Transparency in the workplace
Most of us live in cities where work is the focus of our lives. This is why as business owners, we should prioritise cultivating a healthy workspace that values not only financial growth but also transparency and open communication.
Transparency ensures that there is open and clear communication between different stakeholders, such as directors, workers and customers. People feel like they are being heard and that their opinions matter, so they start seeing themselves as part of the company. This healthy environment translates into better productivity in the business.
If you are looking for ways to create a healthy environment within your business, here are just a few methods you can try implementing.
Hire the right people
Firstly, you want to hire the right people for the job. Understand what kinds of personalities suit the needs of your industry and company best. This can be done by ensuring that your screening process is thorough.
Besides taking a look at your interviewee’s social media profiles, you can assess how ready they are when it comes to answering questions that you present. You should also consider their records with previous employees. You may also want to conduct certain tests to see if their personality is suitable for the job.
For example, if you are hiring a secretary, you might want to assess how detailed they are when it comes to handling numbers and paperwork. On the other hand, if you are hiring a salesperson, you might want to look at how good they are at interacting with people and how extroverted they are.
Reduce the number of job titles
As companies expand and become bigger, there will be more titles created to represent the employee’s responsibilities and contributions. Titles also help to establish a chain of command by helping skilled workers guide and monitor juniors.
However, a long chain of command can make it hard to get on-the-ground feedback as subordinates can be reluctant to voice their ideas and issues to people who have a higher position than them. In situations like these, reducing the number of job titles can make it easier for people to have these conversations.
Alternatively, you can also create teams in the office and rotate the roles of leadership to facilitate a better flow of information. Furthermore, this can also allow employees to train their leadership skills as well.
Conduct anonymous feedback sessions
Even with fewer titles, employees can still find it hard to voice their feedback due to fear of being disliked by their superiors. To ensure that all voices are heard, you can create anonymous feedback sessions for employees to voice their concerns. This can be done using a feedback sheet or getting HR employees to have these conversations with employees.
All identities must remain strictly anonymous so that people can rest assured that their work-life will not be affected by their opinions. This is especially important for issues regarding feedback on direct supervisors.
Use social media
A method for you to be forthcoming and transparent with your customers is by using social media properly. Set up a social media account and interact with your social media followers regularly. For example, you can reply to comments or react to other mentions about your brand.
Most social media platforms have private message features. Your business should always keep an eye out for messages from customers in this inbox and reply to any queries from customers fast as possible. While creating your social media accounts, ensure that your brand image is also cohesive, from the logo presented to the colours used.
Create a good website
By now, you should know that setting up a website is one of the foundations of presenting your company to potential customers. Websites are the best way for your customers to find out more about your company and for them to keep up to date with your brand. However, just having a website is not enough – you should know what kind of content to upload to keep your customers engaged and interested.
You need to have an ‘About Us’ page for website visitors to know more about your business. There should also be a review section for customers can review your products and services. This can also act as a way for you to get any feedback from customers regarding what can be done better.
Other things that you can add to your website include a blog page that can provide information to your customers about your business and the industry. A forum can also be created for your customers to have discussions and get to know each other more.
Creating healthy relationships in the workplace
At the end of the day, it is all about honesty and equality; listening to everyone’s opinions and giving them the respect that they deserve. If you feel like you need help with this, outsource your HR team with us at Margin Wheeler and our professional team will help you settle it all.
