How to improve workplace friendliness
27 August 2014
Read by 4957 persons
We don't always realize it, but the work atmosphere is essential to an employee's life. Working in good conditions, in a friendly and pleasant atmosphere, helps manage stress and therefore be more productive.
Here are some ideas to help you create a pleasant and lasting work environment in your company and foster good relationships between your employees.
Facilitating the arrival of a new employee
Generally, employees don't all go home for lunch and often eat together near their workplace, depending on their affinities. A new employee hasn't yet had time to discover the neighborhood where they will be working and doesn't know the best places to eat.
To facilitate their integration and allow them to get closer to their colleagues more quickly, it may be wise to create a small booklet listing the best addresses in the area. During a meeting, everyone can suggest their favorite places, which will also be an opportunity to exchange ideas and discover their colleagues' tastes. Besides being useful, this approach will encourage exchanges between employees and build trust with the newcomer.
Promoting proximity
How many emails do we all send to our colleagues every day without ever speaking to them in person, even when we see them in the hallways? This form of internal communication is certainly quick and efficient, but unfortunately lacks human contact and therefore friendliness.
To remedy this, try scheduling a day without internal emails once a month, where physical movement will be required during that day. Of course, this type of initiative may slightly reduce productivity if you have to cross the entire building to talk to a colleague or go down several floors, but at the same time, it's a way to positively influence team spirit and improve relationships within the company for a better work atmosphere.
Implementing a friendliness charter
To encourage good relations and exchanges, create a friendliness charter in which everyone can add their suggestions. Encourage employees to greet everyone upon arrival, organize relaxation areas for breaks, maintain a smile, address everyone in the same way, offer help to newcomers, etc. These are just a few ideas that can be included in a friendliness charter to foster a good work environment and build friendly relationships between colleagues.
Swapping positions
A classic idea, but so effective for building relationships is swapping. Swapping positions, colleagues, sites or jobs for a whole day is the best way to improve the quality of relationships within the company.
Putting the CEO in the shoes of an employee, handling human resources if you're in marketing, or swapping a sales representative with the finance manager, helps break down barriers between departments and discover the environment of your colleagues. This creates, among other things, social dialogue, making work relationships more human.
Desacralizing hierarchical relationships
Hierarchical levels, whatever they may be, often block relationships, especially in large companies where hierarchical links are strong.
To create a link between these "two worlds" and encourage internal communication, it is recommended to go beyond the image of the boss and their "underlings" by organizing, for example, breakfasts where employees from different departments can get to know their boss and managers better and exchange their views. This way, they can understand each other better and learn about each other's difficulties and expectations for better collaboration.
Last but not least, the themed cocktail party
Taking stock of friendliness in the company leads to thinking about new ways to maintain and improve it. Organizing a cocktail party once or several times a year, bringing the whole company together around a specific theme (company culture, work atmosphere, relationships with management, etc.) is the perfect opportunity to discuss these issues over a drink. It also allows you to talk to people you don't know and is a good way to bring everyone together around a light-hearted topic in a festive atmosphere while contributing to the development of friendliness within the company.
Philippe Montant
CEO of ReKrute
Here are some ideas to help you create a pleasant and lasting work environment in your company and foster good relationships between your employees.
Facilitating the arrival of a new employee
Generally, employees don't all go home for lunch and often eat together near their workplace, depending on their affinities. A new employee hasn't yet had time to discover the neighborhood where they will be working and doesn't know the best places to eat.
To facilitate their integration and allow them to get closer to their colleagues more quickly, it may be wise to create a small booklet listing the best addresses in the area. During a meeting, everyone can suggest their favorite places, which will also be an opportunity to exchange ideas and discover their colleagues' tastes. Besides being useful, this approach will encourage exchanges between employees and build trust with the newcomer.
Promoting proximity
How many emails do we all send to our colleagues every day without ever speaking to them in person, even when we see them in the hallways? This form of internal communication is certainly quick and efficient, but unfortunately lacks human contact and therefore friendliness.
To remedy this, try scheduling a day without internal emails once a month, where physical movement will be required during that day. Of course, this type of initiative may slightly reduce productivity if you have to cross the entire building to talk to a colleague or go down several floors, but at the same time, it's a way to positively influence team spirit and improve relationships within the company for a better work atmosphere.
Implementing a friendliness charter
To encourage good relations and exchanges, create a friendliness charter in which everyone can add their suggestions. Encourage employees to greet everyone upon arrival, organize relaxation areas for breaks, maintain a smile, address everyone in the same way, offer help to newcomers, etc. These are just a few ideas that can be included in a friendliness charter to foster a good work environment and build friendly relationships between colleagues.
Swapping positions
A classic idea, but so effective for building relationships is swapping. Swapping positions, colleagues, sites or jobs for a whole day is the best way to improve the quality of relationships within the company.
Putting the CEO in the shoes of an employee, handling human resources if you're in marketing, or swapping a sales representative with the finance manager, helps break down barriers between departments and discover the environment of your colleagues. This creates, among other things, social dialogue, making work relationships more human.
Desacralizing hierarchical relationships
Hierarchical levels, whatever they may be, often block relationships, especially in large companies where hierarchical links are strong.
To create a link between these "two worlds" and encourage internal communication, it is recommended to go beyond the image of the boss and their "underlings" by organizing, for example, breakfasts where employees from different departments can get to know their boss and managers better and exchange their views. This way, they can understand each other better and learn about each other's difficulties and expectations for better collaboration.
Last but not least, the themed cocktail party
Taking stock of friendliness in the company leads to thinking about new ways to maintain and improve it. Organizing a cocktail party once or several times a year, bringing the whole company together around a specific theme (company culture, work atmosphere, relationships with management, etc.) is the perfect opportunity to discuss these issues over a drink. It also allows you to talk to people you don't know and is a good way to bring everyone together around a light-hearted topic in a festive atmosphere while contributing to the development of friendliness within the company.
Philippe Montant
CEO of ReKrute
