A huge part of motivating your employees and making them want to keep working for you is the culture of your office. Someone could be working the perfect job and love the work they do, but if the office culture is not ideal, they’ll dread coming to work. It’s up to you to work on crafting and encouraging the type of office culture that actually makes people want to work for you. While it’s nearly impossible to make the perfect office for everyone that works there, here are a few tips to make the office culture the best it can be and hopefully benefit all employees.
Get their feedback
The most important step you should take toward building a quality office culture is asking your employees for their feedback. Consider sending out an annual employment survey that they can respond anonymously to, offering their feedback and any suggestions they may have to improve the office. Also institute an open door policy so they feel comfortable talking to you about issues. Once they give you feedback, make a point to actually consider it and respond to common concerns or suggestions.
Offer clarity
Another big step toward making employees happy about the office culture is providing clarity about the company’s vision and goals. Make sure employees understand why they’re important to helping the company achieve goals. Always communicate new goals and the steps for attaining them; communication is one of the best ways to improve office culture. If employees feel they do not have a clear idea of what the company stands for and how they’re important, they won’t feel satisfied in their jobs.
Put people before business
While you do need to focus on running a fantastic business, do not always focus on the bottom line and neglect giving your employees the support and attention they deserve. Focusing on your employees as actual people instead of just a way to push your business along makes for a much better office culture.
Reward your best employees
A pay raise or bonus is always nice, but you can’t do this for every employee who does something great. While these types of rewards are definitely needed at some times, there are other ways you can make sure you reward stellar employees. Offer words of recognition, award plaques, or something else that makes your employee feel recognized for the hard work they do.
Treat them as a team
Instead of viewing your employees merely as people who work under you, treat them like they’re your team (because they are!). You do need to remain professional and be their boss, but show them how you can all work together to accomplish what’s best for the company and achieve success. Feeling like they’re all a team and should be working together helps motivate employees and makes them enjoy the office more.
Hire the right employees
Finally, before putting any of these other steps into place, make sure you’re hiring the best employees for your company. When hiring, think about who your ideal employee would be and consider the traits you want them to have. Include unique questions that help you determine whether or not an interviewee has the qualities you’re looking for; ask them what their ideal office culture would be. By hiring employees that’ll create an ideal office culture, you’re avoiding a lot of problems later down the line.
