company values
Having a clear and strong sense of company values helps to create a semblance that everyone is on the same page and working towards the same ideals. Company values should be designed to simultaneously protect and inspire employees, and should always be articulated clearly so that everyone knows what they can expect from their workplace. Commitments to diversity, inclusion, and progress signal to your team that they are in a safe and supportive workplace where they are free to grow and explore their talents.
5. Attention to employee wellbeing
Particularly in the wake of the pandemic, many employees might be left feeling extra attentive to how their workplace takes their personal wellbeing into account. Adequate health benefits became far more relevant for employees throughout the pandemic, and offering affordances for health crises creates a sense of trust and dependability in a workplace.
The care that employers should show for their team members extends far beyond the physical, however. With workplace burnout becoming ever-more prevalent, it’s imperative that employers take care not to overwork their employees. Mental health sick leave and regular “wellness days” can go a long way in keeping your team’s stress levels and emotional wellbeing in check.
Numerous studies demonstrate that happier workers work better, and striving consciously to create a positive workplace environment is absolutely crucial in order to gain all the benefits to productivity and workplace satisfaction that come with that.
