A great manager knows how to coach, motivate, and give constructive criticism in just the right ways so employees are challenged, productive, and happy at work.
But most workers at some point have experienced a boss who doesn’t quite have that formula down. As a result, the work climate devolves into a negative atmosphere, marked by employees who have low engagement and are “just getting by” in their jobs.
Indeed, 70 percent of U.S. employees are not meeting their full potential, according to Gallup’s recent “State of the American Workplace” report. The American workplace has an engagement problem, there’s no doubt about that, and much of that has to do with how employees are responding to the office climate.
Research has shown that engaged employees are more motivated and productive. Employee engagement has a direct impact on the bottom line because employees who are apathetic about their jobs tend to fuel a negative workplace climate that can bring down the entire team. Engaged workers, meanwhile, are willing to work hard for the success of their company; they’re more loyal; and they’re willing to go the extra mile.
Employee engagement has a direct impact on an office’s climate. The office climate is different from the culture. The climate is the perception of the work environment by an employee. It’s how employees feel when they’re at work, which has a direct correlation to how motivated they are to do well. Culture, however, is about values and customs. A manager’s behavior toward his or her employees greatly influences the workplace climate—and can make or break a team’s morale and productivity. Paying careful attention to the workplace climate, and always striving to make it better for employees, is the mark of an excellent manager.
Here are six ways a manager can change the workplace climate for the better:
- Clarity: A manager should clearly define the organization’s goals and expectations for the team. Most employees produce better results and are less stressed out as they go about their daily to-do lists if they know exactly what they should be focusing on and have a clear set of goals. Managers should be upfront about what their organization’s goals are and what the responsibilities are for every single employee. Employees who are left to figure it out on their own will be less motivated in their confusion, which will lead to disengagement. The lack of clarity also may lead employees to focus on simple, low-value tasks that do nothing to benefit the business.
- Commitment: A committed team will bond over project challenges and accomplishments, and they’ll be motivated to log new successes on a regular basis. A good manager will make sure that the team’s goals, accomplishments, and problems are discussed on a regular basis. Proactive discussions like this will enable the team to feel united, learn from each other’s mistakes, and work toward a common purpose.
- Standards: As a manager sets goals for the team, he or she needs to make sure that standards set are realistic and not so high that they’ll be continually out of reach yet not so easy that they’ll be continually met. If the team isn’t made to stretch their abilities on a regular basis, the business will suffer. A manager who achieves the right balance in standards will help to create a challenging and fun climate at work.
- Responsibility: A good manager will delegate responsibilities and projects to own for each staff member, which ensures that every employee will have a chance to grow professionally. Managers should have enough confidence in their team to give other team members the tasks of signing off on certain projects. This will infuse employees with a sense of ownership over their work and they’ll, in turn, be eager to take on more difficult tasks.
- Recognition: Never acknowledging your team’s hard work is a bad management practice that will lead to a negative work climate and unhappy employees. Your team, of course, should be working hard, but they also deserve praise for going above and beyond or getting a great result. The praise should be both public and private to ensure they feel valued. Doling out regular praise also serves as a great motivator for the team: if a job is done well, they know their good work will be acknowledged.
- Teamwork: Fostering a climate of teamwork and collaboration will go a long way toward creating and maintaining a positive working environment. Managers should emphasize to the team that they’re working toward one common goal in order to prevent team members from competing with each other or operating in isolation.
These six tips will serve as a blueprint for managers on how to create a collaborative, collegial, and positive work climate. Before this blueprint is put into action, managers should assess the current workplace climate by getting feedback from staffers around their motivation, performance, and what they think of their manager’s style. Once the current climate is assessed, mangers can work to put into place an action plan that will promote a positive climate change at work, one that doesn’t pollute the business but instead promotes productivity, results, and happy employees.
Andrew Graham is the president and CEO of The Forum Corp., a global learning organization. For more information, visit http://www.forum.com
