What do you think makes a company an ideal place to work for? Is it the compensation? The location? The offered perks? Ultimately, the key to sustaining a great organization for your employees is creating a healthy business environment.
Healthy Business Environment: What Does It Look Like?
There are multiple aspects that make up a healthy workplace environment. These are:
- Workplace culture
Every business has its own workplace culture. It’s your organization’s overall personality and character that sums up all its behavior, attitudes, values, and traditions. Your workplace character also serves as a standard for your employees to follow. Businesses need to cultivate and define a positive workplace culture to ensure that employees remain satisfied with their work and, at the same time, that you attract top talent.
- Occupational health and safety
A healthy business environment also aims to provide a workplace that’s safe for the employees’ health and wellness. For example, simple things like tucking away electric cables or hiring commercial mold removers for your office will give your employees peace of mind knowing they’re working in a safe workplace environment free from mold and trip-and-fall risks.
- Health and lifestyle practice
Most employees love to stick to a company that helps them promote a healthy lifestyle. Remember, your employees are your most important assets in the company, and they can only perform their best when they’re in their healthiest state.
- Supportive environment
At the end of the day, employees also have personal goals and responsibilities to attend to after working for your company. Showing compassion and supporting their personal endeavors is crucial to achieving a healthy business environment.
How To Achieve A Healthy Business Environment
To attain a healthy business environment, you must be ready to make organizational changes. If you’re looking for some examples of organizational change, you’ve come to the right place. This article will show five keys to cultivating a healthy work environment and improving your business culture.
- Listen To Your Employees
Among the best things you can give to your employees is freedom of speech. Freedom of speech doesn’t necessarily mean allowing them to be vulgar in the workplace. It simply means giving them opportunities to express their feelings or voice their concerns, questions, or suggestions to help them excel in the workplace.
To ensure that freedom of speech is exercised appropriately, you can use technological tools to conduct any survey (e.g., pulse, monthly, or annual surveys). You can choose whether to conduct anonymous surveys or not, depending on which makes your employees are more comfortable. Through surveys, you can gather all their honest feedback about the company or the organization’s culture.
However, asking for feedback is only the first step. To show that you’re listening to their voice, you must also take action based on the survey results. You can also host team sessions with your employees to review the survey results and discuss the areas for improvement.
- Find Ways To Improve The Workplace
According to resources, an overwhelming 87% of employees said they want to work in an office that can provide healthier workspace benefits (e.g., ergonomic seating, fitness rooms, wellness rooms). A healthy workplace can keep your workers motivated. Plus, some of these office additions can help them promote healthy habits and improve their overall wellness.
So, to achieve a healthy business environment, find ways to improve your current workplace. For example, you can add huge indoor plants to your office entryway and small potted plants on your employees’ desks. Plants will not only improve your workplace aesthetically but bring numerous health benefits (e.g., reduced stress, improved air quality, etc.)
Another option is to swap your current office tables and chairs with standing desks and ergonomic chairs. These upgrades will make the office seating more comfortable while promoting proper posture. Overall, don’t hesitate to invest in things that can improve your workplace and help your employees work more comfortably and healthily.
- Recognize And Appreciate Your Employees
Remember those days when you were still an employee, and you immediately felt confident after your boss praised you for your work? Recognizing employees will always be one of the best ways to cultivate a healthy business environment. Praising your employees for their dedication and hard work in the workplace will keep their spirits high and increase their morale.
So, praise and recognize your employees even on the most random days. Did they go beyond the expected quota? Give them a shout-out on the spot where everyone in the office can hear you. Did one of your employees turn one year of working for your company? Call them out and thank them for their service. Better yet, you can also organize a recognition program wherein you reward outstanding employees monthly.
- Promote Work-Life Balance
Work-life balance is essential for achieving a healthy business environment. Otherwise, when your employees feel that they don’t have enough time for their personal lives, it’ll eventually affect their productivity at work or, worse, it’ll trigger them to resign.
To promote work-life balance in the workplace, you may implement a flexible work policy. You can divide some of the work shift into remote work so that employees can save on commuting time and costs and work closer to their families.
Another option to try is following a compressed schedule. This option lets your employees work longer hours or shifts during high-peak workloads. But during the lean season, they can choose to leave early, specifically when there’s not much workload to do. A compressed schedule can help employees achieve an additional day off and better work-life balance.
- Establish Good Communication
Good communication among co-workers and bosses should be established to create a healthier business environment and develop healthy relationships with your employees. To establish healthy communication, ensure your employees know one another first. This is important, especially if you’re managing a large business with plenty of staff; some may not know the other yet. You can host team-building activities to encourage everyone to get to know one another, promote collaboration, and establish communication.
Good communication doesn’t necessarily mean avoiding clashes or disagreements. From time to time, conflicts can happen, especially when some of your employees share different opinions or ideas. But don’t worry, as disagreements are normal. As long as the confrontations are done healthily, honestly, and openly, they can bring out some innovative ideas from your workers.
Keep Your Workplace Healthy All Year Round
A healthy business environment can significantly influence your employees’ productivity and performance. When all your workers are motivated, feeling productive, and happy in working for your business, it can lead to your company’s success. So, implement these tips above and watch as your employees become highly engaged, making your business even more profitable.