Sometimes going to work can feel like a chore. As the first of many alarms goes off at 6 am, you look forward to hitting the snooze button just to catch a few more minutes of shut-eye. Perhaps the issue is not that you are simply tired, but rather, the burden of your work environment could be the underlying issue.
The attitude of workers can also hugely impact the quality of work that your company produces. Cultivating a positive and collaborative work place helps to motivate workers, while encouraging them to continue to put their best work forward. Though there is no set formula for making your workplace one that employees enjoy coming too, but here are 7 quick ways I have found that AlfaFlux has made their workplace a tier above the opposition:
- Hire the Right People
In order to reduce turnover of employees and ensure that the environment that you have worked so hard to create isn’t tainted by one bad seed, screen your candidates for new positions thoroughly. Employees passionate about what it is they will be doing are more likely to be happy and put their best work forward rather than those looking to clock in and out for a 9-5 paycheck
- Encourage Brainstorming
Cultivating brainstorming allows firms to innovate and reform the ways they do things. Bouncing ideas off of each other also allows thoughts to be “peer reviewed,” which is a powerful way to enhance ideas and nurture them so they will grow in acceptance. Aside from the obvious benefits to business processes, collaborative thinking strengthens corporate culture and further helps to build a community within the work environment.
- Make Employees Feel Comfortable
Make employees feel at home in the workplace is often times difficult to do. You want to ensure workers feel relaxed at work, but still do the job they are hired to preform. Some of the easier ways to do this is by offering healthy snacks to employees, use natural sunlight whenever possible, and allow employees the freedom to personalize their workplace. Promoting the health of its workers makes employees feel that their employer cares about them in and outside of the workplace, which further strengthens employee loyalty.
- Eat Together
No matter what ethnicity, age, sex or cultural background, food is a one of the most powerful ways to break down barriers. On top of this, having meals together helps to boost morale and encourage teamwork. Bringing everyone together helps to reinforce the fact that we are all here for a common goal and in day to day activities, it’s often easy to lose sight of how your job fits into the big picture. Community meals also fosters meaningful feedback between different divisions of the company where ordinarily there could be a disconnect.
- Assign “Special Projects”
Doing the same type of repetitive tasks can result in bored and frustrated employees. Mixing up the daily routine with “Special Projects” can help employees get a much needed mental release. At AltaFlux, these “Special Projects” are often times for the improvement of the workplace. Handing over the responsibility of making meaningful decisions to employees outside of their day to day activities can cultivate a sense of personal pride for individuals within the firm.
- Allow Flexibility
Workplace flexibility today is a lot more than having the opportunity from working from home. Many companies enforce strict 9am-5pm workday hours, which can be difficult to meet in today’s busy times. With today’s highly interconnect and integrated society, new business opportunities can be made or lost in minutes. AltaFlux has helped to combat this by implementing SAP Jam, a workplace social media, into their arsenal. This implementation has helped increase the responsiveness of team members on collaboration and feedback to help close business deals with more informed decision-making.
- Build a Community
The underlying commonality amongst all of these steps towards building a positive work environment is that the help to strengthen the workplace community. The fact is that employees are spending the majority of their week days at work and without knowing your job is part of a bigger vision, businesses will next grow to their full potential. This being said, the cultivation of a strong interconnected community is paramount to a positive atmosphere. We all have our up and down days, but with the support of a workplace community, coworkers can help alleviate the burden on your plate and suddenly, your daily tasks don’t seem as insurmountable.
For more information about the passionate team or what we do here at Altaflux, visit our about page and get to know us more here. If you like our posts, please subscribe and share or like it for others to see.
