If you’re a business owner or manager, then one of your biggest focuses should be how to make your business a positive work environment. Happy employees do better – they perform better, they interact in a more caring way amongst each other, and they pass that happiness onto any customers they come into contact with too. It can do wonders for the overall success of your business, and ensure that your workplace is somewhere they want to be. Happy employees are also much more likely to stay in their positions, which can make a huge difference to the profitability of your business too. Here are my top 3 tips for creating a positive work environment:
1. Do Regular Team Building Exercises
Chances are you do an annual Christmas party of sorts, but outside of that what other activities or opportunities do you have for your employees to come together and to build their relationships? I think regular team building events can be a great way to transform your office environment and to make the overall atmosphere feel more positive. If you don’t have a huge budget, don’t worry, it doesn’t have to be elaborate events every few weeks. It could be something as simple as monthly drinks on a Friday where the company buys each employee a few rounds. It could be a birthday lunch whenever it’s anyone’s birthday. Small things regularly can make a huge difference to the overall environment in the office.
2. Be Available
Having a boss that is approachable and available can do a lot to create a positive work environment. You are, afterall, the leader of the business and so your attitude towards your employees and the business as a whole may be the biggest factor in creating a positive work environment. I’m sure you’ve worked somewhere where the manager or owner was standoffish, unavailable, and never had time for the employees. How did that make you feel? How did it impact your job satisfaction? Probably quite a lot, right, so keep that in mind whenever you’re interacting with anyone from your company. If your employees feel like you’re easily approachable, they’ll be much more likely to come to you when they’re having problems, too, which is definitely in the company’s best interests, especially should anything major arise.
3. Take an Interest In Your Employees
Do your best to learn more about their personal lives – if there are any exciting big events coming up, such as children’s birthdays, graduations, weddings etc. We spend so much of our lives at work, especially if you work full time hours, so being somewhere where we feel cared about can make a considerable difference to how much enthusiasm we bring each day. If someone feels like they’re just a disposable employee, then the way they treat their job and their responsibilities will likely change too. If you’re short on time and this doesn’t come naturally to you, why not budget half an hour a few times a week to actively make an effort to better get to know your employees and what’s going on in their lives. You might want to look to even pool together resources to buy a nice baby shower gift if one of your staff is expecting, such as these best childrens bookshelves.
Creating a positive work environment is important for your business, your employees, and for you too. Hopefully these three changes make it easy for you to transform the vibe in your work place so you can start to see all the benefits come to fruition.
