7 Ways to Build a Positive and Thriving Working Environment

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If you want to get the most from your employees, then you need to start prioritising a positive and healthy working environment. When you create a positive environment where employees feel respected and important, it comes with several benefits because it directly influences your employee's attitude towards their job and colleagues.

From increased productivity levels to improved well-being of your employees, having a positive atmosphere for your employees will only lead to nothing but triumph in the long term. With 94% of executives and 88% of employees believing that a positive culture and environment are crucial for the overall success of an organisation, it’s shocking that organisations aren’t taking it seriously.

If you want to reap the benefits of a positive culture, then keep reading to find out 7 ways you can improve your working environment.

1. Implement a Mentoring Program

From improving diversity and inclusion in an organisation to enhancing career development and progression opportunities for employees, mentoring programs come with some impressive benefits that shouldn’t be underestimated.

Implementing a mentoring program into your workforce is a great way to help build a positive working environment that values, cares and invests in its employees. When employees feel invested in, especially in their careers, there's a higher chance they will work as effectively as they can to meet the organisational goals.

A mentoring program is a great way to build a happy workforce, with 50% of younger professionals saying that a mentorship program would make them more likely to stay at a company and 90% of workers with a mentor saying that they feel happier in their career.

If you want to learn more about how mentoring can be a valuable tool within your organisation, book a free demonstration with PushFar today.

2. Support the Mental Health and Well-Being of Employees

Mental health and well-being are becoming an increasingly popular topic discussed by professionals across the world, and for good reason. With the stamina surrounding mental health issues still being a common challenge faced, more employees are demanding that organisations take it more seriously and make it a priority.

1 in 3 employees would like more support for their mental health and well-being, with 46% of them saying they have worked regardless of not feeling mentally or physically well enough to do their job.

For your employees to truly thrive, you need to form a culture and work environment where employees feel safe to openly express how they feel, not just with their colleagues but also with their managers. Talking about mental health and well-being in a safe environment can make employees feel supported and happy at work.

Offering benefits such as gym memberships, counselling and mental health days are some of the many options organisations can use to improve the overall well-being of their employees and decrease the amount of burnout and workplace stress.

3. Appreciate and Reward Your Employees

One of the biggest challenges seen by employees across the globe is that they don’t feel appreciated in the workplace, with 90% of HR professionals who were surveyed agreeing that effective recognition and rewards help an organisation get the results they want.

There’s no denying that the key to a positive workforce is appreciation and rewards, building a culture that values and recognises its employees for all the hard work they do. When it comes to recognising and rewarding your employees, there are informal and formal ways to go about it, from offering yearly bonuses to a simple thank you, there are many ways to motivate employees to keep working hard.

Rewards set an example to your employees that their work is not only appreciated but also important, it motivates the entire workforce to aim high, work towards their goals and feel like they have a purpose in the workplace. Appreciating your employees also helps your workers understand where they are doing things well, which will encourage them to do more of it.

4. Promote Diversity and Inclusion

A diverse and inclusive workforce is a vital ingredient when it comes to building a positive working environment, with more than 3 out of 4 jobseekers and employees stating that a diverse workforce is an influential factor in deciding where to work.

Not only does a diverse and inclusive workforce come with many organisational benefits such as being 70% more likely to capture new markets, but it also has a huge impact on the overall engagement of your employees, with inclusive workforces boosting employee engagement by 83%.

Having an inclusive work culture allows your organisation to attract the best and most sought-after talent, whilst improving the productivity and overall happiness of your employees. When your employees are in a comfortable work environment, it provides more opportunities for new creative and innovative ideas to be had.

As mentioned above, mentoring is a great way to enhance diversity and inclusion within your workforce, you can read more about it here.

5. Offer Career Development and Progression Opportunities

If you want a workforce that’s engaged, happy and motivated, then it’s important to prioritise career development and progression for your employees. In 2018, research from LinkedIn revealed that 94% of employees would stay longer at an organisation if they invested in their careers.

Instead of focusing on short-term goals and productivity levels within your organisation, show your employees that as an organisation you want to invest in their future. When employees feel supported, not only does it keep them engaged at work, but also creates a more talented workforce. When organisations invest in the careers of their employees, they are creating growth opportunities.

Having employees that want to evolve and grow within their careers is a great way to build a positive working environment because it means they are performing their best.

As mentioned earlier, mentoring programs are a great way to develop your workers, but there are many ways to provide development and progression opportunities for employees, such as providing your workers with a monthly allowance that they can spend on training and development.

6. Make the Office Comfortable

It’s important to recognise the importance that a physical workplace can have on the mood of your employees. With more people returning to the office and leaving the comfort of their own homes, it’s more critical than ever that you provide a comfortable and positive office space to keep morale high.

From the types of chairs you provide to the lighting that is used throughout the office, everything can have an impact on the way your employees work and their performance. Employees all have different needs that need to be met, whether that involves providing work environments that allow them to collaborate or isolate themselves to focus on a task, you need to ensure that you’re meeting the psychological and physical requirements of your workforce.

But it’s not all about work, it’s also about providing areas where employees can collaborate, relax and make connections with their team members. When your workers have an office where they feel comfortable, it will help create positive feelings whilst at work.

7. Make Onboarding a Priority

Invest in your employees from day one. When you effectively onboard new hires, you're creating a positive working environment from the beginning. Effective onboarding is an important part of the working environment because it provides new hires to learn, get accustomed to the organisational culture and allow them to build new connections.

Studies show that great onboarding can reduce turnover by 82% and improve productivity by 70%. Further research suggests that employees who receive effective onboarding are 18x more likely to be committed to their employer, shockingly, more organisations aren’t making this a priority, when the facts speak for themselves.

When you provide new joiners with the tools, resources and information they need to be effective within their role, you’re setting them up for long-term success. When your employees feel fully equipped to complete their tasks, you’ll soon find yourself with high-performing and engaged workers, who make the workplace a positive environment for everyone.

Conclusion

To summarise, it’s not always a simple task to create a positive work environment, however, it’s something that we truly believe is worth the time and effort required to make it work. When your employees truly feel that they are appreciated, then your organisation will flourish. If you want employees that are motivated to work as best as they possibly can for you, then make sure to try out one or several of the strategies mentioned above.