Positive Workplace environment has several characteristics - Aside
from the job scope itself, one factor that significantly influences how
employees feel about work is the environment. By work environment, I mean everything
that forms part of employees’ involvement with the work itself, such as the
relationship with co-workers and supervisors, organizational culture, room for
personal development, etc.
A
positive work environment makes employees feel good about coming to work, and
this provides the motivation to sustain them throughout the day.
If
you’re looking for a new job, then I would say that assessing the work
environment is a crucial step you shouldn’t skip. After all, this is the place
you might be working at in future and you wouldn’t want to be dragging yourself
to work every single morning!
Due
to the job variety available in the marketplace, this article is probably a
little generic and may not apply to all types of jobs. However, as you
shall see below, these qualities are much valued by employees and employers in
most jobs. I would say that they are pretty universal in that sense, except in
a few exceptional cases.
1. Transparent & Open Communication
In
essence, a transparent and open form of communication addresses the employee’s
need to feel that what they have to say has value. It is what makes employees
feel that they belong in the organization. Work then becomes meaningful because
the employees know that what they contribute affects the organization that they
are affiliated with.
It
is thus essential for staff to discuss the organization’s philosophy,
mission and values, from time to time during retreats, meetings, etc to
ensure that everyone knows what they’re working for other than their paychecks.
Having open discussions get people involved and allow them to share their views
and perspectives on how to achieve company goals. After which, the management
side will give their own perspectives on how to fulfill the organization’s
mission.
Give
and Take
Such
two-way open communication will eventually break down the hurdles present in
hierarchical or bureaucratic organizations. At the end of it all, it promotes
trust in day-to-day interactions between co-workers, as well as between
subordinates and supervisors.
Everyone
becomes more united with the organization’s mission in their mind. There is
mutual respect among all employees, regardless of their official statuses.
This
is when employees will not be afraid to suggest ideas to improve the
work processes, thus benefiting everyone in the organization in return.
2. Work-Life Balance
There
has to be some sort of balance between work and personal life. In general,
having that sense of balance will improve job satisfaction among employees because
they will feel that they’re not overlooking the other areas of their lives that
are, if not more, important to them than work.
The Constant Juggle
When
employees fulfill their various needs and goals in life, such as
those of family, friends, spiritual pursuits, self-growth, etc, they can then
feel more confident about themselves and perform their best at work. Apart from
that, employees that are exposed to more experiences in life outside of work
can use what they’ve gained and apply that to their work.
In
other words, work-life balance can promote creativity and
out-of-the-box thinking.
A
Nod from the Top
‘Good’
employees or workers are often defined as those who put in loads of effort and
sacrificed their personal time in order to perform well in their work. Some
employees are simply workaholics who would rather neglect other aspects of
their life for work.
Managers
have a responsibility to show that this is not right, by rewarding employees
who maintain good work-life balance habits (e.g. leave work on time) and can
still perform well.
In
this case, the organization may adopt a firm stance on work-life balance by
educating employees on the benefits of having such balance in their lives or
even include it under their mission statement.
3.
Training & Development-Focused
In
a time when change is more rampant than ever before, it is necessary for
organizations to be keep abreast with the changes and train their employees
accordingly. For instance, technology is evolving so rapidly that what
organizations commonly used ten years ago could be made obsolete today (e.g.
Zip drives, dial-up modems, etc).
Adapting
to change is never more crucial in this era because those who don’t,
get replaced. This applies to both the individual and the organization
itself.
A
training and development-focused organization has a clear roadmap for training
their employees to sustain and enhance the productivity of the organization as
a whole. Essentially speaking, there are two kinds of skills that can be
developed: hard skills and soft skills.
·
Hard
skills: impact work productivity
directly e.g. knowledge of a new database management system
·
Soft
skills: interpersonal skills which
could affect the morale of the organization.
·
A positive work environment would
have routine training to improve efficiency and instill positive attitudes
among employees.
4. Recognition for Hard Work
Rewards
are necessary to encourage certain behaviors in persons. This is known as positive
reinforcement under operant conditioning in the field of psychology.
It is used in organizational behavior management as well: by rewarding
employees who put in effort for their work, this will promote similar behaviors
in the future.
Shower
Praises
A
reward here doesn’t have to be monetary in nature; sometimes even a
simple verbal recognition by the supervisor is all that is necessary
to spur the employees’ motivation.
When
hard work is appropriately rewarded and duly recognized by the management, employees
will naturally feel valued by the organization for what they put in. Such
mentality is healthy for the organization because employees will be willing to
go the extra mile without worrying about not getting anything in return.
Acknowledging their Presence
Apart
from having a system of monetary rewards in place to award those who perform at
work, daily interactions can also be a good means of recognizing
efforts. It’s free too! Managers ought to verbalize their appreciations for
simple little things when employees go the extra mile. However, these should be
made specific and personal for the employee to feel that what they do are being
taken seriously and appreciated.
5. Strong Team Spirit
As
social beings, we naturally seek support from our peers and seek to belong to a
group. Come tough times, the team should come together to deal with whatever
problems are out there. This is where a sense of unity is
evoked in the team and employees will no longer just feel that they’re working
for themselves. They are now working towards something bigger than themselves,
and as a team.
Instilling
a strong team spirit is not easy because it involves the acceptance and
tolerance of differences in perspectives and working styles between
teammates. There is a need for them to see that they’re working towards a
common goal before they can look beyond the differences.
Band of Bros
Have
team-bonding activities that let the team focus on the positive sides of each
member and negate the negative ones. Celebrate events like birthdays for each
member of your team to show the exclusivity. Deal with issues together.Basically,
whatever it is that you do, do it as a team.
One
pitfall to look out for when team spirit is high is the group think phenomenon.
This psychological phenomenon occurs when the group cohesiveness gets so strong
that judgments or decision-making get clouded.
Think
about it, when team spirit is strong, members will be inclined to
support whatever decision made as a team without raising any valid
objections. The solution is to have a member playing the role of the Devil’s
Advocate during discussions.
Source: http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/positive-working-environment/