From employees to employers, to professional partners and clients, everyone benefits from positive workplace environments. Students of all ages and backgrounds study for degrees with University of Phoenix to prepare for careers in such environments, enjoying programs in numerous subject areas including business management and business-related psychology. Here we’ll explore some of the University’s illuminating insights into what makes a positive workplace and how to create and maintain one.
The Hallmarks of a Positive Working Environment
While every business has a different workplace culture, expectations, relationships and ways of operating, there are four commonalities that positive work environments typically share.
1. Relaxed Atmosphere
In a positive work environment, productivity and relaxation go hand in hand. While a productive workplace can conjure misconceived ideas of tight deadlines and stressed workers, an environment like this can actually inhibit achieving goals. Stress is typically the cause and result of miscommunication and ambiguity around targets, outcomes and roles. Employees who feel pressured, isolated or demoralized are less likely to deliver their best performance. Therefore, a relaxed environment is often a much more productive one.
2. Supportive Colleagues
Smooth, supportive teamwork is fundamental to the success of an organization. Negative work environments often suffer from poor teamwork, which is often the result of workloads shared unevenly or employees in competition with each other. Meanwhile, a positive environment recognizes, leverages and celebrates the individual contributions of co-workers in a culture of mutual understanding and respect.
3. Opportunities for Personal Growth
Lack of growth opportunities in a company can lead to employees seeking improved career options for themselves elsewhere. A positive workplace environment provides clear paths toward career enhancement, offering recognition in the form of genuine gratitude, new responsibilities and opportunities for employees to upskill. Compassionate Employers
Employees are human, not robots; everyone deserves an employer, manager, or management team with empathy and understanding. This support encourages clear communication and transparency and is regular practice in a positive working environment. Compassionate leadership sees managers listen to all employees’ concerns and respond effectively and with respect.
Six Tips for Nurturing a Positive Workplace
Decision makers at the management level may be looking to cultivate a better workplace atmosphere not only to achieve greater productivity and results but also to improve their own experience at work. University of Phoenix suggests six areas where managers might make changes to cultivate a more positive working environment.
1. Clarify Goals
Defining and explaining goals clearly is an essential first step to creating a positive workplace. By eliminating miscommunication wherever possible and setting the precedent for mutual understanding between managers and employees, employers can avoid many common frictions and issues that appear later down the line. When employees understand how short-term goals contribute to long-term outcomes, they can find more meaning in and enthusiasm for their day-to-day tasks.
2. Practice Transparency
When those in management practice transparency, they operate with openness about every aspect of the organization’s objectives, performance and financial status. This helps build a culture of trust between employers and employees and helps individuals understand their place in the organization.
3. Recognize Achievements
From promotions and raises to awards and certificates, recognizing employees’ contributions to the organization can make them feel seen and valued by their leaders, boosting morale and motivating individuals to strive for further goals.
4. Encourage Collaboration
In addition to building healthy relationships between employees and management, nurturing positive collaborations in teams of employees is vital to creating a positive work culture. When colleagues truly understand the role and importance of each other’s work and engage in clear communication and teamwork, they tend to feel more supported by their peers and work better together, thereby improving productivity.
5. Respect Work-Life Balance
Remote work environments and flexible working hours have become common since the COVID-19 pandemic and can be beneficial for allowing employees to fit commitments around their work. One downside, however, is that it can be difficult for employees to know when they are off the clock, and constantly being in work mode can lead to burnout. This is why respecting work-life balance is important to ensure teams remain productive and motivated. Clarifying and reinforcing boundaries can help employees maximize downtime, ensuring that they are productive, focused and positive during their working hours.
6. Stay Open to Feedback
The most effective work environments typically have a two-way flow of communication. Leaders who are receptive to feedback not only set the guidelines and expectations for the workforce but also open doors to growth and ideas for improvement. This is only possible if employees feel comfortable enough to share their thoughts with management, so nurturing a culture of openness is crucial. Management can also benefit from actively soliciting feedback, whether through regular one-to-one meetings or organizational surveys. The upshot of a workplace that encourages employee feedback and implements changes based on that feedback is a positive environment where individuals feel valued and that they can make a difference.
Learn to Support Positive Work Environments
For those interested in learning more about the science behind workplace culture and fostering healthy environments, University of Phoenix offers a Bachelor of Science in Industrial-Organizational Psychology. This degree equips students with the skills they need to promote employee well-being and influence performance. The degree covers topics like ethical and social responsibility, psychology and scientific inquiry.
About University of Phoenix
University of Phoenix helps adult and nontraditional learners advance their educational ambitions and aids students in negotiating the career options and degree programs that best suit their interests. The University’s degree programs align with hundreds of in-demand career paths including those in nursing, cybersecurity and business, and they provide flexible start dates, online classes and multiple scholarship opportunities that make it possible for anyone to complete their chosen degree.
The University’s complimentary Career Services for Life® serves active students and graduates, providing the resources they need to be prepared when entering the workforce. These services offer valuable resume and interview support, career guidance, and education and networking opportunities. For more information, visit www.phoenix.edu.