Creating a healthy workplace culture

Having a positive culture with strong communication and development opportunities is intrinsic to maintaining a healthy workplace. These structural considerations can have profound impacts on the wellbeing of staff and the functionality of the workplace, generating feelings of aspiration and team bonding within staff. 

Communication

Good communication underpins all your efforts to boost employee morale, engagement, productivity and satisfaction in the workplace. Get it right and staff will have the information they need to perform their roles efficiently and it will build a positive work environment. Get it wrong and staff will feel misunderstood, disregarded and not listened to. 

A cost effective-way to ensure staff feel valued is ensuring management check in with employees with reviews and informal feedback, stressing areas of success. Simple measures like shout-outs in meetings and emails can create a culture where workers feel valued in their roles. 

It is also important to consider how you provide feedback to staff. It is important to keep a balance between what is working and what needs to be improved. Ensuring adequate preparation is taken beforehand, such as preparing examples and anticipating potential questions, can make the meeting more efficient. 

Another way to support staff by improving communication is accounting for different communication styles within the team. Thinking about how to support the ideas of staff who may have different communication styles can contribute to a culture of participation and ownership. For example, some staff may feel comfortable speaking in large meetings, whilst others may prefer to give feedback in an email questionnaire. 

One of the most significant methods to streamline communications is promoting social connections within teams. This can be achieved by:

• Encouraging employees to talk in person during the work day
• Creating a comfortable space in the office for work conversations 
• Encouraging staff to stay in touch by creating groups on Whatsapp 

Open and streamlined communication can ensure that staff feel supported within the workplace and a sense of belonging within the team, ultimately improving outcomes for organisations. This is essential for creating a healthy workplace culture where staff feel supported. 

Development opportunities 

Employees are often keen to develop within their roles and providing opportunities to do so will ensure staff have a sense of pride and aspiration. Even in smaller organisations, where there is not a great deal of opportunity to move up the ladder, there are ways in which you can create a culture of learning. 

The first step would be to evaluate the existing induction training and consider how it could be tailored to fit the needs of all employees. Be broad in the interpretation of induction training and investigate any potential relevant short online courses which may be of interest to demonstrate to the new employee that the organisation is committed to development. 

‘Soft skill’ development is paramount in smaller organisations where there may be less opportunities for formal training or promotion. Ask line managers to think about their staff- what are their skills and interests and how do they want to progress in their career journey? Opportunities such as taking on more responsibility, organising an event, helping with inductions, or mentoring other staff can all help to build soft skills and give a greater sense of commitment. 

Providing opportunities for development is a great way to avoid the feeling of career stagnation that can sometimes plague staff who feel their career journey is stalling. Consider how your organisation can engage staff with opportunities for training and building ‘soft skills’. 

Evaluating structural components of workplace culture such as communication and development can aid in the construction of healthy practices which uplift staff both in their career journeys and in their wellbeing. 

If you want to know more about creating a healthy work environment, check out our Revive workplace wellbeing sessions