5 ways to help your team thrive in the workplace
Is your team thriving?
If you are struggling to answer the question, or even to know what “thriving” might look like in practice, then it could be that your workplace is not cultivating an environment that is conducive to getting the best out of your people.
So what does it mean to thrive? A thriving team will communicate well, reflect on past experiences and create new solutions to produce even better results. They will accept responsibility and are accountable to one another for their actions. The result is outstanding work and a business that is growing.
Ensuring your team thrives is hard work. You have to invest time and you have to invest money. Both of these impact the bottom line and drain your precious energy reserves.
So, before presenting five easy ways to help your team thrive in the workplace, I feel it’s right to explain why “thriving” rather than just “working hard” is a goal that business owners should aim for.
Why should you want your team to thrive?
Simply put, colleagues who are thriving at work willingly contribute more to day-to-day tasks, produce more creative and innovative work and generally bring your business greater success. In some ways, wanting your team to thrive is a no-brainer if you want your business to do well long-term. Investing in this area is a great way to improve results.
There are loads of ways to ensure that your team reaches its potential, but we have put together five easily achievable actions to bring out the best in your staff.
Talk to us
If you would like to find out more about our solutions, get in touch.
1. Create a vision
Share your company’s vision with your team. Better yet, ask your team to contribute to that vision. People want something to aim for, something to believe in, and presenting your team with a vision of what the future could look like can help them feel that they’re aiming at something.
A warning: make sure that this vision is not just “make our shareholders lots of money”!
The vision has to be about how the company can impact society and its employees in positive ways. Here are a few examples from brands that you might recognise:
- ‘To provide access to the world’s information in one click’ (Google)
- ‘To create a better everyday life for the many people’ (Ikea)
- ‘To move with velocity to drive profitable growth and become an even better McDonalds serving more customers delicious food each day around the world’ (McDonalds)
- ‘Our vision for commerce is one that is enabled by people, powered by technology, and open to everyone’ (Ebay)
You can see how the companies’ vision informs their business decisions. For example, Ikea’s vision explains why their products are so affordable for so many – they want the “many people” to benefit from their designs. This was the inspiration behind the now-iconic flatpack “do-it-yourself” product. All their decisions are made in line with this vision.
A good business development company should be able to walk you through creating a vision that can inspire your colleagues. Some branding development agencies also offer this service, so it is worth shopping around.
2. Say thanks, regularly
Everyone loves to get thanked for their contributions. It is a normal human desire to feel a sense of accomplishment for one’s work. It is even better when the effort is acknowledged by others.
When we are rewarded – even with a thank you – it is proven that a load of happy hormones floods the brain. These chemicals, dopamine, and serotonin, create that feeling of pleasure. It is like a natural high and encourages you to repeat those behaviours in order to get another hit.
Research also reveals that gratitude actually works to glue a group together. It helps form tight bonds, build a team culture, allowing people to flourish.
Saying “thank you” makes your team feel good, which makes them work better as a team.
One of the best ways to ensure that you give regular thanks to your team (and one of the best ways to help a hybrid team bond) is to use a digital reward and recognition platform. These online products allow you to publicly acknowledge the hard work of individuals who are not regularly physically in one place. You can even go further and give a reward for great work, such as “finish early on a Friday”, or a gift voucher, to increase the dopamine hit.
3. Identify obstacles in the office
There can be lots of reasons why your team is not thriving. Difficult personalities in the office, cumbersome online systems, too much administration, overwork; if your team is persistently managed poorly they will not produce work at their best.
It is really important that you gather information from your team about the frustrations they have on a daily basis. There could be really easy ways to solve some of these issues.
We have already written at length about the positive role that employee questionnaires can have in identifying where there may be problems that are holding your team back. Make it a priority to listen to your team, you might be surprised at the insight they have.
4. Equip your team
Hopefully, it will not come as too much of a surprise when I say that your staff is only human. Although most have a sense of professionalism and can “switch off” from life struggles when in the office, people can only compartmentalise so much.
Employees cannot thrive at work if there are struggles at home. It is really important that you build in tools that equip your team to tackle life’s challenges before they happen. Benefits such as wellbeing webinars and financial education programs give your employees the skills they need to identify and deal with mental health problems and financial struggles. All of these benefits can be accessed through online platforms whenever your staff needs support.
5. Don’t micromanage
Micromanagement is the term used to describe a leadership style that is very controlling. Every action of your staff is monitored and controlled. They are told exactly what to do, when, how, and with no room for personal creativity or working style.
Although there are circumstances when a very authoritarian style of leadership can bring the best out of staff, (for example, if staff are very inexperienced or just training) for the majority of people, micromanagement has a toxic impact on them.
It has such a negative effect on the majority of workers that it is listed as one of the top three reasons why staff resign. If you want a team that contributes, takes ownership, creates, and innovates, then micromanagement is a habit you need to consign to history.
A thriving team builds a thriving business
Although it is an effort and takes time and money, investing in your team and ensuring they thrive is a great way to grow your business in a sustainable way. Do not put up with mediocre work and a high turnover, get the best out of your team and get the best out of your business.
