Every company starts small. Every billion-dollar-worth company had humble beginnings. What earned their place and popularity is the process of development and a positive working environment.
The ones that survive are those that make the most significant impact. So, a big question imposes – what makes any business expand through the steps of development?
The answer is the working environment. The working environment puts in motion the motivation, ambition, and desire for all employees’ prosperity in a company. Employees face everyday difficulties in and out of work, and dealing with this stress can take a toll and reflect on the company’s success and productivity.
So, it is undeniable that people spend a lot of time at work, so a positive workplace design can do wonders for individual and company success. But how is it created?
This article will answer this question and will additionally explain about:
- Working environment and its opportunities
- The heart of the working environment
- Characteristics of a positive working environment
Working environment and its opportunities
Julie Bevacqua, the President at Rise People, says “In order to build a rewarding employee experience, you need to understand what matters most to your people.”
We should start from here. Regardless of the company’s size, its success depends on how motivated the team members are to involve themselves as much as possible in the company’s growth.
When it comes to small and medium-sized companies, the working environment is the deciding factor for the capability to grow as individuals, colleagues, and experts. Such companies rely 100% on the handful of employees’ skills and experience to transform the business from a challenger into a leader.
The opportunities to advance in the professional career are often predetermined by the ability to see oneself grow in a particular working environment. If it is accepting, nurturing, and challenging, it will create an army of success. If it fails to meet the team members’ needs, it will doom the company to failure.
The heart of the working environment
In small and medium-sized businesses, the employee is the heart of the working environment. If a handful of employees are motivated to bring life to the best ideas, the company will thrive; if not, the company will stumble. Here is why.
Every employee is led by three force-driving factors: ambition, motivation, and success. Each of these factors has a tremendous influence on the working environment.
Ambition
Low ambition equals low progress. To successfully deal with low ambition in small and medium-sized companies, the manager should step up and change the behaviour course. Often, when the manager develops an authoritarian management style over an employee, it is because the manager feels like the employee comes to work only for the paycheck.
Both of these, the manager’s attitude and the employee’s dissatisfaction, come from a non-productive working environment. Instead of maintaining this type of attitude, the manager should focus on amending the working environment rather than looking for guilt in the employees. Only then will the managers be able to boost ambition.
Motivation
When it comes to motivation, another study by Ali and Ahmed states that there is a statistically significant relationship between reward and recognition, respectively, and motivation and satisfaction. If the rewards or recognition offered to employees are altered, a corresponding change will also happen with the workplace’s motivation and satisfaction.
This shows that the importance of motivation is enormous in the workplace and the used techniques to achieve it. If the employees are equally rewarded for their efforts, their motivation will push the company forward; if there is inequality – they will become indifferent toward their goals and look only for their rewards.
Success
With success, it is all about the mindset. Psychology perfectly applies to business organisations, too. If you can do it once, you can do it again. In fact, you do it the first time only for yourself- to prove that you can do it, and then when you believe you can, everyone else will. This is called individual growth.
According to Carol Dweck, the author of Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, there is a difference between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset. The fixed mindset is all of the essential abilities, intelligence, and talents necessary to succeed. However, the growth mindset is about how these essential skills and talents can be further developed through effort, learning, and persistence.
In a nutshell, success hinges on whether you believe that the skills can be developed or not. If a working environment promotes employees’ growth mindset, the company will develop the same way as the employee’s success.
Image: Pexels
Characteristics of a positive working environment
Once you, as manager or owner, are fully aware of the importance of a positive working environment and the fact that employees are the main part of that notion – it is time to know the characteristics.
There is more than one factor that can make or break the company’s working atmosphere. The journey may seem long or exhausting at times, but the main goal remains – motivated employees that in time will lead your company to greatness and help stay there. So, we should discuss the characteristics next. These include:
Productive environment
What does this entail exactly? A calm workspace that motivates employees to stay productive. There are minimal to no distractions, and each and every work assignment will be completed on time and as successfully as possible.
A stress-free working environment is a blessing that employees long for, and by providing that for them, the company will ensure loyalty and productivity. Moreover, your employees will have better general well-being, thus better performance ratings—a win-win situation.
Open communication
Open and honest communication is one of the key factors when a company tries to create a positive and productive working environment. This goes for upper management-employees and coworker-coworker.
Regardless of the situation, if each employee feels that they can ask a question and receive honest feedback – they will feel more valued and appreciated. This healthy process helps with professional growth, self-confidence, and overall better work quality.
Compassion
This should go without saying. Compassion, understanding, and respect go hand in hand and should always be present if your goal is to achieve a positive working environment. Everyone will feel included, appreciated, and collaboration will be improved.
Reinforcement
One way to show appreciation and boost motivation is positive reinforcement. There are no doubts that those companies which provide reinforcements contribute to fostering a better working environment.
Amongst all else, employees do care about work bonuses, lunches, pay raises, and reserved parking lots. Try to implement these, according to their work progress, of course – and you will soon see results.
Opportunities for growth
Opportunities for growth, and feeling encouraged to improve one’s individual skills is incredibly important for your employees. This helps them find contentment in their job, and the possibility to advance will motivate them even more. Growth is closely connected with support from coworkers and managers, so make sure you follow through.
Positive attitude and thinking
Mindset means a lot. A positive mindset can spread positive vibes and a good mood throughout the entire company. How team leaders react after an issue with a client, for instance, can have an impact on the team, and what their mood and behavior will be like for the rest of the day. Help create a team that would rather focus on the pros than on the cons.
Work-life balance
As already mentioned above, employees need to have the right balance between their work and private life. Everyone has personal issues, but things can get only worse if a person’s work environment makes them feel even more anxious or agitated.
Here you can again see how important it is to maintain a positive working environment. After all, people spend half their day working. We should all make sure it is worth their while, and it makes them feel fulfilled.
In Summary
All of this comes down to a fundamental note – it is not about the number of employees in a company that brings life to ideas. It is about creating a working environment that takes care of every employee regardless of their number.
A strongly motivated employee who is satisfied with their job can perform ten times better and bring the company closer to its goals than ten employees who take the job for granted and can’t wait for the workday to finish.
Each team member should be respected the same way if you, as a manager, want them to put in the same amount of work. Every individual has their strives and ambitions, and the moment they feel that the working environment is threatening their motivation, they will stop caring for the company.
They won’t be a team player anymore. If you want your army of success, make them feel worthy of the company’s success. Nothing less.
About the Author
Milan Savov is an entrepreneur, a web development visionary, and the founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of SmartClick, a web and SEO agency. He loves discussing business ideas and concepts and enjoys helping people build their online visibility.
