3 tips for creating a positive work environment

Creating a happy and healthy working environment is critical to the success of any people-driven organisation. After all, if your employees don’t enjoy spending time in the workplace, how will they be able to function productively throughout the day?

There are plenty of things you can do to help create a more positive working environment, many with little up-front investment. Here are three suggestions for easy things you can do to ensure your workplace is a pleasant place to be.

Offer learning opportunities 

Training and development opportunities are one of the most important things that employees look for in an employer. Despite this, the 2013 Kelly Global Workforce Index indicated that more than half of  Australian employees don’t think they are getting the right amount of training while on the job.

Human resource management software can assist in this respect, by providing your organisation with a consistent training and development system that allows decision makers to distribute education material and training opportunities to relevant employees.

Identify sources of negativity 

According to Gallup’s latest State of the Global Workplace report on employee engagement, 16 per cent of Australian and New Zealand employees are actively disengaged. This means they so unhappy and unproductive at work that they are likely to spread their negativity and impact the productivity of coworkers.

Even the most pleasant of workplaces can be spoiled by a particularly negative employee, so it’s important to take steps to identify these individuals, and put together a strategy for ensuring they are re-engaged in a timely manner.

Encourage spontaneity

For many employees, work can often be repetitive and dull. That’s why encouraging fun and spontaneity can be a great initiative when it comes to generating a positive atmosphere and improving employee work satisfaction.

Don’t underestimate the value of a simple team lunch or an impromptu after work drink. Positivity fuels productivity, and the impact of taking an extra 30 minutes out of the day to socialise will be quickly counterbalanced by improved overall team performance.