Companies take notice: Creating a positive culture around the workplace is vital to retaining those employees who add the most to your bottom line. If you find your staff lacking enthusiasm and drive, it may be due to your failure to create a positive environment. People don’t want to do more and work harder for a lifeless and seemingly uncaring company. To help you turn it around, take a look at the following five ways you can help get your company culture moving in the right direction.

1. Empower Employees To Do More

Bored workers are more likely to look for new jobs or fall into a creative and productive rut on the job. Keeping people engaged in what they’re doing helps keep boredom and apathy at bay. Think of new and innovative ways to empower employees during their typical workday. Listen to ideas with an open mind and designate leaders to carry out tasks. Set boundaries within which each department should function to allow them latitude when making decisions independently. When your staff is more productive, your company succeeds.

2. Offer Flexibility

Technology has revolutionized every business on the planet and boosted productivity and opportunity. One way to improve your company culture is to allow employees flexible work hours. If their job can be done off-site, allowing them to work remotely for a set number of hours or days a week may significantly improve morale. When setting up flex time, be clear about the guidelines and procedures. For example, if a person working remotely isn’t hitting goals, revise that individual’s time away. If other people are doing well, and getting work done, leave their time away intact. Don’t change a policy like flex time for everyone if you see most benefiting.

3. Let People Know Where They Stand

As your company grows, you will need to establish company policies. If you don’t, you may be setting yourself up for failure. Developing new rules and procedures may lead to discord, and people hate hr when they don’t know company rules or policies in advance of implementation. It is essential to have a guidebook of basic company policies. This eliminates any gray areas about where the company stands on things like:

• Fireable offenses
• Personal time off
• Vacation time
• Discrimination policies
• Work hours
• Company expectations

If your company did not have a manual when first started, create one as soon as you need an HR department. If you wait to get the ground rules down in writing, asking for suggestions from employees may help keep them engaged.

4. Create a Collaborative Environment

Some people do well working alone, while others thrive in teams. Even those prone to solitude can benefit from a team endeavor now and then. Establish a collaborative environment by encouraging people to cross cubical lines and work with others. Company culture can be significantly improved by fostering a real sense of comradery and teamwork. If you believe there are opportunities for a group of people to improve work output by collaborating, get them together in an outside activity. Take them to an escape room where they have to work together to solve puzzles with few clues. This will also demonstrate to them that they do much better working together than apart.

5. Recognize Those Employees Who Go Above and Beyond

Everyone wants to know that they are doing a good job. A negative attitude may be rooted in the belief that there isn’t enough positive energy circulating from management. It is up to management to put an end to this viewpoint. Start by recognizing those employees who have done more than their fair share of the work. Decide on the reward that may be offered. If you set rewards for certain levels of achievement, it may help encourage workers to push a little harder to meet goals.

A positive company culture can mean the difference between enhanced profits and high turnover. Use some of these ideas to get your staff on board the productivity bus sooner rather than later.