A healthy work environment is crucially important to the wellness and success of a company. When employees are happy with the environment, their well-being and productivity will most definitely increase. Promoting a safe and healthy culture, can increase  employee morale which can positively impact your business. When your workers are happy, they will be motivated to stay and employee turnover will decrease.

Figure Out What Went Wrong

As an HR person, it’s very important to find the root cause of a problem at the workplace in order to come up with a solution. An effective approach to this issue is hearing from the employees themselves. It would be a great imperative to hear what the employees have to say about the environment. What do the employees dislike about the culture? What do they believe can be done about the toxicity in the environment? You can always opt for conducting ”stay interviews” with your best employees and try to gain some insight on their working conditions. Are they happy? Is the company culture hindering their performance? Figuring out what went wrong can greatly shed some light on why your employees are unhappy at the workplace.

Create a “Speak Up” Culture

If you want to eliminate a toxic work environment, then you should probably shift the company’s culture in a positive direction. HR departments must ensure that their employees’ voices are never on mute. Instead, listen to what they have to say and encourage them to speak up and share their concerns when necessary. When you value your employees and create a culture that positively values all input, your employees will feel comfortable enough to approach you with their concerns.

Bring in Positive Energy

Every employee brings his or her own energy to the work place. The energy you bring into the office, can greatly contribute to the positivity of the work environment. You can always influence your company’s culture in a positive way when you radiate with enthusiasm, motivation and eagerness. If you’re a leader, then you will be a beacon for others to follow. The energy you bring in can greatly influence your employees and eliminate the negative attitude that exists within your team. For these reasons, you should always focus on the solution instead of  the problem, and team work instead of fighting.

Prevent “Cliques” and “Favoritism” Within The Company

It’s completely natural for colleagues to become close with each other. Considering how your employees work together for a significant amount of time per day, their relationships will only tend to grow over time. However, sometimes when employees start to form ”cliques” and ”groups” they could be favored by the workplace leadership which can lead to a toxic work environment. As a result, avoid the toxicity by ensuring your employees that policies and rules are fairly applied to everyone. Encouraging all your employees to work together on projects and tasks can bring them together and eliminate favoritism and bias.

Written By: Fatima Rassool

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