One of the essential characteristics of a successful business is a positive work culture. If employees aren’t working together in a cooperative and synergistic manner, it will be difficult to achieve the best possible results.
Let’s look at some of the most effective strategies for fostering an uplifting workplace culture in your own company.
Listen to Everyone
The desire to be heard is a universal human quality. In some companies, employees don’t feel that their opinions and concerns matter. One of the best ways to improve morale and create a greater sense of belonging is to consistently ask for ideas and feedback from people.
This can be done at meetings, letting people post ideas on the company blog or website and even old-fashioned suggestion boxes. The key here is to not merely pay lip service to listening to people. Take everyone’s ideas seriously and implement the good ones.
Build Effective Team
While teamwork is a familiar corporate buzzword, it’s often challenging to make it work in practice. Creating a productive and harmonious team requires each individual to place the group effort over his or her own ego.
There are steps you can take to help this process along. If you need help in this area, you may want to consider professional corporate team building training. This type of training is often successful at improving cohesive team performance dedicated to a common goal.
Always Acknowledge Contributions
One of the symptoms of an unhealthy work environment is that mistakes are quickly noticed while accomplishments are taken for granted. Make it a point to acknowledge even the smallest successes of people in your organization. This goes a long way to encouraging people to give their best effort.
When complimenting someone, it’s important to be specific and point out exactly what you appreciate, such as “Handing that report in ahead of schedule really helped us make progress on the Jenson account. Thanks!” Research indicates that employee appreciation is one of the best ways to improve performance.
Create a Healthy and Comfortable Work Environment
While policies and behavior are crucial when it comes to building a positive work culture, another factor you can’t overlook is the physical environment. Elements such as lighting, furniture and even office layout have an effect on people’s moods and the way they interact with one another.
Provide people with comfortable and ergonomic chairs. Offices that are well-lit help to keep people energetic and feeling their best. This is especially important during the winter when there’s less natural light. Make sure ventilation systems are clean to ensure air quality. Air purification systems can help as well. Plants around a workplace can also improve air quality as well as foster a more nurturing atmosphere.
Encourage a Balance Between Work and Play
Working, socializing and playing together all help to foster a positive and synergistic workplace. While every business has to make work a priority, make sure you encourage people to bond in more informal ways as well. Scheduling regular social and recreational events throughout the year give people necessary breaks from the grind.
Holiday parties, picnics, outings to sporting events and fun activities such as scavenger hunts, trivia games, charades and team-building games all help with bonding and making people feel more positive about coming to work.
Creating a positive work culture takes constant effort. It requires you to show genuine trust and appreciation for everyone in your organization, even those who play the seemingly smallest roles. It’s important to keep in mind that employees who are content and who feel appreciated are far more likely to make a notable contribution to your company.
