Cultivating Healthy Work Environment

Meera Gandhi
Aug 31, 2018 · 3 min read

When a flower doesn’t bloom, you fix the environment in which it grows, not the flower. -Alexander Den Heijer

My inspiration behind writing this article are the above-mentioned words as quoted by Alexander Den Heijer. It is not uncommon to find stressed and unhappy employees these days, always thinking negatively about their jobs and the working environment. This often leads to managers entering into a state of confusion, and pushes them to question the efficiency and productivity of their human capital.

However, simply by modifying a few existing ways of dealing with employees and incorporating occasional trust building activities, humongous difference can be made.

  1. Promoting Wellness

Health and wellness of employees have a direct impact on their work performance. Employees with a calm and composed mind will show better efficiency in their work. Wellness of employees must extend its doors to providing anxiety relief through reflective and rejuvenating sessions which help employees de-stress. This will result in them channelising their energy more productively.

2. Creating a Mutually-Compassionate Environment
It is becoming more and more important to work in harmony with our colleagues and teams as the size of business has grown exponentially, Understanding others’ point of view, and learning from their experiences is extremely beneficial for our own skill set. We need to understand that we are working towards the same goal, and work in true team spirit.
Having a more fluid environment, like giving work from homes twice or thrice a month, having a coffee break or similar processes will help sensitise your employees towards the company and the team.

3. Company Culture
For any company to have a healthy work environment, it is imperative to cultivate a favourable working culture. Culture in the work environment can be defined as common practices and beliefs the entire team follows voluntarily.

Inculcating a healthy, empathetic and most importantly fair culture is great to start with. Appreciate good work in public and start practicing positive reinforcement, and undertake corrections in private. An extremely effective practice is also positive framing of words, which encourages improvement and continuation of good work. Make the office space open to ideation and creativity, so all the participants feel like a part of the result, which is a great motivator.

4. Removing Communication Barriers
In order to create a healthy work environment, it is essential to have hassle-free network of communication. An environment, wherein the employees are able to communicate freely amongst each other, and can also talk to the supervisors without any apprehensions, is an ideal workplace situation. Apart from boosting the confidence of the workforce, it will also help in accelerating the speed of work.

5. Conduct Team Building Activities

“Great things in business are never done by one person, they are done by a team of people.” -Steve Jobs

This quote really captivated my attention. There is no denial of the fact that the more your team is knitted to each other, the better will be their coordination. Therefore, organizing day camps and engaging employees in various trust and team building activities will not only improve their personal relationships with each other, but also foster a coherent working style.

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All the above-mentioned points will be a great Kickstarter to a healthy work environment. By following these practices, we are creating a compassionate and a committed set of leaders, which will result in improved business operations, by creating a satisfied team.

Data Driven Investor

from confusion to clarity, not insanity

Meera Gandhi

Written by

A humanitarian, a global philanthropist, a mother and a businesswoman. CEO and Founder, The Giving Back Foundation.

Data Driven Investor

from confusion to clarity, not insanity

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