A company’s culture is only as positive as its team. Every leader would love for their company to have a great atmosphere that makes everyone happy to work each day. However, many leaders are at a loss for how to promote a positive environment with their team. These tips can help you get started with shaping your company’s culture.
Encourage Teamwork
Most people feel overwhelmed with work at one point or another. Encouraging employees to help out their coworkers in need can strengthen their bond. Additionally, pairing up employees to work on projects can help them be kind to each other and do good work. Companies that do not promote teamwork may find their employees are not as friendly to one another, so find ways to encourage collaboration in your staff.
Be Thankful
Every person on your team desires to be appreciated. Praise publicly. Talk about the hard work that the worker used to get the job done. And do it at least every week. This will lead people to feel safe to express their ideas, leading to an innovative workforce. Studies show that people do not take criticism unless they have been praised at least four times before by that person. Otherwise, most people believe that the person delivering the criticism just doesn’t like them. You’ve got to praise people.
Deliver Consistency
Workers are unsettled when they don’t know what the mood will be from one day to the next. A leader’s job is to remove the obstacles that create bad days for employees.
Celebrate Diversity
Each person has lived a unique life full of experiences that are theirs alone. This means each person has a diverse perspective that they can bring to the table. Celebrating each person’s differences can make it easier for people to speak up and provide useful ideas that will contribute positively to the team. Don’t fill your team with people from the same backgrounds. It will just lead to the same ideas. Include people who are not like you, who may have different personality types or skill sets that create a balanced team.
Respect
Workers must respect each other’s ideas. If ideas are immediately dismissed, then the company cannot scale. Encourage people to respect the ideas, thoughts and plans of others. This means treating people with kindness, encouraging opinion sharing, and implementing the ideas of others.
Broach Negativity
There will inevitably be some conflict in your office. One person may look at another wrong, and suddenly, a feud has started. Do not let negativity overwhelm your workplace. Instead, be sure to address any problems you hear about head-on. You should consider the gravity of the situation, too, so that you are not blowing a small issue out of proportion. However, some issues do not go away on their own, so acting as a mediator can help resolve lingering tension.
Constructive Feedback
Employees tend to have ideas about how their workplace could run more effectively. Rather than dismiss these options, please take the opportunity to hear them and work with your employees to find suitable solutions for everyone. Doing so will show your team that you trust their opinions.
Have Fun
We spend far too long at work not to have fun. Allow for humor and silliness. But make sure that it stays tasteful so not to make people feel excluded or joked about.
Positive company culture can lead to many benefits. Employee satisfaction will be higher, productivity can increase, and your company will attract great talent. Prioritizing a positive culture should be at the top of every leader’s list.
