It is easy to overlook how valuable a nurtured morale is within your company. But constantly promoting a positive working environment is important for a number of reasons… Creating a positive atmosphere in the workplace can improve overall staff satisfaction. Happy staff are more inclined to want to help the business succeed, so naturally will work harder. In turn, this can reduce staff turnover and increase the productivity and efficiency of your staff and thus the profitability of your business! Moreover, general happiness among staff, managers and owners means that the workplace is more enjoyable for all – who wouldn’t want that?

 So, we have come up with a few ideas that you can implement into your business to achieve a positive working environment:

Avoiding micromanagement to create a positive working environment

Micromanagement refers to the management style where a manager closely observes and supervises a member of staff. Micromanagement denies a member of staff freedom within the work place and can damage the morale in your company. Allowing your employees to work without constant supervision can be advantageous to the efficiency of your company. In most cases, avoiding micromanagement will actually motivate your staff. Independence within the work place allows employees to feel respected and trusted, which in turn will make staff want to work harder.

Communicate with your staff

If you are making decisions within your company that affects your staff, make sure you keep them in the loop! Do not dump impacting changes on them at the last minute – this is not fair and gives them little option to make changes their end. A strong relationship with employees that is built on mutual trust and respect will be a relationship that avoids confrontations. Focus on communication methods. Positive reinforcement motivates employees as it allows them to see how their individual work is contributing to the success of the business.

Keep a personal plan for your members of staff

Keeping a personal plan for your members of staff will not only allow you to monitor your employees progress, but it will allow them to feel that their work has a personal means to it. This will create a positive working environment. In turn this will improve the productivity and efficiency as the employee feels as if their work is valued.

Introduce flexiworking/ work from home

In life, everyone wants independence. Well executed flexi-working or work from home strategy helps employees to fill this need. Flexi-working is introduced by some companies to allow flexible start and finish times for its staff. This can be beneficial for a number of reasons. You may have a candidate who excels the criteria for a job role that you are offering, but they cannot start work at the designated time… With flexi-working your candidate pool would be much larger, meaning you are more likely to hire the ideal candidate. Furthermore, your employees are more likely to be happier. Allowing employees flexitime means that they can partake in activities/responsibilities without feeling guilty. Of course, implementing flexi-working full time may not be plausible for a lot of businesses, but it is something to consider when trying to improve your business culture.

We hope that these ideas inspire you to make changes to improve your business environment.