Are Positive Work Cultures More Productive?
What makes your employees happy?
Too many managers don’t take the time to investigate the answer to that question, but they should. Happy employees are more productive, more engaged, and less likely to leave. In short, they make your business better.
What is a positive work culture?
Positivity is one of those vague ideas that means something different to everyone, so it can be helpful to define it by what it’s not.
A negative workplace culture is one that’s heavily hierarchical, inflexible, high-pressure, and stressful. This creates a toxic office environment that prioritizes productivity over employee wellbeing.
Positive work cultures do the opposite, understanding that happy employees actually improve productivity - by as much as 13%, according to one study.
A happy office incorporates the following elements into their overall company culture.
1. Communication & collaboration
Positive workplaces are also safe workplaces. This is where employees have lots of opportunities to speak, be heard, and provide feedback without fear of judgment.
Whether they’re speaking up about a project gone awry or sharing their story of a personal crisis, workers in this type of environment know they can voice their concerns with their colleagues - not just those on their team, but also their managers and other senior staff.
Collaboration goes hand in hand with communication, with the latter enhancing the former and both increasing employee satisfaction. A survey from WeWork found that over 50% of self-reported happy employees collaborate with five or more people at their office on any given day.
2. Opportunity
Investing in your employees doesn’t just benefit your business by ensuring you have highly-skilled talent. It also adds to employee engagement and satisfaction.
Because you’re not just pushing a training program, you’re telling your employee that they’re a valuable part of the team and that you care about their professional and personal development.
Most workers want to do their job well. And most become discontented when they’re performing below their potential. Providing training opportunities gives them a chance to shine.
People who learn on the job are 21% more likely to be happy than those that don’t. They’re also 39% more likely to feel productive and 48% more likely to find purpose in what they’re doing.
3. Meaningful purpose
Purpose matters, and so do values. Your employees need to feel like they’re part of an organization that aligns with their values and helps them make a difference. According to analysts at Gartner, this quality is more important than ever as the workforce transitions from ‘The Great Resignation’ to ‘The Great Reflection.’
Gartner research shows that employees are questioning their choices in the wake of the pandemic, seeking a better work-life balance. 56% of those surveyed for Gartner’s Return To Work study say they now want to contribute more to society and 65% are rethinking the place work holds in their life.
People are now more wary of where they invest their time and energy. If you want them to give their best at work, you need to give them a value-driven reason for doing so.
How to create a positive work culture for your employees
Too often, employee happiness translates into wellbeing quick fixes such as better snacks in the coffee room or free yoga on lunch breaks.
While wellness-driven policies are important, they need to be bolstered by an underlying positive culture. It takes more to transform workplace culture than a few watercooler chats.
Your company culture is the personality of your business. And that’s not going to change overnight. Drawing up goals and benchmarks around what attributes and values you want your company to embody is a great starting point. From there, you can monitor your progress and take steps to embed these positive policies into your daily operations.
In driving this shift, it can be helpful to incentivize the behaviors that contribute to your positive workspace. This could mean offering perks for participating in mentoring or other training programs, giving employees rewards for team work, or simply acknowledging when a staff member acts out the company’s values. Never underestimate the power of praise - it’s an instant morale booster that significantly ups employee happiness.
And make sure you’re prioritizing positivity at every stage of the employee experience, it’s as important when onboarding new hires as it is during performance reviews for seasoned executives.
Over time, your company will become known for its culture and that’s a vital business asset that won’t just improve profitability in the short-term but also ensure that you’ll attract and retain talent even during future economic shocks.
Employee Productivity Monitoring tools like Prodoscore can help managers identify team members that are falling behind and may need training or other positivity boosting interventions. The software monitors how staff interact with company tools to spot proficiency gaps and address performance challenges. Contact us today to schedule a demonstration.
