Create a Positive Working Environment

When starting a business, you are looking for the most cost-effective options, especially regarding your office, and that is definitely a smart move. But with the time passing, and the team getting bigger, you should consider the options to increase your employees’ satisfaction with the working environment. Because, you know, happy employees > happier customers > better results!

So, how to improve your working environment?

Start with your office location and space organization

Location: Your offices and work floor should ideally be on decent premises and in a good location. There’s no second chance for first impressions and although most of the business is done via phone, the location of your offices is highly important to your employees as well as to your recruiting efforts.

Luminous, ventilated, tastefully designed offices: We spend third of our lives or more in the office, and in order to find and retain top talent, it’s essential for companies to foster an environment that empowers people with the right space to work, think and collaborate naturally. 

Things you can do to improve your offices: 

• Maximize natural lighting
• Replace flickering lights
• Create collaborative spaces, as well as areas to relax and de-stress
• Add greenery: potted plants, living walls or flower gardens
• Design outdoor spaces (rooftop patio or staff garden)
• Offer flexibility– give options for where and how employees want to work

Organize company outings and team buildings

Enjoyable, fun activities enable employees to get to know each other, create a better understanding of each other and break down walls of mistrust by encouraging people to focus on what they have in common rather than their differences. 

Here are some suggestions inspired by some of the most employee-friendly workplaces:

• Bring your dog to work days or have pet-friendly areas in the workplace
• Hobby-pursuing activities and courses
• Organizing special events every month for rewarding employees
• Office theme parties or trips

Encourage communication

Much like any relationship, the key to maintaining a healthy workplace environment is clear and frequent communication. These practices will help you improve internal communication at your company, no matter where everyone is working:

• Demonstrate empathy: as a manager, it’s important to show your employees that you know they have lives outside of work, that you care, and that you hear what they have to say.
• Adopt an open-door policy: you can strengthen your communication with your team members by simply making it clear that they can informally check in with you when they need to. 
• Respect cultural differences: in order to create an inclusive environment where everyone feels comfortable expressing themselves, management must be culturally sensitive. Learn about your employees, their habits, and traditions and show them you care by respecting their culture.
• Explore communication tools: there are so many communication tools you can use to increase the quality of communication within a company. For example, simple Viber groups can be very useful in terms of sharing info and organizing work, but also as a socializing channel.

There is a lot of things you can consider in order to create a positive working environment and make your employees happy to come to work. You can start with something small, like providing free snacks and drinks in the office. If you are not sure what to do exactly, just come up with a list of things your business can afford to provide and send it to your team to vote and add their suggestions. That way you will show you care about your team and their needs. Plus, you will be sure that you made a good choice because of the feedback you receive.