The workplace environment is very important for good progress. In my courses, I occasionally describe how to set up your personal workplace. In this guest article, Susana from Zoetalentsolutions shares her vision for a corporate workplace and corporate culture.
To create a good business environment, it is not necessary to implement the methods applied in several technology companies such as Google or Facebook. There are almost no companies that are comfortable, pleasant and even fun and where all employees have cheerful relationships.
To create a perfect work environment, first of all, it is necessary to have an understanding that focuses on the employees. There are six golden rules for creating a workplace as every employee imagines all over the world. Moreover, there is no need to make a great investment or to allocate a lot of financial resources to implement these rules. Any leader can create a perfect workplace by following these rules:
1- People are happy when they are not kept under pressure by unnecessary rules.
The industrial period was a period in which the workers had to work under strict control at all times. The way to produce value was through efficiency; productivity was provided by people who had already done the job, teaching the newcomers and controlling them. The workers, the craftsmen, the master heads, the managers ılar were connected in a control order. Control in the form of production during the industrial period was essential.
Today, however, many managers do not have the knowledge to control the work of their subordinates. The manager of a computer programmer or a web designer can check the work done only after the work is done, not when it is done.
For this reason, it is pointless to force people to be productive by standing at the time we live in; such an understanding of control is no longer valid. This is a period in which people voluntarily ask for a job and account for their work. During this period, no one can get a job done by anybody and get a job.
In today’s workplaces, there should be rules that are simple, simple, and valid for all, serving a purposeful purpose. The purpose of setting rules should be to develop a common understanding, not to prohibit and control.
The first step of being a perfect company is to get rid of the old, meaningless rules and act following the spirit of the time.
2- People are happy when they can freely access the information they need.
In the past, information was low and valuable. To know means to have power. Now there is plenty of information even more. The important thing is to classify this information, to separate what works, to get an insight from them and to turn it into action for the benefit of the company. In a period when everyone can acquire all kinds of information and access all the information they want instantly thanks to the internet, it is an old, outdated understanding of keeping the information inside the company in the hands of a few people and trying to get power out of it.
In a world where life is tremendously accelerating and a delayed decision causes great losses, every employee must have the necessary information at all times to make a timely and correct decision. In environments where information is shared with every employee, no one has the privilege of using the information as a power source in his or her favor. Environments, where information is open to everyone, are transparent and create trust.
On the contrary, the environments in which information is stored pave the way for injustice and inaccuracies. In such environments, information is not used as a learning and decision-making tool, but as an element of interest and threat. This understanding damages the relations of the employees; it slows down the company’s progress and puts the company behind the competition.
The second rule of creating a perfect workplace is to dominate the culture of openness and transparency in the workplace. People want to work in environments where they can easily access the information they need, and they are happy in such environments.
3- Employees are happy in environments where they can improve themselves.
In an agricultural society, people were equipped to spend a lifetime thanks to a few information they learned from their parents. In the industrial period, it was sufficient for the employees to be experts in one field. In both agricultural and industrial societies, people were doing one job and retiring. Now, everyone needs to specialize in one area and have knowledge in many different areas.
Today, almost every company provides training for employees to do their jobs better. However, in addition to this training, employees want to receive training to improve themselves. They demand training to improve themselves, even if they will never use it in their workplace. Employees from today’s companies expect that companies support them to improve themselves.
The third step in creating a perfect workplace is to invest in employee development. In which environments people think that they improve their knowledge and advance, in which environments they think they develop themselves, they are connected to that environment.
4-People are happy in the accepted environments.
People want to be like themselves and to be accepted in this way, not as others want. No matter what religion, sect, language, race or gender they belong to; no matter what lifestyle they adopt, they want to be accepted as they are. People want to live, work and produce where they are accepted without prejudice. Their performance increases and they succeed in the environments where they express themselves easily.
“I am at home or whatever I am with my friends, here is my vote; does not feel obliged to hide in the working environment; people who have the freedom to express their differences and emotions, devote themselves to the workplace.
The fourth step in creating a perfect workplace is to give people the freedom to be themselves. Companies that do this attract creative talents and attain the diversity of people essential to innovation.
5-People are happy in environments where they find meaning.
The benefit of each company is the reason for its existence. From this point of view, the main purpose of each company is to benefit people rather than make money for their owners. Customers pay companies to have this benefit.
If a leader is able to explain that it is the joint mission of both himself and all employees to produce the “benefit plan, which is the purpose of existence of the company, and if he ensures that everyone adopts this mission, the work will be more meaningful in the eyes of all stakeholders, especially the employees. Because it is more meaningful to produce benefits for people than to make money for owners.
Of course, people want to get the money they deserve in return for the work they do, but people don’t just get enough money by making money. In addition to money, people want to work and be useful to other people. That’s what they do, they find meaning.
The fifth step in creating a perfect workplace is to create a work environment in which employees will find meaning. People devote themselves to what they find meaning. Not only do they add their time, but their souls.
6-People are happy when they are proud of what they do.
Everyone should be able to see his contribution to the work he is doing, be able to take his share of the success and be proud of it.
People want to be proud of not only their success in private life but also the success of the company they work for. This is why the most successful companies are also the ones most wanted to work for. People want to share success and be part of a team that does successful work.
Real leaders have no difficulty in creating a business environment in which employees are proud of what they do. These leaders enable everyone to embrace the values and the mission of the workplace that connects people in a workplace, allowing them to do things that everyone can be proud of.
The sixth step in creating a perfect workplace is to make people proud of what they do. (Doing things to be proud of is more important than making money)
Companies can implement all of these six features without making any investment and have a perfect business environment. To create a perfect workplace, it is necessary to have a mentality that understands the spirit of this time, rather than financial means. Any leader who captures the spirit of this time and understands people’s motivations can create a perfect workplace.
7- Plan For Breaks
You have to have discipline in your resting moments as well. Think about what you want to do with that time, whether you want to take the 15-minute break to rest or reply to messages, for example.
8- Make the most of your time at work and at home
There is an internal war to balance the personal and professional, but the mind does not separate one thing from another. What can not happen is to stop taking advantage of your personal life to send an email that can wait until the next day or hinder working hours solving personal problems – unless an unforeseen event occurs, this kind of attitude cannot be the rule.
