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It’s no surprise of the impacts that creating positive workplace culture can have on employees. Studies show that more than 70% of employees spend more time with colleagues than their own family. In fact, most of the stress formed in people’s lives are from careers events that impact their health and wellbeing, but stress doesn’t just stay at work, it’s transferable and can have an impact at home. Having a positive workplace culture can have everlasting benefits to individuals, teams and your business. Not only can it boost morale and improve the level of engagement of your employees, but it can also increase retention. 72% of job seekers in Australia want a healthy work-life balance as a priority in their search for a new opportunity. Positive workplace culture isn’t just about the ‘fluffy’ language you want to hear. It’s about practising what you preach.

Tip #1: Focus on Onboarding & training

Onboarding doesn’t begin on someone’s first day; it actually starts from the very first interaction you have as each engagement has an impact on one’s decision to join your business. It’s no secret that a terrible onboarding process and training can result in quick resignations, and businesses are realizing this more and more. If your onboarding is throwing someone at a desk expecting them to do great things, then think again. Joining a new business for many can be daunting. It’s important to make them feel valued and ensure they have the relevant trying to do their job effectively. Such things may include a lovely welcome gift, showing colleagues, meeting new teams and understanding your products & services. Depending on the size of the business, we recommend at least 1 or 2 weeks for onboarding and training.

Tip #2: Provide a comfortable and safe working environment

What does a safe environment mean? It’s important you make every effort to get to know your team and what makes them feel safe. Make an effort and don’t use excuses such as “I haven’t got time” is how you create a positive culture. Make sure all of your employees feel valued, appreciated and safe to be able to voice an opinion or concern where they will not be judged or frowned upon. Give everyone an equal opportunity to participate in meetings or brainstorming events. Don’t disregard ideas and embrace failure.

Tip #3: Be grateful and appreciative.

I know we touched on this in tip 1 but gratefulness is one of the most underrated ways to really connect with your employees and show them that you care. It’s simple and very effective. Say “Hi” and good morning to more people every day. Be quick to thank your team when they do a good job. Mutual appreciation helps improve your relationship so everyone can focus on the business objectives without many hurdles.

Tip #4: Trust your team

In today’s world, trust is almost absent. It’s spoken about by many but rarely practised.  You can tell quite quickly if someone doesn’t trust you, it’s in their behaviour. When we think about leaders, the obvious trait where trust lacks, is if you as a leader are micro-managing your team and checking their every move. Trust isn’t formed overnight and in one single act of appreciation. Building trust takes time and hard work. To build trust, embrace failure. Be consistent, show appreciation for their hard work, praise their efforts, support them when they fail and never give up on them. Help them focus on development. Show them that you care in every way possible.

Tip #5: Feedback, Feedback & More Feedback

Without feedback, there is no way for us to improve or celebrate the things you do well. We cannot stress enough of the importance and impact providing and receiving feedback can have on an environment and culture. Providing people with a comfortable and safe environment to provide feedback means people’s voices will be heard so you can continue to improve the culture, understand issues (the good, the bad and the ugly) but equally, you’ll get to know what is working well. Feedback is the tool that allows us to continuously learn, it’s always there and it should always happen. Don’t misinterpret feedback with the negativity of gossip.

Don’t ever underestimate the power of a positive culture. Many businesses tend to understand the importance, however, there are still many that are not putting in the effort and dedication to really focus to improve it. The benefits of positive workplace culture will continue to grow exponentially over time, where employees will remain motivated to produce results & provide a high level of customer service. Think about it, when leadership is focused on building a positive, kind, encouraging and engaging environment, where people feel safe and not threatened, it increases people’s emotion and wellbeing. When organizations make positive culture a priority, they will achieve higher results, increase collaboration, productivity and customer satisfaction. The results will follow. Spread a bit of kindness every day to improve your culture.