The foundation of a great company is often their strong workplace community. A positive workplace community allows for greater teamwork, stress reduction, decrease in sick days taken, more energetic employees and hence greater success.
For these reasons we believe building and maintaining a positive workplace community should be at the top of every companies to-do list. Here is how to do it!
Likemindedness.
People generally enjoy being around people who are similar to themselves and working with these people can result in great benefits. Being in a group where you feel similar to everyone else can create a sense of belonging, can help produce more natural communication and greater team motivation.
So what does this mean for you?
Well, if you can place new employees with a team leader, mentor or manager that shares similar interests allowing them to immediately feel apart of the community. Place people who are likeminded near each other inside of the office, this allows them to feel more comfortable within your office and can lead to a more relaxed feel. Finally, encourage teamwork within your business, foster a "I help you, you help me" culture, this will always result in greater productivity and overall a better final product.
Recognise and reward.
Whilst some people are intrinsically motivated and simply completing a task is enough for them to feel accomplished, it is far more common for people to be motivated by the outside world, this means that for their self-worth and motivation to be maintained within your business it is important to show recognition for their hard work.
Many studies have demonstrated that even the smallest rewards within a business can result in continued motivation and greater loyalty of employees. Other studies have shown that the absence of recognition can often lead to job dissatisfaction.
Design.
It may seem obvious, but to many, it is not. The design of your office space is vital to setting the starting point for your workplace community. Dull, plain workplaces will make your employees feel dull and apathetic. Different colour produces different feelings within humans, some help improve creativity whilst others increase excitement. Consequently, colours play a huge role in setting the tone of your workplace.
There are a range of other ways you can help to improve your office community through design, from providing quiet spaces, community space and finding the right background music. Plants can also be an excellent option to help improve the wellbeing of employees.
Take the time to thoughtfully plan out your office and you will be rewarded in more ways than one.
Meeting outside of the office.
Within some companies, people may work with each other for years without ever knowing anything about others personal life, this is kind of like a squeaky door hinge, it still works, but not quite as well as it could.
Holding group outings can be like adding oil to that squeaky hinge and allowing it to work to the best of its ability. Spending time with colleges outside of work can result in employees becoming more comfortable with one another, resulting in a more productive, inclusive, collaborative and successful workplace.
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