People love their jobs when they can excel in their professional accomplishments while feeling like a valued part of the team. The office culture makes or breaks employee retention because it either promotes everyone’s well-being or puts too much emphasis on production.
Employers and team members can learn from the following essentials of creating a balanced company culture to improve their workplace and personal wellness.
1. Respect Personal Flow
No one can maintain optimal energy at all times. Sometimes people are more tired or mentally fried because they’ve spent so long focusing on a project. A balanced culture respects this flow and emphasizes that everyone should follow it. Employees should take breaks when needed or have quiet time by putting on soundproof headphones.
Managers can also create private conference rooms designed for blocks of private time. When team members finish their 30 minutes or an hour of work alone in the room, they’ll return recharged and ready to interact with their team.
2. Set Clear Goals
People reach burnout when they don’t have clearly defined goals. Ask yourself to name your top three goals for the day. If you’re not sure what your goals can look like, set strategic and helpful objectives like:
- Taking five breaks throughout the day
- Checking in on your energy three times in the morning
- Identifying your biggest distraction through self-reflection after work
You’ll restore the peace that creates balance by setting clear intentions for your daily life. You won’t stress about all the things you haven’t done because you accomplished what you set out to do when you clocked in.
3. Reward Supportive Employees
When employees support each other and managers lend a hand to their team members, it’s impossible not to create a balanced culture. Even with the differences in titles and responsibilities, everyone will feel equal to each other. They’ll also feel recognized for their contributions if management supports and rewards employees who contribute to the balanced company culture.
Team leaders might celebrate someone’s accomplishments with awards like personalized trophies, gift cards, or gift baskets. They could also send a company-wide email calling out employees who pitched great ideas or helped others to give them public recognition. The little things make the most significant difference in fostering feelings of support within a company.
4. Invest in Personal Growth
Managers can sit down with each team member to talk about their strengths or what they’d like to work on. Provide online courses or new work opportunities for them to grow in the areas they acknowledge. People are happier when they feel themselves growing, which balances moments where they’re stressed about deadlines or stuck in place with an extensive project.
Employees can also do this for themselves. What personal growth would you like to see in yourself? You might improve your sleep schedule to contribute positive energy to the office every morning or organize your inbox by scheduling 15 minutes every day to sort through emails. Invest in yourself and everyone around you will benefit from the change in personal energy you bring to the table.
5. Encourage Time Off
Traditional office culture pushes people to be more productive and look for ways to do more than their job requires. Even though this can present new growth opportunities, it also makes people feel burnt out. Research shows that job demands and stress cause people to work even while they’re sick and reject the idea of taking time off for vacations.
Managers can encourage people to take an extra day off every month just for a mental health day. Celebrate with people who get back from vacations by asking them to talk about all the fun they had. People work better together and feel happier when they don’t feel stuck to their desks all year round. Contentment is a significant factor in a balanced culture within professional settings, so emphasize taking personal time off to foster a better environment.
6. Make Schedules More Flexible
Resentment settles in when people wish they had more control over their schedules. Employers can fix this and foster a balanced culture by allowing people to schedule work-from-home hours every week. Team leaders might also reduce mandatory meetings and allow people to connect over video chat or catch up with a weekly comprehensive team email.
Flexibility makes people comfortable and reduces the tension that creates an imbalance in company culture. Any changes that promote more flexibility will result in a positive interoffice culture.
7. Redefine Everyone’s Purpose
Overworked employees don’t have a balanced work life. Managers can sit down with their team members individually to identify why they wanted the job when they got hired. What was their professional dream? Ask how the job position can assist their primary professional goals or support them.
Individuals can ask themselves the same questions to identify their purpose and focus on their daily work. When everyone knows their purpose within an organization, a balanced culture will naturally fall into place because every team works more efficiently.
Create a Balanced Company Culture
Managers and employees have to work together while studying the essentials of creating a balanced company culture. If everyone’s on the same page and sets similar goals, the workforce will pull together and become a better place for everyone.