What makes for a Happy Workplace?

I was recently talking with a collegue about work environments and how they differ from company to company. Naturally, every company no matter how large or small has its own distinctive corporate culture. Personally I believe every organization (for profit as well as not for profit organizations) has its own distinctive corporate culture and that culture is set by the organizational leadership. This got me to thinking about what makes a good corporate climate?

By definition, in my mind, a good corporate culture is one in which employees enjoy coming to work, are challenged by their assignments and productive in their efforts.

Over the years I have been privileged to work with some of the most talented, gifted and creative people around.  I have also had the opportunity to associate with some of the best bosses as well as some of the worst. Most great bosses already know that what I am about to share with you is important to retaining quality employees while most bad bosses don't have a clue why their good employees keep leaving.

However, just knowing these principles is useless unless they are put into practice in the work place. By "put into practice" I mean more than just making them a part of your policy manual or putting them on a poster on bulletin boards or in the offices of employees. They must become a part of your corporate culture.

The company that I believe best illustrates this is Southwest Airlines whose corporate values is built around the mantra that happy employees make for happy customers that in turn produces positive brand recognition and increased sales. To achieve this value management does everything it can to facilitate the development of happy employees. An additional benefit is that they have a waiting list of potential employees at every job classification. I remember talking with some AirTran Pilots and flight attendants about the AirTran/ Southwest merger and to a person they were excited about what the perceived as an improved working environment as a result of the Southwest buyout.

The truth of the matter is that you never have to have a revolving door in your human resources department if these principles are a part of the corporate culture.  So here they are:

Rule #1:  Following the Southwest Core Value make sure your employees enjoy going to work. I have never seen it written anywhere that "work has to be serious."  As one writer said, "If you find it, rip it to shreds and stomp on it, because the notion that work cannot be fun is actually counterproductive."  It is your job as management to find ways to make the work place a relaxed and fun place to work.  Happy employees look forward to coming to work each day and happy workers are more productive.

Rule #2:  Don't treat everyone same.  I know it sounds good to say, I treat all my employees the same" but it does not make for good employee relations.  The truth is your employees are not equal and should not be treated the same.  Some employees are more valuable than others: some employees produce better results than others;  Employees do not want nor do they expect to be treated the same as though they came from a cookie cutter mold. What they want; what they deserve and what you must do is to treat them all fairly. This will go a long way in inspiring the employees and creating a healthy work environment.

Rule 3: Don't tolerate mediocrity. Always seek the best that the employee can produce. Productive employees already know and resent those employees who are not carrying their own weight and they will resent management that tolerates such behavior for long periods of time. If an employee can be motivated then find out what it is that motivates them and apply it. If they refuse to be motivated replace them. Warning, do not expect more from an employee than he is capable of performing but do help him develop his full potential
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Rule 4:  Get rid of all the dumb rules that have developed over the years. Now mark it well that I did not say get rid of all rules. Employees need rules. However, the rules they need must make sense to what they are expected to do.  The rules need to fit the job and the fewer the rules the better.  I have been in the position where the work rules were actually counter productive to the purposes of the job to be done.

Rule 5. Don't micromanage. Assign the project, set the parameters and then let the employee apply their creativity to the task. Be sure and explain the why of the project and why it is important that it be achieved and why you've chosen them for the project. Don't forget to ask for their input and advise. Help them own the project but most importantly let them do their jobs. After all that why you hired them.

Rule 6: Apply the rules of Business Psychology 101 . . . . when you recognize the behavior and performance from an employee that you want appreciate it immediately. Don't delay handing out any rewards. Do it ASAP and as publicly (among their peers) as you can.

Rule 7: Communicate, communicate, communicate. Keep your employees up to speed on the state of the company and where it is headed. Truth is, if you don't keep them informed the rummer mill will and you may loose good employees because of the misinformation of the rumor mill. If your playing cards it may be good policy to keep your cards close to your chest but in growing your business you need your employees to know where they are going and how they fit in.

Rule 8: Create an employee retention plan. This means determining who your most essential employees are and what its going to take to keep them on-board. Have a plan . . . write your plan down inclusive of the employees name . . . and list the things you are going to do to keep them engaged. This will require some strategic thinking regarding employees. It will include job related as well as non-job related interests that your essential employees may have. It certainly includes what motivates them in addition to their salary. Keep in mind that salary is essential but not necessarily determinative when retaining quality employees.

Rule 9: Rule nine is connected to Rule 8. Not only should you have an employee retention plan but you should conduct employee retention interviews with your employees. Learn in advance what it will take to keep them on-board rather than discover after they've left what you should have done to keep them. Trust me, if they are good employees someone else will recognize their value if you don't.

Rule 10:  I got this one from my sister . . . Make sure your on-boarding program (orientation) is interesting, motivating and not filled with tedium. Only once in my working life have I attended a new employee orientation meeting that was nothing more than a walk through the personnel manual. You know, something I could have read at my leisure. Clearly you need to explain the company's core values, and general employment policies but the orientation meeting has three fundamental goals.

• The first is to make sure the employee understands and accepts that they were carefully chosen for their talents, ability and what they can contribute to the company.
•  To convince the new employee that the company and existing staff are glad they are joining the team. It is a good time to stress the "Team" nature of the organization and that everyone is important to the total effort though their tasks my vary.  Here is where you stress that they are now a part of a great organization.
• It is also the time to make sure they understand their particular role on the team and their importance to the team effort.

Essentially, orientation should be designed to reinforce their buy in decision. You want them to feel that accepting a position with your company was a wise decision and that your company is a place where their effort will be appreciated and that they can grow professionally as well as personally.

None of these rules are new. They have been stated many times in business journals, blogs and business schools. However, while not new they rarely appear in the corporate world. I suppose that is because many of the leaders of both business and charity organizations either don't believe that a employee friendly corporate culture works or is necessary in creating a productive workplace or just don't know how to make it happen. But the truth is, even a boring repetitive task is better performed in a fun working atmosphere. So make it fun and make it productive.