Looking for ways to create a safe and healthy workplace? Check out our blog post for 4 practical tips to establish a non-toxic work environment. Learn how to promote physical and mental well-being, reduce stress, and increase productivity. Start creating a better work environment today!

If you often notice your employees leaving their jobs after a short period of joining, there are chances that your organization has a toxic work environment. 

Now, you might deny it altogether. However, often we do not pay attention to the big or small factors that collectively lead to a toxic work environment. If it is beyond your comprehension why your office is a negative space for your employees, let us explain some factors. The below-mentioned factors are the most common culprits of a toxic work environment:

• Lack of recognition and appreciation 
• Bullying, bias, favoritism, or groupism 
• Fear-based leadership
• Destructive criticism 
• Unhealthy competition 

Besides the list we shared above, many other factors lead to the toxicity of the workplace, leading to unsatisfied and unhappy employees. The adverse effects of a toxic work environment range from increased employee turnover to recurrent lawsuits. So, employers should be aware of the situation and create a positive work environment. Don’t worry! We will help you with some tips:  

1. Make Your Employees Feel Safe

If your employees do not feel safe at the workplace, they will not work with you for a long time. If the situation persists, your employee turnover rate will skyrocket. 

However, there are different ways to look at the word ‘safe’ in the case of office space. For businesses like construction, security, etc., the context can be more in physical terms. The employers, in these cases, look after the physical safety of the employees with real-time GPS tracking, fast responses, and alerts. But in other businesses with office jobs, the context is more in the mental terms. 

 Yet, an employer needs to ensure both - the physical and mental safety of the employees, regardless of the business. An employer should make the workplace:

• Safe from physical danger of any kind 
• Safe from bullying and mockery
• Safe from bias, favoritism, discrimination, etc. 
• Safe from sexual harassment and misbehavior 
• Safe for the employees to initiate an action
• Safe for the employees to discuss their ideas and opinions 
• Safe for the employees to learn 

There are many ways to make the workplace safe for the employees. Once they feel safe, they will be comfortable. And once they are comfortable, they can work well.  

2. Avoid Burdening Employees in Other’s Absence 

Employee absenteeism is common. However, burdening one employee due to the absence of the other is wrong. It is acceptable during peak business time. However, if it becomes common practice, your employees will gradually become unhappy and frustrated.  

So, it becomes the responsibility of the managers and leaders to manage employee absenteeism effectively. You can track the attendance of the employees. It will help you know who is absent on a given day. You can then adjust the duty of that employee by either distributing the work among other employees or managing the shift timings. Make sure you do not burden one or two employees whenever someone is absent from the team. 

3. Set a Code of Conduct and Live By It 

An organization’s code of conduct is something that every employee has to follow without fail. Once you establish such a set of rules, it becomes the responsibility of the employees to follow them. 

All the employees who fail to follow the code of conduct should have to bear penalties. It will help you effectively implement the protocols and ensure discipline. So, there is no room for the employees to misbehave or work as they wish. They need to follow the code of conduct and maintain the decorum of the workplace.  

4. Value and Appreciate Your Employees 

One of the biggest reasons employees do not feel satisfied at work is the lack of appreciation. You have hired the employees based on their qualifications, skill sets, and talents. Now, once they start working, do not ignore their efforts. Not all employees indeed work the best. However, whenever they achieve something extraordinary, you should remind them that you value their presence. 

If not the achievements, you can celebrate their work anniversaries or send them birthday wishes. These small gestures make the employees feel like a celebrated part of the organization. This can be easily achieved with a software where centralized data is stored

For businesses like security services, cleaning services, etc., you can ask your clients to give your cleaners or guards their reviews. One good review from the clients can substantially boost an employee’s confidence.

Conclusion

The ways we mentioned above can ensure employee satisfaction by promoting a positive and non-toxic work environment. For more such tips, contact Novagems.