If you work as part of a team or you manage a workforce, then you need to make sure that your employees all trust one another and maintain good workplace relationships.
If your employees don’t trust or respect one another then it will definitely start to show through their work. A happy workplace is vital if you want to make sure that all your employees are happy, healthy and working to their full potential, but how do you maintain good workplace relationships.
Why Is It Important To Maintain Good Workplace Relationships?
Maintaining good workplace relationships is vital for any workplace. You need to be able to talk to your employees and make sure that they feel comfortable talking to you.
If your workers don’t feel like they can talk to you then they might end up not alerting you when something is wrong. If an employee is struggling with their workload, but don’t feel like they have a good workplace relationship with you then they might not tell you and they can end up getting overwhelmed, stressed and unable to complete their work.
This is why it is so important that you make and maintain good workplace relationships. Good work can only be achieved when everyone is doing their part and working as a team so you also need to ensure that the rest of your employees are also getting on. If two people do not get on this can cause all kinds of workplace friction. This can create a negative atmosphere which can make some workers uncomfortable.
When employees feel uncomfortable at work, then they might dread coming into the office and it can have a negative effect on their work ethic and productivity. You need to make sure that your work environment is a happy friendly one that your employees will want to work in and excel in, but how do you maintain good workplace relationships?
How Do You Maintain Good Workplace Relationships?
You can not force your employees to like you or to be happy, but there are things you can do that will help you slowly start to form and then maintain good workplace relationships.
Make Time For The Relationship
It helps if you can make time to spend with each member of staff and make sure that they get to know you and know that you are someone they can trust. You can try setting up a one-to-one every other week or month. It doesn’t have to be about anything serious, or even about work, just make sure that the employee has an opportunity to tell you if they are struggling.
Listen To Your Employee
An employee will not want to talk to you if they do not think you are listening. Every time you talk to them try and remember something for the next time you speak. It can be something as simple as remembering their pets names or asking how their new houseplant is doing. This shows that you are listening and thinking about the employees and they will feel more comfortable when they come to talk to you about other things.
Avoid Gossip
It can be tempting to join in the office gossip and talk about other employees, but this can have a very negative effect. If an employee knows that you are willing to discuss other people and maybe even share personal things about them, they might not feel comfortable about coming to you in the future. Sure, office gossip seems like a great way to join in with the workplace comradery, but there are definite boundaries that you as an employer should not cross.
Remain Neutral
Sometimes office disputes happen. People fall out, a team member might not be pulling their weight, or an office prank can go wrong. When this happens you need to remain neutral and listen to every side of the argument. If you are clearly in favour of one person or overly dismissive people might think that you do not care or that they can’t come to you if they ever feel like action needs to be taken. Remember to remain impartial and listen to all of your employees.
Don’t Forget About Those Who Are Working From Home.
If you aren’t in the office or some people are working from home then you need to make sure they don’t get left behind. Working from home can be a tough isolating process and they won’t be getting any of the usual workplace banter that helps build these workplace relationships.
Remember to dedicate some time so that you can talk to these employees over a camera or phone and make sure that they are ok.
Look After Their Wellbeing
Corporate wellbeing programmes have been proven to help your staff feel happier, more focused and valued by their employer.
The Wellspace Wellbeing app and portal lets your staff engage with and improve their wellbeing using their phone. You can measure the effectiveness of your wellbeing programme and use sleep, mood, and health data to shape it.
Contact Us
Why not contact us today to see how you can improve your wellbeing with our workplace app. Or email info@yourwellspace.com. We will be happy to help you!
Alternatively, for tips, advice or other employee-related information, visit our news page.
