How to Create a Healthy Work Culture
A healthy work culture is one where all of your employees feel valued and included and able to be fully themselves while at work. There are many ways that management can help to create a healthy work culture and some of these come from the top down in terms of attitude toward sexism and other discrimination. Other ways that work culture can be affected is through the hiring decisions that are made and the selection of those who are going to be promoted to more elevated roles in the company. We take a closer look at some of the things that you can do as a manager to help to create a better work culture.
Steps Toward Creating a Healthy Work Culture
Create an Anti-Bullying Policy
One of the most difficult parts of running a company is managing the people who are employed by it. There are sometimes problems with bullying and these can be very difficult to sort out. This is why it makes sense wherever possible to employ Human Resources professionals to handle this side of things for you.
It is worth making clear to the HR department that they are empowered to take action in the case of bullying and that you expect them to take action against the perpetrators where bullying can be proven.
It is important to make it clear to all employees that instances of bullying should be reported and that no negative consequences will befall them if they do. HR needs to take the time to listen to, understand and, most importantly, believe the victim of the bullying. An anti-bullying policy should be put in place in order to do this, and it should be circulated to all employees. It should make it clear how complaints can be made discreetly to HR, without drawing attention to themselves from the alleged bullies, as well as the consequences of being found to have been bullying someone.
Model Good Behaviour
When it comes to the workplace, many people look to the more senior staff for their social cues, so you are able to set an example by the way that you behave. You can choose not to laugh at jokes that make fun of people for things that fall under the category of “protected characteristics”, such as their sexuality, age or gender, and point out that the “joke” is not appropriate for the workplace.
If you take the time to challenge these behaviours head-on when you encounter them, you will make life easier for those who would otherwise be the target of such jokes and empower them to come to you if they feel that the jokes are increasingly at their expense.
This is what is meant when people say that the culture at a company comes from the top down. If you are someone who laughs at sexist jokes, it will enable others to do likewise. If you shut them down, it will encourage and enable others to follow your example as well, knowing that you will have their back.
This is one example, another is treating everyone with respect and using their preferred pronouns and their new name if they are trans and have recently transitioned. Doing this can make people feel a lot more welcome and able to be themselves fully in the work environment.
This is called “bringing your whole self to work” and people who do this tend to feel much more happy and fulfilled in their workplace than those who feel that they can’t do that. In some workplaces, people who are gay feel like they can’t mention their partner in case they are given a hard time by some of the other employees. Being able to eradicate this stigma lends itself to the creation of a healthy, vibrant and productive workplace.
Promote More Diverse Candidates
In the workplace, as in life, people want to be able to see people like them succeeding, as they will feel that they can as well. One of the best ways to foster the impression that everyone has the chance to succeed based on their merits is to ensure that a significant proportion of the people being given the chance of career progression are the more diverse candidates. This diversity can take the form of sexuality, race, gender and other characteristics.
It may seem like a small thing to an older straight white male but to people from marginalised groups, seeing other people like them in positions of influence in the company can be the difference between retaining a loyal employee and losing a disillusioned one.
Allow Flexible Working
Increased flexible working has been a game changer for many since the Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdowns that happened across the UK and the world. Workplaces have had to become more flexible in order to cope with this and many people are still working from home. There are others who are coming in for a couple of days per week on a hybrid model and most people who are doing this really appreciate the flexibility that it gives them.
Being able to work from home a couple of days per week allows people to schedule the personal maintenance tasks that they often neglect because they can’t normally manage them during 9-5 hours. Things that the more flexible working model allows them to do is go to see the doctor, or get their hair done. Go to the swimming pool or the gym during the quiet times during the day. It allows freedom to get to the shops in person, rather than having to go on the weekends when they are at their busiest.
All of this can feed back into a healthier work culture as people who can do these things will be a lot less stressed while they are in the office. Their interactions with other team members will tend to be much better natured as a result. It is almost impossible to overstate the benefit that being able to take care of these small life tasks without having to arrange for special time off can bring to individuals and teams alike.
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