Create a Positive Work Environment

Maintaining a safe, positive environment is crucial in any place of business. If you’re in charge of setting your workplace’s tone, there are plenty of ways you can keep the staff happy and engaged. Foster a supportive, team-focused company culture, communicate openly and clearly, and always recognize your employees' hard work. Boosting morale can increase productivity and benefit the bottom line, so improving your team’s quality of life will be well worth your effort!

Steps

Creating a Supportive Company Culture

1. Make the staff’s work/life balance the top priority. If you’re a manager, show your staff empathy and flexibility, especially when the going gets tough. Let them know that they can come to you if things get hectic and that you’ll work with them to find a solution.
   • For instance, if an employee’s child has the flu, let them work from home for a few days so they can care for their little one. If their parent is ill and they need to go out of town, help them divide their workload among the rest of the staff.
   • When employees know their boss and coworkers have their back, they care more about their job. Furthermore, a happy, engaged staff is more productive, so a morale boost can improve your bottom line.
2. Provide opportunities for low-key social interaction. Hold fun events outside of work on a regular basis, such as weekly game nights or an annual company picnic. Employees could also organize social events on their own, such as a monthly book club.
   • Additionally, plan in-office celebrations for birthdays, promotions, and other special events.
   • Friendly relationships among the staff can promote teamwork, boost engagement, and improve the working environment. If someone is in a tough spot, a coworker is more likely to help them out if they’ve built a friendly bond.
3. Create channels for the staff to offer each other kudos. Make sure employees have the means to publicly express appreciation for each other, and encourage them to do so frequently. Set up a kudos forum on your company’s server or post a physical bulletin board in the office. Whenever someone on staff does a great job or helps out a coworker, post kudos or thank you note.
   • You could also start staff meetings by acknowledging people who’ve stepped up recently.
   • Expressing gratitude for someone’s hard work tells them, “You are important, what you do is meaningful, and I value you.” When people feel valued, they’re more likely to take pride in their work and perform at their best.
4. Hold regular staff-wide and one-on-one check-ins. Gather the team for monthly meetings to update them on company news, recognize achievements, and ask for feedback. Additionally, meet with employees one-on-one at least once a quarter (every 3 months or so) to review their performance and assess morale.Template:Greenbox:'''Sample Dialogue''': During meetings, ask, “How satisfied are you with your position? How do you feel about your work/life balance? Are there any changes that you'd like to see?”
5. Maintain an open door policy among supervisors. Make it clear that anyone on staff can bring an issue to you or another supervisor at any time. When someone does come to you, listen to them intently and respond with prompt, appropriate action. Additionally, make sure employees understand the proper channels for discussing serious issues, such as safety or conduct violations.
   • For instance, if an employee has a suggestion about rearranging furniture in the break room, they should just mention it to a supervisor or office manager. For a more pressing issue, such as a harassment complaint, they should go to the HR (human resources) department.

Establishing Clear, Consistent Policies

1. Commit to policies that reflect the company’s core values. Make sure the team understands what the company stands for and how it puts those values into practice. For instance, if sustainability is a core value, institute a recycling program, use renewable energy sources and materials, and encourage practices that lower your team’s carbon footprint, such as carpooling.
   • Committing to positive core values helps give employees a sense of purpose. Keep in mind simply naming values in a mission statement or marketing materials isn’t enough. The key is actually put those policies into practice.
2. Develop clear conduct and safety policies. If there isn't one already, create an Write-an-Employee-Handbook that defines the company’s rules and regulations. Keep in mind consistency is a vital part of enforcing rules and maintaining morale. If you don’t communicate and enforce clear, consistent rules, the team won’t know what behavior is acceptable and what crosses the line.
   • Include the company’s policies on attendance and tardiness, wages and benefits, dress code, digital privacy, bullying, and harassment.
   • Additionally, be sure to outline procedures for filing complaints and disciplinary standards in the event of a conduct issue.
3. Provide a safe, anonymous system for reporting problems. Clearly communicate the proper channels for filing complaints. As a rule of thumb, employees should report issues with the HR department and have the option to file a complaint anonymously. HR should then document the complaint in writing and take prompt steps to resolve the issue.Template:Greenbox:'''Variation:''' If there’s no HR department, an employee should talk to their direct supervisor or, if that person is the problem, to their supervisor’s boss.
4. Resolve-a-Conflict-at-Work with objectivity, empathy, and respect. In the event of a conduct issue, avoid making assumptions or aggressively escalating the situation. Instead, use a conversational model to get the facts from both sides of the conflict. Show that you respect all parties involved, and come up with a fair, even-handed solution.
   • For instance, if there’s a conflict between 2 employees, meet with each independently. Say, “Thank you for taking the time to speak with me about this issue. Can you tell me the specific details of the conflict? What’s your perspective on the matter?”
   • While objectivity, empathy, and respect are crucial, it’s also important to intervene immediately and decisively if an employee’s safety is at risk. If you allow an employee who has harassed or bullied others to remain on staff, the workplace won’t feel safe.

Promoting Productivity

1. Define each team member’s role clearly. Provide everyone on staff with a clear job description and make sure they understand their specific duties. Stick to those definitions, and try not to assign tasks that aren’t in an employee’s job description.{{greenbox:Tip: Employees who perform the best are often rewarded with a bigger workload. No one should have to clean up someone else’s messes! Do your best to divide responsibilities evenly instead of putting more weight on the shoulders of your top performers.}}
2. Offer ongoing Train-New-Employees and professional development opportunities. Make sure new hires know exactly how to perform their duties efficiently. Assign senior employees to mentor them and, depending on your field, give them at least 3 to 6 months to acclimate. In addition to setting up new hires for success, offer ongoing training opportunities to help more seasoned employees develop their skills.
   • For example, bring in an expert on the software your company uses to explain a new update to the program. If, for instance, you run a restaurant, hold regular tastings to enhance your staff’s food and beverage knowledge.
3. Give your staff as much autonomy as possible. No one likes to be micromanaged, so let your team members complete tasks on their own terms as much as possible. If you train your team and maintain high morale, you can trust that they’ll fulfill their responsibilities without constant supervision.
   • Setting guidelines and deadlines is one thing, but constantly looking over your teams’ shoulders isn’t good for morale. Your workplace will be much happier and more productive if your employees feel that you trust them.
4. Establish clear performance goals and rewards. Set specific benchmarks and identify incentives for achieving those goals. When a member of the team achieves a goal, be sure to recognize their hard work publicly.
   • For example, you could reward each month’s top salesperson with a gift certificate and give them kudos in a company-wide online forum or bulletin board.
   • Clear goals can help your team understand what’s expected of them, incentives can encourage productivity, and public praise shows employees that you recognize their hard work.

Tips

• To promote teamwork, Improve Team Communication in the Workforce, including conference calls, group texts and emails, hard copy memos, and video chat services.
• It’s wise to have a lawyer review your employee handbook to ensure you’re complying with labor laws.

References

See also

• Create a Productive Working Environment
• Be Appointed to a Board of Directors
• Become a Better and Effective Team Leader
• Set Up an Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Retain Good Employees
• Be an Artist Manager
• Build a Management Team
• Use an In Basket
• Write an Employee Handbook
• Plan an Employee Retreat

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