A Healthy Workplace Is a Productive Workplace
You can usually tell within about five minutes of walking into a workplace what it feels like to be there - sometimes it’s going to be calm and organised, and people look like they’re happy and comfortable, and sometimes it feels tense and rushed or awkward, even if no one actually says anything.
The strange thing is, businesses will invest heavily in systems, equipment, strategy, and performance tracking, but sometimes they’ll totally overlook the atmosphere within the business itself, and that does tend to be a mistake because a healthy workplace is a productive workplace; keep reading to find out more.
Unspoken Problems Slow Things Down
Workplace problems and tension might not be something you can see when you look at reports and figures, but it will be there if you actually look at the people you’re working with. Is anyone hesitating to say something? Are they avoiding conversations? Are you often waiting for responses to things because no one really wants to interact?
If any of this, or plenty of other signs, are happening and you’re not doing anything about them, it creates a much bigger problem, and rather than focusing on their work, people are always second-guessing and double-checking, and they’re not confident enough to talk about their ideas, and so on, and that can really set a business back a long way.
Clear Standards Remove Guesswork
One of the best ways to protect a workplace is to remove ambiguity. After all, if everyone understands what respectful behaviour should look like, and what happens if people don’t do it, there’s going to be a lot less misunderstandings.
That’s why something like workplace harassment training is ideal because it helps with compliance, of course, but it also means everyone understands the rules and they’re all starting from the same point.
Confidence Comes From Safety
People are more creative, more decisive, and more collaborative when they feel secure, meaning in the sense that they’re not going to be undermined or dismissed unfairly just for speaking up or speaking their mind or even trying to address an issue.
That kind of security is great because it allows people to take initiative, and they’ll be more willing to speak up and contribute more, and over time that’s going to give you stronger and more productive teams.
Productivity Isn’t Pressure
There’s quite a common belief that pressure drives performance, and the truth is that it can certainly do that… but only in the short term. However, long term productivity comes from security and stability, and from knowing what’s expected and feeling respected at the same time.
Basically, when a workplace feels like it’s a good place to be in, the focus goes to the work itself rather than the environment around it, which is precisely how it’s meant to be.
Final Thoughts
There’s a lot of work to put into a workplace to make it a healthy one, but that work is always worth it not only because it makes people happier (so it’s a good thing to do), but because it makes the business more productive too.
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