Are you worried your employees think you don’t appreciate them? Turning your office into a positive workplace can be a time-consuming process. Yet it’s worth it when you see how much happier and productive your staff is.

We’ve put together the top 5 suggestions for turning your current situation into an encouraging space. This includes better communication, rewards and motivation, and even investing in your employees’ futures.

Take a look to get started on a path to a healthier, happier staff.

1. Harness the Light

If you want to have a productive workplace, be sure your workspaces are well-lit. Having the right amount of light is important for your staff’s comfort and health. Too little light can tire your eyes out, and too much can be harsh and cause headaches.

Explore different colors of light and how they affect your employees’ work.

Color temperature is measured in Kelvin, and lower numbers (2700, 3000) are warmer colors. Higher measurements (4000, 5000) are cooler. This includes fluorescent or task lighting in industrial settings.

2. Positive Workplace: Communication

Encourage open and honest communication in the workplace to give your company a more positive workplace. When someone speaks up, make sure they understand that you value their efforts at workplace communication.

It’s always better to talk about a problem and work through conflict than let it fester.

3. Feedback Welcome

If you want to constantly strive to make it a better workplace, you need to invite employees to contribute their opinions. Let them know you welcome their input and suggestions, and make it easy to contribute ideas without negative consequences.

Some may feel intimidated, like their ideas won’t be as good as other people’s ideas. Even after you make a decision about which suggestion to follow, be sure you highlight the other good ideas you considered. Keep on encouraging more suggestions, even if you don’t always implement everything.

4. Add Rewards

Having a happy workplace can be easy when you motivate your employees well. Offer incentives when you need them to work extra or bonuses for a job well done.

You can add comp time as a benefit of working overtime, and you can include quarterly gift cards or cash winnings when a particular sale goes well.

Another option is to let employees choose their rewards. This communicates that you value them as individuals and not every prize is one-size-fits-all.

5. Invest in Their Future

One of the best ways to foster positivity in the workplace is to encourage your employees to continue learning. Providing for their continuing education shows that you’re invested in their futures. Allow them to take time off for seminars.

Whether they take that education and move on to better positions or other companies isn’t as important as the fact that you show them you want to help them grow as a person and a professional.

The Best Changes

When you want to change your company into a positive workplace for your employees, following the ideas above can help. Working together with their suggestions and ideas goes a long way toward becoming an inviting, happy place to work.

Did you find this article inspiring? Check out the rest of our website for more help!