Most workers spend somewhere near half of their waking hours at work. Shouldn’t employees enjoy their work environment?
Job satisfaction is hugely important. Disgruntled staff tend either to jump ship or dig in their heels and sow discontent. An endlessly frustrating or unrewarding role is unappealing enough. Add in a lengthy commute – according to a May article by the Washington Post, the average trip for employees in the U.S. is 25 minutes each way – and you have a recipe for high turnover.
It’s essential for companies to create positive and productive work environments; employees who feel at home and are satisfied with their employer are more committed, higher performing and more altruistic. When it comes to creating an ideal workplace for your employees, it’s impossible to guard against all potentially negative experiences, but many factors are within HR’s or management’s control. HR Magazine offers six principles to help foster productivity and cultivate a rewarding environment:
- Let people be themselves
- Unleash the flow of information
- Magnify people’s strengths
- Stand for more than shareholder value
- Show how work makes sense
- Have rules that people believe in
The key here is trust – those in charge must trust those on the ground floor, and vice versa. Leadership must be credible, operate with integrity, demonstrate respect for employees and treat every member of the team fairly. The article states that “good workplace practices can definitely help the bottom line,” and, in fact, that no studies have shown evidence to the contrary.
Published by Conselium Executive Search, the global leader in compliance search.
