Four Tips to Create a Healthier Work Environment 

Your work environment can impact your mental health, job satisfaction and work-life balance. A healthy workplace environment can increase employee morale, boost productivity, and focus on wellbeing. Organisations don’t need to make big and expensive changes to improve the work environment. A few small changes can be highly effective if tailored suitably to your team. 

Here are four tips on how to create a healthier work environment for you and your employees.

Acknowledge issues

Banner printing specialist instantprint carried out a survey and discovered that 46% of respondents find bullying to be the workplace trait they struggle with the most. Passive-aggressive communication, cliques and favouritism also featured strongly in toxic traits reported. Gossiping and rumours were also high on the list of toxic traits, which can be very exclusionary in the workplace. It’s important to identify the issues in your team so you can begin to resolve them. If you’re a manager, you must foster an environment where such issues can be acknowledged and taken seriously to ensure the workplace is a safe place for all employees. 

Open communication 

A strong team communicates openly and respectfully. Constructive criticism should be welcome, and collaboration should be at the heart of the team. Personality clashes happen when people work together every day. However, these situations should always be approached with the utmost professionalism to avoid any ongoing conflicts. Healthy confrontation can help to resolve the issue and stop it from spreading into bullying territory. 

Offer incentives and rewards 

If your team works hard, they should be rewarded for their time and effort. You can promote recognition through bonuses, employee perks and development training. Incentives and rewards can improve employee wellbeing and help your employees to feel valued at work. An employee is far more likely to leave your company if they feel their hard work goes unnoticed, so make sure you actively take steps to improve staff retention. 

Clean and comfy office

The office should be clean and comfortable at the bare minimum. Your team probably spends a large amount of time in the space and it will impact their mood. A dark and cramped office is likely to make people feel tired, stressed and restless. A bright and fresh office will foster a creative, positive environment. To keep employees engaged, transform your office into an interesting setup with comfortable furniture, working equipment and suitable lighting. You could even set up a games room for when the team needs a break from the daily grind. 

Cultivate a workplace that you want to work in and ask your employees for ways they’d like to improve the office.