6 Tips To Help You Build An Emotionally Safe Workplace

Our jobs as individuals make up the most important aspects of our lives. They are what define us and help improve how we are viewed or seen in society. Being one of the most important aspects of our lives, it is important that the place where we spend time doing these works are safe enough for us to want to come into it every day, with a sense of fulfilment and happiness.

Doing this, however, could be challenging, especially in a country like Nigeria that does not have effective workplace laws in place and in which issues of emotional health and wellbeing are not commonly discussed. But, as I pointed out earlier, making your workplace an emotionally safe space will benefit you and your business greatly. In this post, I share with you a few tips on how to build an emotionally safe workplace that your employees would love.

Help Your New Hires Get Down To Business As Quickly As Possible

Right from the moment you have new persons coming in to join your workforce, it is important you provide them with all the necessary support and information they need to adapt themselves to the new environment in which they would be working. Many business owners make the mistake of getting someone in and leaving such a person to find his or her way around. Taking time to effectively onboard and introduce your new hires to existing members of your staff, especially key personnel, will help them find their footing in the new environment.

Encourage And Promote Cordial Relationships Among Your Workers

It is important that as a business owner you are committed to promoting cordial relationships among your staff. Most organizations design their workplace in such a way that the members of the staff could communicate freely with one another. Some other organisations, especially those within the tech space often have what they call team bonding. I am not suggesting that you organize expensive weekend parties and picnics in the name of team bonding. Rather, I am suggesting you find a way to create an enabling environment where your team could build relationships with one another.

Listen

Listening is a great communication skill that is often neglected. There is a natural yearning of humans to want to be listened to and be heard. Create a medium or avenue in which this could easily be achieved for your employees.

How often do you offer commendations to your workers? How often do you criticize them for non-performance? As humans, we want to be praised more than we are called out for non-performance. In handling your workers, it is important you bring balance to this. More importantly, in offering your criticism, it is important to offer only constructive criticisms.

Handle Conflicts As A Partner

In every environment where two or more persons come into on a daily basis, there is a tendency for conflicts to arise. Most of these conflicts will be brought before you as the business owner. When this happens, it is important to handle such conflicts justly as a partner to all parties involved. Any feeling of favouritism or bias will create animosity within your workplace, and this has a way of impeding productivity. Click on this post to learn ways you can improve your emotional intelligence.

Encourage And Ask For Feedbacks

You are human after all, and as such, you are limited in your knowledge and skills. You need to create a sense of ownership among your workers by asking and encouraging them to offer feedback regularly. Encouraging feedback on operations and also on your leadership will help turn your workers from employees into stakeholders.

Closing Thoughts

Making your work environment an emotionally safe workplace will go a long way in building trust in your workplace thereby leading to an increase in productivity at your workplace. This will in the long run set both you and your business apart from your competitors. Here is a post to show you more steps in building your business as an emotionally intelligent brand.