When people think of job satisfaction they tend to think of the job itself. However one element that always ranks highly when it comes to people being happy in their job is the external elements of their job, the work environment. The Work environment is everything that forms the employees involvement with the work and the team surrounding them. Relationships with managers and colleagues, organizational culture, personal development support are all major parts of work environment.
A positive work environment makes employees feel motivated and happy about committing to the company. This sustains growth of staff within a company and essentially boosts staff retention which is really important for any successful businesses. So today we want to explore how to create a really solid work environment and all the different elements involved in building a productive and motivated place of work where your staff are content and committed to your company and to their roles.
Work Life Balance
As bosses and business owners, we can be seen to be all about just work, work work. The pressure that is put on employees to always be available and to always prioritise their job over all other things is not just unrealistic it can also be damaging. Companies that show that they respect and appreciate the balance between work and personal life will prosper and thrive as staff will feel that other areas of their lives are not being overlooked.
Happy staff are productive and motivated staff. Therefore encouraging them to fulfill the various needs that they have in their life such as family, friends, sports, hobbies and personal growth will make sure that they are enjoying a higher level of emotional and physical well being and are therefore able to perform much better in their day to day work roles. If you find that your workforce is sometimes being worked too hard then look for some work scheduling tips to try and organise your scheduling a little more effectively. This is incredibly important as a healthy work-life balance can create motivated staff, creative thinking and a more productive workforce all round.
Open Communication
Being transparent and encouraging an environment of open communication is one of the most important things that a company can do. For staff to feel that their opinion is valued and listened to is essential in order for that individual to want to grow and flourish within your company. Therefore all business owners should be thinking of employee engagement ideas and ways to encourage their staff to be open and feel that their contributions have an impact on the company. That they matter. Having meetings that are founded on open discussions that get people involved and allow them to share their views, concerns and successes with their team goes a long way in building strong connections within your workforce.
Open communication and transparency also refers to the organisations philosophy and general way of working. All companies should create a set of values that underpin what the company is all about and all employees should be aware of these and should be using those values in the ways that they communicate with their clients about the company.
Another way to encourage open communication is by ensuring that the communication in your company flows in a two-way direction. Making sure that the communication in your company works horizontally and in all directions, not just in a downward, vertical direction, will ensure that hierarchical structures are cashed in for a more fair and flat-plan company structure that promotes trust in the interactions that staff are having with their colleagues and their managers. This form of communication promotes a strong work culture where staff are allowed to make suggestions and bring unique ideas to the table which of course are things that are of huge benefit to everyone in the company, particularly the owner.
Supporting Career Development
As the world of business is constantly evolving and fluctuating it has never been more important to be regularly training staff in order to keep them abreast of changing technologies and market movements so that they are on top of their game. Ensuring that your staff are adapting to change is one of the most crucial requirements of any modern day business.
Therefore creating a training programme that offers a clear structure for staff to be able to see the depth of the company’s commitment to their continued career development, knowledge and competency, is one of the best things that you can do as a business owner. When looking at building training programmes make sure you are doing it from the approach of the two kind of skills that can be developed. Firstly you have the hard skills, that have a direct impact on the productivity of work, for example a new database management system or a new approach to increasing market share. The second category is soft skills that are more about interpersonal skills that can affect the morale and principles of the organisation.
A really supportive and positive work environment is focused on the development of both of these two categories. Staff will feel supported and will be instilled with a more positive attitude and your business will be more productive and efficient as a result.
Recognition & Praise
There is nothing more demotivating than working for a company that never takes time to congratulate or reward big successes. The sorts of companies that don’t praise staff for big wins tend to be the type of company that only notices failures and only focuses on the negative things that are happening within their business. This only harbours bad feeling, demotivation and a very negative work environment.
Rewards are really important to encourage certain behaviour in people. Positive reinforcement is one of the most basic techniques that we use in life to guide people into the direction of positive behavioural patterns. In business it is essential in order to build an organization where people feel rewarded for their hard work and therefore continue to work hard for further recognition, praise and reward.
All the above four steps will go a long way for any company wanting to build a strong work environment, a happy workforce and a developing business.
