What is a work environment?
Here we will provide you the information about Good working environment characteristics its Importance and bad environment.
This meaning may seem obvious, but the work environment goes far beyond a physical space. There, leaders and subordinates meet every day to develop actions in accordance with their professional activities.
For the site Conceito.com, work environment is a place that means a set of relationships between individuals in the corporate field, where professionals live most of the time and under labor standards.
Therefore, we can simplify this concept. The work environment is a place where professionals carry out their work activities, however, according to the conditions and influence of the operation of a company and the relationships established there. Within the list of conditions are:
- Air quality;
- The security;
- Humor of professionals who live in the same environment;
- The smooth functioning of the machines;
- The work routine.
Therefore, measuring the quality of the work environment requires a lot of dedication and attention. This way you can build a good working environment and retain your talents .
Characteristics of a good working environment
As we’ve seen, a favorable working environment needs to be analyzed for details to be corrected. In addition, people management must be efficient. But a good workplace, in addition to adding to the organizational culture , needs to have some characteristics. Look:
1-fluid communication
A good working environment has good internal communication. Furthermore, employees are not afraid of being corrected or alerted for some kind of failure. After all, the feedback culture is something that stands out, there is a way to communicate without offense or oppression, leaving everyone confident to work with each other.
Each employee is aware of their obligations and feels free to help whenever necessary.
2-Constant growth
Employees who work in a good working environment are encouraged to constantly grow and develop. It is the one that helps employees to do their best, producing well and achieving high results. This does not depend on your title or hierarchical position.
The consequence of a good workplace, in addition to constant and high productivity, is a decrease in turnover and company costs. And HR can contribute a lot to make this place better.
3-beyond the physical
We can say that an ideal environment to work is independent of what is physical in it or the furniture. Of course, comfort is also an important feature of a good working environment, but that’s not all.
A place where the psychological feels good, with cheerful colors and even a healthy snack can be positive items for your organization.
4-Thinking about employees
Thinking about a favorable work environment goes beyond having quality sofas and chairs. After all, a good work environment must be suitable for the employees you have. This is because each type of team may require a different environment to develop and produce better.
Therefore, what will really say what is a good working environment for your company are the people who make up your team. Get to know your team and analyze and eliminate what hinders the productivity of your employees and, in addition, implement good practices in your routine.
Signs of a bad work environment
It is very common nowadays to hear professionals saying that the environment in which they work is not good. Unfortunately, this is a sad reality. Whether due to the organizational climate , instability or authoritarian management, reasons are not lacking when an employee does not feel well where he works.
Below are some reasons why the work environment is bad:
- Communication problems: one of the first signs that an environment sends to say that it is not ok is communication noise. Be it among co-workers, management and staff, directors and the company in general, it seems that no one can understand what the other is saying;
- Inconsistent policies and procedures: when this is the case, it seems that no one knows what they are doing, as the information is collapsing, the procedures are being carried out wrongly and everything seems to confuse everyone;
- One or more toxic leaders in the same environment: a leader must motivate his team and not want to be authoritarian, because when they become toxic, the whole environment is bad;
- Work affecting health: do you know when the absenteeism rate is too high? This means that there are serious issues that must be resolved in the workplace. When a place is bad, your employees get sick easily and the number of absences grows wildly.
Importance of a good working environment for the company and employees
There are many benefits of a good working environment, which is why it is extremely important to invest in it. GPTW’s website, Great Place To Work, conducted a survey that demonstrated in data how essential it is to create this healthy workplace.
According to the data, companies that have a culture of innovation represent 74% of the best institutions to work for. In 2018, 150 companies were considered good for having 2550 different ideas from their employees to increase production. This generated, according to the survey, gains of R$12 million
Another point of this research that is worth highlighting is that companies that were identified as having a good work environment reduced their turnover rate by up to three times. Something very significant.
For employees, having a favorable work environment is something that makes them more part of the place. In this way, they become more committed to their duties and, consequently, more participative. Thus, they always give their share of contribution, with positive ideas that increase the productivity of an organization.
So no matter if your business is small, medium or large, having a good working environment, according to GPTW’s research, can increase profits by up to 7%. In addition, it attracts better talent , more important consumers, partners and suppliers to your company.
Tips for a good working environment
We have separated some important tips for you to develop a good working environment for your business. Check out:
1-Have a transparent communication
Having a good flow of information is essential to prevent the famous “pawn radio” from being installed within the company. It simply starts processing information that is not real, full of noise and leaves all employees worn out. So the result is widespread dissatisfaction.
Information within a company must be transparent. The more objective your message, the better it will be for everyone to understand, whether written or verbal.
When a company adopts transparent management, it shows its team that it doesn’t need to hide anything from them. Therefore, you are interested in making your actions very clear.
2-Respect among employees
Having professionals who spread intrigue and are envious makes any environment hostile and heavy. The result of this is the voluntary disengagement of those who disapprove of this type of behavior . After all, there is no way to work with bad weather.
Therefore, it is essential that leaders encourage solidarity and respect among all employees. Furthermore, the feeling of competitiveness can exist, but as long as it is in a healthy way.
Make it clear that teammates are not adversaries and are all in the same boat together, regardless of title or role. Therefore, they need to work in full partnership so that the results are in accordance with what the company wants and satisfactory for everyone.
Therefore, each employee must respect the role of the other. Everyone within a company needs colleagues, no one is self-sufficient.
It is important to emphasize that only when there is mutual respect does the company grow. After all, the environment is better to work in, everyone feels good and works with the same purpose.
3-Engagement through belonging
Employees must feel engaged with what they do every day. After all, it’s quite unpleasant to take on a role you don’t like and feel unmotivated.
Therefore, one of the ways to stimulate the employee’s great interest in their work is to awaken in them the feeling of belonging. He needs to see himself as part of the company, the group and that he is important to the organization.
4-support diversity
Having a good working environment also means supporting diversity. After all, it stimulates creativity and also facilitates decision-making, provides greater flexibility, has innovation and has practical and quick solutions to problems.
Socializing and sharing ideas and insights in the workplace can develop skills and improve your employees’ emotional intelligence. After all, this support allows each professional to be themselves, not needing to assume characteristics that are not theirs, just to be accepted in the company.
Thus, everyone will feel respected in their ideas, suggestions and actions. The contribution will flow naturally and, if you need to give feedback about some posture or attitude that was not nice, the employee will feel more receptive.
By supporting diversity, your company will adopt a strategy that is a competitive differentiator for your business. After all, the diversity of talent encourages innovation and this can have several benefits for your organization’s growth.
Therefore, it does not matter if the employee is a man or a woman, what color, religion or region of the country or abroad is, what matters is that he or she works freely. This attitude will definitely add to your business.
5-gamification
Gamification helps to reduce turnover within a company as it will improve the working environment. Games, for example, are associated with fun and this is a stimulus for employees to become more engaged and increase their production.
You can use existing games or even adapt the games to your company’s needs and profile. But there’s also how to create your own game. For example, a management game that involves several processes, such as training, strategic indicators and others for the Personnel Department. Creative, isn’t it?
6-Focus on constant improvement
These are some ways to have a good working environment. But don’t settle down after putting some actions into practice, okay? It is always important to be aware of your team’s needs so that the location becomes as favorable as possible.
Therefore, the manager must always preserve the good relationship within an organization and make the environment light, buildable and pleasant to work. After all, this will be good for you, your employees, for everyone’s emotional health and, of course, for the increase in your income.
