Never underestimate the power of positivity in the workplace.
Your employees are your most important assets. By leveraging positivity in the workplace, you can create an atmosphere where your team feels valued and appreciated. Since there is a large correlation between employee happiness and productivity, we firmly believe investing in a strong, positive company culture can have significant impacts on growth and business outcomes.
On the other hand, leaders who intentionally or unintentionally create tense, high-pressure working environments as a tactic to meet business objectives may see short-term results; however, this type of company culture often leads to long-term negative consequences. Employees will likely work hard while under pressure but will lack sustainable motivation to remain productive long term. This approach often leads to high turnover as employees don’t stick around when they’re not happy.
Benefits Of Positivity In The Workplace
The truth is it’s possible to hold your organization to high standards and promote a positive culture. In fact, learning how to do so is certainly worth the investment. Companies of all sizes hire business consultants to help develop and create positive company cultures where employees thrive. Here are just a few of the many benefits of doing so:
Positivity Increases Employee Engagement
When a company’s culture is centered around positivity, employees are more likely to be recognized for strong performance and achieving results. When employees are recognized and appreciated, they’re more likely to be engaged and productive. They’ll enjoy coming to work. Positivity leads to productivity, which leads to recognition, which leads to more positivity — it’s a very strong and successful feedback loop.
Positivity Fosters A Collaborative Environment
A positive company culture introduces an element of psychological safety, which is the feeling that one can be themselves in the workplace without repercussions. Psychological safety makes employees feel more willing to share ideas and take action without the fear of being humiliated or punished for making a mistake.
When a company promotes psychological safety through positivity, they’re more likely to drive successful team dynamics. Working with other people not only provides a social benefit, but it also helps others learn. Most importantly, studies have shown that people are more likely to work harder and become more motivated when they feel like a valued part of a team.
Positivity Improves Your Employee’s Personal Well-Being
Frequent exposure to high levels of stress and negativity can actually have a harmful impact on your employee’s health. This can lead to more sick days and less sleep, which translates into more mistakes and less motivation. Remember, your employees are your company’s most important asset. If the well-being of your employees is suffering, the well-being of your company is suffering too.
Tips To Increase Workplace Positivity
Creating a positive company culture starts at the top of the organization. As a leader, you’re responsible for building and reinforcing the principles and values of the organization. Balancing a positive atmosphere with tight deadlines and high expectations can be challenging, but here are some tips to help you achieve it:
Encourage Social Connections
Strong social connections have a direct connection to happiness and positivity. As a leader, you should do everything in your power to encourage social connections among colleagues. If you’re operating in a physical space, consider an open floor plan without cubes or individual offices, so employees can more easily collaborate and bond. If you’re operating remotely, be sure to encourage employees to turn on the video to increase face-to-face interaction.
You can also organize or sponsor after-work activities or offsite retreats to help promote team building and foster social connections among your employees.
Establish An Open Door Policy
An inaccessible leader who rarely engages with employees creates an atmosphere of fear and negativity. On the other hand, leaders who make themselves accessible and encourage communication are able to build a sense of trust, make employees feel valued, and ultimately drive positivity.
Encourage your employees to reach out to you, stop by your office, or even just send you an email. Make sure to hold regular check-ins and town hall meetings to keep your employees in the loop and give them the opportunity to ask questions.
An important part of leadership is developing talent around you. Make sure to provide effective feedback to your direct reports, help them solve problems, and set meaningful goals.
Reward And Recognize Strong Performance
Employee recognition plays such an important role in the development of a positive workplace, and it’s also one of the easiest things to do. Call out big wins during team meetings, provide positive feedback during performance reviews, and send out congratulatory emails when a team completes a project. Recognizing, rewarding, and promoting strong performance is one of the most common ways to drive positivity into your company culture.
Model Positive Behavior
Creating a positive environment starts with the CEO. As the head of the company, you should exemplify the positive behaviors you want others to follow throughout the organization. You reinforce the importance of these behaviors amongst your leadership team and incorporate them into manager training. By modeling positive behavior and setting it as an expectation, you’ll be more likely to see it reflected at every level across the company.
In today’s competitive job market, employers can’t afford not to create a positive environment where their employees feel valued and happy. When employees are immersed in a positive work environment day in and day out, you’re more likely to retain them for the long term. When employees feel the opposite, they’re more likely to go work for your competitor.
Every company is unique, but so many of them face the same challenges. The truth is, building the right company culture can be really hard, which is why so many leaders to turn business consultants to help. An experienced consultant has the advantage of having worked with dozens of companies facing similar challenges. As a result, they know how to implement an approach that actually achieves results.
If you’re looking for a team of experienced business consultants to help transform your company culture, contact Lilly Consulting Group today. We’ve helped transform dozens of companies of all sizes and have experience working across a wide range of industries.
