How To Create A Positive Work Environment

Positive workplaces tend to exhibit a common set of traits that foster excellence, productivity, efficiency, creativity, and camaraderie.  If you want to have happy, healthy, high performing employees you might want to consider the following suggestions.

Here are 10 characteristics of a healthy, positive workplace to look for:

1. Positive Values A positive mission statement outlines the goals and demonstrative behavior that exemplify the highest commitment to quality of work, respect, and acknowledgment of achievements. The company sets out to achieve its goals and aims in ethical, honest ways with an elevated sense of purpose to improve the planet and humanity. When the leadership models these behaviors and commits to them, it will be more likely that everyone else will follow suit.
2. A Relaxed and Productive Atmosphere People enjoy coming to work when they feel appreciated, acknowledged and rewarded for what they do. They also perform better when they have a full sense of just how they fit into the big picture of the organization. When people feel valued, there is less likely to be elements of fear, domination, bullying, or sexual domination or intimidation in the workplace. Instead, you will find innovation, creativity, productivity, efficiency, and high performance along with happiness and good health for the entire team.
3. A Complete Commitment to Excellence Employees do their very best when they understand the value in committing to high performance. They will be motivated to strive to be the best they can be and to deliver top-quality products and services because they have experienced the outcome of this. In addition, they take responsibility for their actions and their decisions and are accountable for their errors.
4. Open, Clear, and Honest Communication
   When everyone communicates with clarity, honesty, respect, influence, and impact there is less confusion, disappointment, resentment, and complaining, hence less stress in the workplace.  In addition, solving difficulties can easily be done in a positive way. Also, difficult feedback is usually accepted in a more positive way as an opportunity for growth rather than just some sort of criticism.
5. Cooperation, Support, and Empowerment When employees feel supported, empowered to have autonomy and are used to collaborative approaches to projects and problem solving, they will be more likely to adopt a “can-do” attitude and be willing to go-the-extra-mile. In addition, when people are genuinely happy at work there will be more win-win attitudes and less conflict. This is because employees have more of a sense of camaraderie, cooperation, and empowerment rather than feeling like they are being micro-managed. In this sort of environment, healthy competition can exist without vengeful, spiteful backstabbing or other disrespectful behaviors.
6. Employ a Sense of Humor Employees can keep things in perspective when they are able to have fun and laugh. Laughter actually changes your brain chemistry and generates endorphins, which give you a feeling of overall well-being.
7. Compassion, Respect, and Understanding Kindness and understanding will prevail when employees face challenges such as accidents, illnesses, personal tragedies, and natural disasters if they have experienced compassion, respect, and understanding from the management and their co-workers in the past. In addition, people will usually go the extra mile for others when they have been treated well themselves.
8. Flexibility When the company and its employees are willing and able to embrace change, accommodate new trends and technology, and incorporate new skills into their work with a positive attitude, it is usually because the leadership has “sold” the change by communicating it clearly, offering compelling reasons why this change will be of benefit to everyone and show that they are committed to this new process. This will be true because change is now the new normal and we all need to be ready to embrace it as it arises. However, if employees are not supported with proper training and sufficient time to get up to speed, because the transition process is not properly in place, the change, “the event” will less likely to happen.
9. Positive Reinforcement People need acknowledgment, appreciation, and gratitude to be motivated. Therefore, genuine compliments, rewards, bonuses, raises, promotions, and certificates of achievement are a great way to help people to be the best they can be and fulfill their potential. When an organization thanks employees regularly in these ways they will be more likely to have happy, loyal hard working teams and little turnover.
10. Emphasis on Health, Family, and the Environment When the company offers employees comprehensive health insurance, including weight-loss, smoking-cessation and substance-abuse programs it can be a great inducement to actually get healthier. The corporate cafeteria should feature a low-fat, low sodium healthy options menu, and the company gym should contain great exercise equipment. If possible, the company should also offer reimbursement for childcare or have an on-site facility for childcare. The office, itself, should feature natural and recessed lighting with incandescent bulbs rather than halogen or fluorescent. If possible, the organization should be environmentally-aware by encouraging solar power, green systems, and recycling.

So, if you are already doing all of the above, you likely have a great work environment.  If you wish to create a great work environment following the suggestions developed in this article could certainly give you the likely outcome of a positive, creative, healthy, productive organization which will certainly enhance your bottom line and greatly reduce turnover and absenteeism.