11 Simple Ways to Foster Positive Work Culture

Positive work culture is productive and creates a kind of environment for creativity, happiness, and collaboration. Different cultures exist in different organizations, but it is crucial to acknowledge the impact a culture can have on the employees and organization at large. Negative workplace culture has the potential to lower morale, which affects production and injury rates. 

What is Positive Work Culture?

This organizational culture refers to the set of beliefs, attitudes, and values shared by everyone employed and that guide the organization. It influences the way customers and employees are treated and has implications for the kind of candidates that are recruited for vacancies. Positive work culture also yields increased profits and less turnover. It may improve employee productivity and boost overall company work performance. 

Benefits of a Positive Work Culture

Recruitment and Job Satisfaction

Positive work culture is a great way to attract new employees because it gives the organization a competitive advantage over the others. Persons are interested in joining an organization that has a good reputation with current and previous employees. The right talent looking to make the organization its home, as opposed to a steppingstone is likely to gravitate to an organization with the right cultural variables in place. 

Job satisfaction tends to be higher in organizations with the positive work culture. Employees become happy and dedicated when employers invest in their well-being. 

Work Performance and Reduced Stress

There is a strong link between positive culture and higher productivity rates. That’s because employees tend to be more devoted and motivated to work harder and smarter when their well-being is invested in. 

If the environment has a positive and productive work culture, the stress levels in the organization are significantly lower, which enhances employee work performance and health. 

Collaboration

Whenever an organization has a strong, positive work culture, employees are more likely to harmonize and work as a team. The culture enables open communication, teamwork, and social interactions which produces great results.

Employee Loyalty and Morale

A positive work culture does not only help with recruitment, but it also helps to retain employees. Much of this comes from a sense of loyalty. Employees are less likely to leave when they feel like they belong, are treated right, and can feel job enrichment. Having and maintaining a positive work culture automatically boosts employee morale.

11 Simple Ways That Foster Positive Culture in a Virtual Workplace

Even in a virtual context, employees still need to feel the presence of a positive culture. Virtual teams are growing larger, which means every day, employers must foster and support a good virtual work culture. These simple ways can create that setting:

1. Establish a Sense of Purpose with Over-communication

You must over-communicate, so everyone is kept aligned and informed where goals, objectives, and trajectory of the organization are concerned. Repetition can be effective in ensuring the information is not lost or misinterpreted. 

2. Nurture Relationship Building and One-on-One

Utilize company retreats, video calling, or in-person events to create opportunities for the virtual employee to meet, greet, and bond with each other and other staff members.  

Try finding a way to connect with your employees on a personal note. One way to explore this is to use video calling applications or schedule regular in-person events so people can get together. For example, every Thursday is games day. 

3. Try Being Considerate and Accessible

Employees may work virtually from their home office standing desk with the best ergonomic chair, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have other requirements and needs.

Working remotely has its limitations, so try allowing virtual team members to make contact between regular meetings. Having access provides the support a virtual team requires.

4. Ownership, Recognition, and Praise

Once virtual employees have maintained established work standards, give them full ownership and independence over projects. Virtual employees also like to be commended for a job well done, so devise systems to show the team that it is appreciated.

5. Encourage Work-Life Integration and Request Feedback

Allowing virtual employees to create personalized schedules can create happier employees and increase productivity. Additionally, only your employees know what is missing from the environment. Ask them for their insight on more ways to improve the virtual team culture. 

6. Create an Empowering Work Environment

The workplace should be the place for empowering employees to get work done. Besides physical comfort, an environment that promotes psychological and cognitive stimulation is key. Practicing virtual office etiquette, using ergonomic furniture, such as the Kinn Chair, and engaging in seated stretch exercises can impact the emotional wellbeing and promote the focus of the team.

7. Emphasize Training and Onboarding

The aim here is to create a positive virtual workplace culture and create high-performing teams. There needs to be dedicated time for employees to be educated on the company and its code of conduct to help them understand how the organization works. You could choose to have a do and don’t rule for work list to emphasize things clearly.

8. Promote Communication and Collaboration

This is an important part of the process. Establishing efficient mediums for effective communication can help create a collective atmosphere that contributes to the organization's success. Using assigned platforms for projects, copying coworkers in email chains, and creating a public space for team priorities reinforces collaborative efforts.  

9. Conduct Routine Check-in

Regardless of location, an informal email to remote workers or an instant message to follow-up or get an opinion on something can go a far way in boosting productivity. 

10. Provide Opportunities for Growth and Learning 

Employee’s performance tends to improve when an organization prioritizes professional growth and development while providing avenues for informal knowledge sharing and learning. Making sure there is workplace experimentation and that learning is situational. Tests can save an organization a lot of money as employees become equipped with all the information needed to complete their jobs. 

11. Improve the Workplace Culture ­

Having clearly defined priorities and values sets your organization apart from the others and can unite employees. It also establishes a clear path, as everyone understands the company’s goals and ambitions.