Fostering positive workplace behaviors can yield a range of benefits, from increased efficiency to improved employee morale in your workplace. It’s every employer’s dream to have employees with positive behaviors, which, in turn, makes employee management a much easier task.
In recent years, there has been an interest in studying the impact of negative behaviors at work and of actively disengaged employees on organizational performance and customer satisfaction. In this process, the value of positive workplace behaviors has come to the forefront of many discussions.
Positive behaviors in your workplace aren’t similar to appropriate workplace behaviors.
What is deemed appropriate doesn’t necessarily correspond with what is positive – for instance, you can interpret the rules and regulations in a workplace, such as arriving on time or abiding by the dress code, as appropriate workplace behaviors.
Positive workplace behaviors, on the other hand, are actions that contribute to creating a healthier and happier work environment. They also enable others to work more effectively as a result.
Positive behaviors in your workplace have the potential to spark workplace transformations. It can foster genuine connections among employees that can lead to breakthroughs in ideas and innovation and facilitate exceptional performance. Some of these positive workplace behaviors include:
-A positive can-do attitude
-A friendly and courteous personality
-Accountability and responsibility
-Being well-organized
-Positive and effective communication
To create a positive workplace and to foster positive behaviors in employees, the best strategy is to lead by example. If the top-level management of a company can model positive behaviors, employees can observe and emulate these behaviors and cultivate positive behaviors in the workplace.
A company’s culture is largely based on the behavior modelled by its leaders. Employees, in particular, notice when their bosses are setting a good example. When you walk the talk, employees understand that your efforts are genuine and it will motivate them to follow suit.
Also, positive leaders and positive employees contribute to positive workplace culture and that encourages employees to be more engaged at work, resulting in increased productivity and employee experience.
Some may argue that positive reinforcement is the most powerful tool in improving positive workplace behaviors.
By rewarding positive behavior, you increase the likelihood of it being repeated. This is similar to the concept of conditioning introduced by the American psychologist, B. F. Skinner.
When employees practise positive behaviors, you can reward them to empower your employees to continue those behaviors at all times. Your rewards can range from appreciation or acknowledgment to incentives or material gifts. This will further motivate other employees to incorporate such behaviors themselves. Incentives and rewards automatically contribute to creating a better employee experience.
If you create a system where positive behaviors in the workplace are valued and prioritized, it should also reflect in your recruitment process. Think about it: If you can recruit candidates who have a good head above their shoulders and abide by accepted ethics, they are more likely to exhibit positive workplace behaviors.
As a result, you could save the time and money that would otherwise be spent on training your recruits to foster positive behaviors in the workplace.
How your employees behave in the workplace impacts all aspects of your organization. Workplace behaviors aren’t limited to the actions of employees within themselves and between top-level management. It also extends to how employees interact with clients and customers.
Therefore, positive behaviors at work can contribute to a wide range of benefits, distributed among all stakeholders. If you want to create a successful organization that functions well at every level, foster positive behaviors that improve the employee experience.
