Improving Climate and Culture in the Workplace
Posted on May 14, 2024 by Laura Thoresen, One of Thousands of Executive Coaches on Noomii.
Preliminary steps to improve climate and culture in the workplace
You know the saying, "A happy wife equals a happy life.” The same is true for the workplace. If you have happy employees you will have a more productive and happy work environment. But how is this achieved? Here are some preliminary steps that you can take to make this a reality. Remember this takes time.
Lead by example – Behavior and attitude that you expect from others, you must model. In other words, you must be someone who is approachable and can relate to those you supervise. Show others that you not only talk the talk but you walk the walk. If you expect your employees to work past 5pm, then you should show that you are also going to work past 5pm.
Nourishment – Love languages vary from person to person. I am not saying that you need to love your employees but everyone needs to be nourished. Bringing in food from time to time is an example of thanking them for their hard work and giving back. This does not need to be a four star breakfast but a simple gesture in this area will do. Bring in bagels and coffee one day. Let people know ahead of time that you are doing this and state that it is to thank them all for a great job on a project or quarter or week. A simple email stating that you are bringing in bagels and coffee (or whatever you choose) and where they will be located will ensure that everyone knows and that they will be consumed.
Be Genuine – Be someone you genuinely can be. Don’t be disingenuous as people can see this and will cause distrust.
Engage your values – Be honest with yourself as to the values that you hold as a person and as a professional. Those values will guide you as to your expectations from others. Realize that others may not share the same values and may not know that you have a particular value. For example, if you believe in putting family first before work – that is something that can be conveyed. You might discuss during a meeting that you understand that if someone has to leave at the end of the workday due to the fact that they have child care needs. You might also discuss that you can be flexible as long as deadlines are met and the quality of work does not suffer.
Open your door – Allow others to provide a way to discuss projects or work and allow suggestions. You have to be open to feedback/criticism. You may have to listen to some negative criticism. You have to do this with an openness to learning and wanting feedback. Some of these suggestions may be gold. Using some of the suggestions and implementing empowers the employees as well as makes them feel heard. Here is a light hearted example, a strict teacher wears a necklace with multiple charms on it. One of the charms appears to be a “dagger”. This belief makes all the students fear this teacher. One brave student went to the teacher for extra help and innocently asked why she had a “dagger” charm. The teacher laughed and explained that she loves scuba diving and it is a scuba diving knife charm. The next day, the teacher started the class with a discussion of her favorite hobby – scuba diving. Then each student had a few minutes to share their favorite hobby. This created an opportunity to share and learn.
Using these preliminary steps will help guide you in your journey to improving climate and culture in the workplace.
