Creating A Positive And Open Working Environment

Having an open and honest workplace is important for any business. It helps employees to feel more comfortable, while also creating a more inclusive and nurturing work environment. Your employees should feel like they can speak their mind, and that the things they say are always taken into account. Is this a fair reflection of your workplace? If not, it’s time to make some changes.

Explore some of the ways you can create a more positive and open working environment.

Discuss it with your employees

There has been a big shift within companies recently. The #MeToo movement has raised a lot of difficult questions about behavior in the workplace, and it’s an important discussion to have with your employees. Whether your office has experienced this kind of behavior or not, it’s important for employees to get the chance to speak and discuss their concerns about attitudes and behavior in the workplace to help drive positive change. Your employees may have some ideas around safeguarding and other policies, and it’s important to take their opinions into account.

Put policies in place to help those who speak up

Employees need to feel safe when raising difficult issues. Whether they are calling out inappropriate behavior or they are raising concerns about practices which aren’t ethical or legal - there needs to be a policy in place that helps those with something to say to come forward. Many companies have helplines set up that can help employees come forward, even anonymously, to help with the process.

Be prepared that without these sorts of policies, you risk employees going elsewhere to air their concerns. At mahanyertl.com, Mahany Law provides legal services for whistleblowers, which can be a more preferable route for employees. Giving options to your workers is important, and they should feel like they should be able to speak up where appropriate.

Ask for feedback regularly

Asking for regular feedback can be a useful way of improving things within your workplace. There are different strategies you can try that will help you get more honest feedback from employees, including staff surveys. Employees should feel as though they can give feedback anonymously, while also being given regularly opportunities to do so. Publish the results of any feedback you receive to help you become more accountable for making changes. 

Change the way you work

By changing the way you work, you can help employees feel more confident and comfortable to speak up and share their ideas. You can work towards building a more collaborative work environment that helps employees to feel included and able to work across projects with colleagues effectively. Even changing the layout of your office can help make your workplace more collaborative, and makes your office a much more positive place to be.

Creating a positive and open working environment is important for businesses. It’s a huge selling point for potential job candidates, while also helping you to get the best out of your employees. How will you change things in your workplace? Start focusing on making your workplace more open today.