At Advance Systems we believe if you want to create and grow a successful company, you need happy, productive employees. It’s time to promulgate a positive atmosphere and abrogate negative and resentful feelings amongst your employees. It’s important to recognise the fact that it’s the little things that can be the most important; this includes lighting, furniture positioning, office etiquette and a host of other things.
The most subtle of changes can take your company to the next level. This not only aids you in retaining your current most promising employees but also helps to pique the interest of potential new hires. Bearing all this in mind, how can you improve your company’s work environment? Here are a few simple tips we’ve postulated, try these out if you think that your workforce environment needs a shakeup.
Hire the right staff
The kind of people you hire will be the ones who define your working environment and ultimately your bottom line. Make sure you’re hiring people who have the type of character you espouse to promote in your working environment. Can work in a team and can contribute to a positive work environment? Unfortunately, one unsuitable candidate can spoil the rest of your workforce.
It’s important to keep records up to date especially when you have found the right person for any particular position. HR software systems allow accurate recording of important employee data such as performance appraisal, additional training, workflows etc.
Adding a rewards and recognition program can really help when trying to find the right staff.
Let go of toxic employees
As previously stated it’s amazing the effect one bad attitude can have on the rest of your workforce’s daily performance. It can be a very rewarding experience to let go aspects of your workforce that are simply not compatible with your company ethos. Though it’s a hard thing to do, it ultimately impacts the working environment. This can be felt by not only by your employees but also by your customers.
Keep the office clean, comfortable and well-decorated
Working in a clean, attractive office can have adverse effects on the interactions between co-workers and managers. If the sun can’t shine into your workplace, make an effort to provide a relaxing atmosphere. Comfy furniture, working equipment, and a few extra-mile amenities can be immensely beneficial. It might not seem cost-effective at first, but the change in attitude is visceral among staff members when they know you care enough about them to invest in their well-being.
Make your employees comfortable
We believe it is important to foster an atmosphere that promotes confident and comfortable discussion. Employees should feel comfortable enough with you to talk about anything that is bothering them. When you invest trust in your employees the results will pay dividends and your company profits and general atmosphere will reflect this. Comfortable employees will engage more.
Be transparent
From promotions to incoming changes in business, employers have to operate openly. Allow your employees to react with information in a mature and honest fashion otherwise, you could be in for a rough ride. A ride filled with whispers and sly remarks being made without your knowledge. Being open, honest and transparent prevents the usual misunderstandings and rumors that stem from not being open and honest about business matters.
Be flexible
Encourage employees to schedule their personal lives the way you do. Make sure they have a healthy work and life balance or you could end up regretting building a negative, overworked workforce. Unless their schedules conflict with a meeting, don’t hesitate to allow a mid-day doctor’s appointment. From time to time a more trivial personal appointment, such as a family gathering, this fosters a more welcoming environment for all persons. A trusted hard-working employee should be able to schedule their day like you might. Allowing these actions will purvey a sense of inclusiveness and an overall superior environment.
Train employees properly
Most employees have an incumbent desire to do good work for the greater good. Enabling them means providing them with the proper tools, and make no mistake they’ll succeed. This means clearly letting employees know what they are responsible and accountable for. Develop opportunities for employees through training and education to better themselves professionally and personally. Training and all employee activities present and future can be all documented and recorded from within the HR software module of a workforce management system. It’s always good to teach employees about team collaboration.
Give feedback
Studies reflect that employees are motivated and feel valued when they’re given positive reinforcement. This reinforcement shows how their work contributes to the success of the business as a whole. This process goes beyond the perennial platitude of ‘well done’ or otherwise. Employee’s want recognition. This instead makes a genuine concerted effort to regularly offer employees specific feedback on how their work is affecting the wider organisation.
Be open to feedback, too
When you involve your staff in the decision-making process it fosters a more concerted and hard-working employee environment. They feel valued and feel like your organisation is not just a ruthless dictatorship. Don’t be afraid to ask employees for their opinion on a new contract offered or what they think of a new client problem or issue. Even asking an anonymous survey as to how the employees feel things are going on a scale from one to ten will give you a broader picture of the environment as a whole. An entire department’s feedback can be invaluable.
Everything above can be achieved with the right system in place. Improving employee’s working environment and conditions should be an organisation-wide goal. Starting at the recruitment process itself and following through to training and full employment offers employees confidence in their roles. It also helps with an increase in productivity and improved efficiency across the whole organisation.
