Can you describe the work environment in your company as positive? Is your company’s workforce happy and proud to work there?
If the answer is no, or if you’re not sure, see what constitutes a positive work environment, why it’s important, and how to create a more positive environment for your employees.
But it’s not as easy as it sounds. As a manager, you can’t make people smile or just tell them to be more positive. You need to take different approaches to help create a positive work environment together.
Why a Positive Work Environment Is Important?
Before we dive into the details of creating a positive work environment, let’s take a look at the benefits.
Science agrees: A more positive work culture leads to higher productivity. The Harvard Business Review article concludes:
“The ever-increasing amount of research in positive organizational psychology not only has a harsh environment negatively impacting productivity in the long run, but a positive company culture has dramatic benefits to employers, employees, and profits. It shows what it will bring.”
You can choose what the experience will be like. Do you want it to be a culture of blame and blame, horrifying and suspicious? No. You probably want people to enjoy coming to work, feel proud and loyal to working for you, and build strong relationships with their colleagues.
What Creates a Positive Work Environment?
Five Techniques for a Positive Work Environment are:
1. What is the color temperature of the office lights that enhance the physical workspace?
That’s something most business owners don’t think about. However, studies show that cool light increases people’s productivity and warm light makes people feel more comfortable and relaxed.
Therefore, consider cool light in the main work area and warm light in the small meeting room or cafeteria. You can achieve cooler light by increasing the amount of natural light or by installing a special “blue-rich” bulb. On the other hand, warmer light comes from orange or yellow bulbs.
2. Providing worker-friendly facilities
Consider providing facilities to improve welfare in addition to improving the core working environment. For example, we can offer childcare, gyms, yoga classes, healthy food and drinks, and more.
These things may sound expensive, but you can do some of them within your budget.
3. Allowing Autonomy
One of the best ways to create a positive company culture is to allow employee autonomy. Avoid micromanagement and instead give space and freedom to make decisions, provide ideas, manage your workload, and work without constant supervision. The result is happier and more enthusiastic employees who contribute to a more positive workplace.
Need proof? A two-year survey of 20,000 workers found that the more autonomous people were, the more satisfied and happy they were with their work.
4. Improving Communication
Lack of communication is the root of many problems for both small and medium-sized businesses and large businesses. According to the survey, 86% of respondents blamed lack of collaboration or ineffective communication for workplace failures.
Fortunately, there are many things we can do to improve communication, from using technical tools to setting up feedback mechanisms and practicing dispute resolution.
5. What do you think will create training and development opportunities?
If you don’t have the opportunity to learn and develop your skills, your employees don’t take a very positive view of working for you. Meanwhile, show them that you value them and want to help them improve and advance their careers. Then you will have a much happier workforce.
Bottom Line
It is not easy to create a positive work environment where employees feel that they are valued, their thoughts and suggestions are valued, and they are happy. However, when HR achieves this, the business will thrive and the workforce will be retained for a longer period.
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