4 Ways To Create A Supportive Work Environment

With most HR managers, the focus is always on engaging and retaining employees. This can be translated by numerous strategies and processes, but have you ever stopped to think about whether the company culture as a whole is a supportive one?

Are people friendly?

• Encouraging?

• Welcoming?

• Helpful?

• Positive?

Do new employees feel like they’ve been thrown into the deep end? Or do they feel they have a support network around them? Do long-term employees keep to themselves and don’t even attempt to collaborate because they know they won’t really get any help?

You may think of implementing incentives and structures to make the company more enjoyable so the issue solves itself… right?

David K. Williams on Medium says something profound about this. He says, “In our continued quest for excellence, we will try nearly everything. From iPads to exotic trips to bonuses to motivate our employees… But over time, I’ve realised that there is a distinct difference between motivation tactics and establishing a long-term supportive environment.”

Some form of motivation is great for your employees – and necessary – but without a supportive culture and equally supportive management, you will end up spending a lot of time and money only to reap little results.

SEE EMPLOYEES AS HUMANS - NOT COMMODITIES

More than ever, employees are less tolerant of companies who don't value them. And this runs deeper than a decent salary and benefits. It’s about seeing them as human beings who have their own lives, own goals and so happen to work for your organisation. 

This isn’t to say that now you should let go of all standards for your employees and let them run wild – but it is to say that you should be:

• Intentional to get to know them

• Having genuine conversations with them

• Trusting them to get their work done

• Giving them some form of autonomy (ditch the micromanaging)

• Entrusting them with a healthy work/life balance and flexibility

Support goes beyond supporting an employee's career for the sake of your business profits. It’s about supporting them as a human where they are productive, happy, well-rounded people. 

Employees like these will truly value you, work hard and stay loyal as a result.

PRIORITISE THE ONBOARDING PROCESS

Onboarding can be something that’s rushed by HR to get people settled in as quickly as possible. But the key word wrong here is “quickly”. 

In fact, when you’re onboarding, you should be thinking of intentionally helping people settle in - rather than how fast you can get the process over and done with. 

Great onboarding can improve employee retention by 82% (Brandon Hall Group) yet only 12% of employees think their company has a good onboarding process (Gallup).

The first day will always be remembered by your employees. It’s the day when people feel the most nervous and unsure because everything is new to them. That means if you don’t provide the utmost support when they need it the most, they may fear from the get-go that it will only get worse.

CREATE A CULTURE WHERE PEOPLE WANT TO COLLABORATE

… Rather than being forced to.

Of course, if your business is one where collaboration is necessary – employees will do it without thought but a lot of the time, forced collaboration doesn’t work.

Why? It can feel unnatural and if your culture was previously built on one of optimal independence or competitiveness, employees might even feel a little bit of hostility.

If you want your employees to be a team that supports and uplifts one another, it starts with you. The way you treat and speak to your employees will eventually encourage one another to do the same.

If you have a dog-eat-dog culture, your employees will do exactly that. Other ways in which you can change this is by:

• Setting mutual targets

• Have more team meetings for employees to learn about what their colleagues do and why it’s important

• Tackle underlying conflict

LISTEN TO YOUR EMPLOYEES

Every employer has heard time and time again about keeping communication lines open between them and their employees. 

Communicate your expectations, communicate their progression plan, and communicate feedback. However, something not many employers are prompted to do when communicating is to listen. Listen to employees' expectations, allow them to communicate how they want to progress within the company, and (the hardest) encourage them to give you feedback on the company and your management.

If employees feel heard, they will feel supported. They will see you as approachable, intentional and genuine enough to care about their feelings and progress in the company.

- Written by Tim Macmillan

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