5 tips to build a healthy work culture

Recently, companies have started to invest more time and money into a healthy organizational culture. Organizational culture influences many aspects of a business, including employee retention, engagement, happiness, productivity, and more. No matter their position, employees tend to work better when they are valued. When the work culture is consistent with their needs and values, employees feel happier and more confident. A favorable organizational culture lets employees develop better relationships with their peers and, as a result, their productivity is enhanced. Company culture is also often used as a determining factor by job-seekers when evaluating an offer. It plays a huge role in attracting quality talent and boosting the corporate image of an organization. Here are some tips to help you build a healthy work culture for your business:

1. Develop transparency

Transparency is highly essential to building a healthy company culture. Without it, your organization might appear untrustworthy to your employees, and this hurts employee motivation and productivity. On the other hand, when your organization is honest about its business operations and plans, your employees will trust management more, and they will feel like a vital part of your organization’s goals. Transparency in an organization also ensures smoother and steadier business operations. To develop this transparency:

• Promote open communication

• Be available to your employees

• Involve employees in the decision-making process

• Share both good and bad news

• Provide reasons for important decisions

2. Empower your employees

When employees are empowered in an organization, they tend to work more effectively and efficiently. Employee turnover decreases as your people grow more confident and satisfied, leading to more motivation and productivity. Employees tend to be honest and committed to their organization if they feel trusted and valued. Here are some ways to empower your employees:

• Encourage employees to take on responsibilities

• Enhance communication

• Communicate your organizational goals clearly

• Provide the necessary resources and technology for the job

• Organize training programs for your employees to improve or build new skills

3. Encourage collaboration among employees

One of the first things to do while establishing a good company culture is to encourage collaboration among your employees. When collaboration is encouraged in an organization, it fosters a sense of community. A learning culture is also developed as employees with different skills and backgrounds communicate and work together. In a collaborative work environment, employees trust each other better, which improves employee morale and happiness. Develop a collaborative work environment by:

• Encouraging discussion among your employees

• Making teamwork compulsory

• Encouraging your employees to speak up

• Allowing some socializing

4. Create a flexible work environment

A flexible work environment increases employee productivity and morale as employees are given control over their work schedules. A flexible policy enables them to work without compromising their personal commitments, reducing unscheduled absenteeism. Employee turnover also decreases as employees feel that their organization supports their personal needs. These are some tips to build a flexible work environment:

• Trust your employees

• Set clear rules for the flexible policy

• Train your managers well

• Reduce the number of meetings

• Allow employees to work from home

Also read:5 tips to adopt a flexible work culture

5. Provide and receive feedback

A culture of providing and receiving feedback can completely change the work environment. When feedback is a two-way process, it leads to informed decisions and better growth strategies for your organization. When feedback is regularly provided, your employees will be able to understand how their performance is perceived by others and work better. When your employees are heard in your organization, you can better tailor the work environment to their individual needs, and your people will feel cared for at their job. You can develop a feedback culture in your organization by:

• Developing honest and open communication channels

• Encouraging employees to ask questions

• Listening to your employees

• Using different feedback channels including 360-degree feedback, surveys, and face-to-face interviews

• Putting their feedback to use

Establishing a healthy organizational culture enhances employee motivation, experience, productivity, and loyalty. When the work culture in your organization is favorable, your organization’s image also improves and more talented candidates will want to work for your business. We hope these tips gave you some insight on how to build an appealing work culture. We believe that having a growing and successful business also means having a happy and productive workplace for your employees.

With Zoho People, our HR software, creating a healthy work culture is not difficult anymore. Transparency and accountability are increased as the employee data is managed from a single platform, which can be accessed by others with suitable permissions. Our internal chat and forum features improve communication among employees. Our self-service portal empowers employees to manage most of their activities on their own. Our Performance Management System improves the feedback process. On the whole, Zoho People is a one-stop solution that can help you develop a favorable work culture that your employees would love. To know more about our product, click here. 

Also read:5 signs that your organizational culture needs improvement