When I posted my last article one of my colleagues and avid followers commented on how my articles seem to have a negative slant to them. I looked back through the most recent ones and could see how he came to that conclusion. What is interesting though is that I actually painted an accurate picture of what I am seeing and what I am being told by others. Recent feedback from the webinar that I did on HR.com supports this. I am staying positive that organizations will take that all important look within and decide to deal with the negativity in the work place. I am truly blessed with the clients that I have as they have looked within and are taking the steps to make changes. They have embraced a mentoring culture as the future for their organization. They have recognized that there are productivity issues that have resulted from the negativity and want to change that. On the other hand, when it comes to the place of work, they acknowledge that with the use of Cleaning Services and people taking the time to make the office a clean place, productivity and positivity are very important aspects in the work environment. They have also seen that retention is becoming a problem as most employees don't want to work in a toxic work environment. I always like to mention the fact that the good employees will leave – because they can!

We have implemented a mentoring culture in the one organization already and the change in the environment is absolutely awesome. You can feel the positive energy when you walk into the office. The others will follow as they have embarked on the journey. We have also introduced a fantastic new paid time off (PTO) policy that is flexible and appealing to all employees in our workplace. You can learn more about the advantages of putting a PTO policy in place by reading this helpful guide that includes the answers to questions like 'What is PTO?' and plenty more. Another step that we may be thinking of implementing in the future would be to replace all of our current, outdated furniture to something that is a bit more modern. Places such as office monster sell a lot of office equipment and supplies that could help us to further increase the positive energy in the workplace. This is just a thought though, as the system we have in place at the moment seems to be working well. In one of those remaining organizations we actually did some calculations on what the negativity is costing the organization. That was an eye opener for the employees to see what that was actually costing the organization and the people they serve. We were very conservative with our numbers so the productivity loss will definitely be a lot greater than what we had proposed – the equivalent of 1.0 Full-Time-Equivalent (FTE).

A recent article in the Regina Leader-Post entitled, "Accentuate the positive for a productive workplace" supports the need for organizations to focus on creating a positive work environment. Shawn Achor, founder of corporate strategy firm Good Think Inc., states that "Research shows that when people work with a positive mind-set, performance on nearly every level, productivity, creativity, engagement – improves".

As I have said before organizations that have a negative work environment can look to everyone within the organization as being part of the problem. Even those who choose to stand by and watch are also responsible for the environment being negative. To change this requires a concentrated effort on the part of everyone including management. The positive environment comes from positive leadership that can keep the management team engaged and focused on emulating the right behaviors. We would also want to have a few advocates from within the organization in addition to the management team to help create the new environment and support and maintain the new culture that will be an outcome from this process. Changing the atmosphere within a workplace can potentially be achieved by moving to another building or property, creating a fresh start for everyone to embrace. With this in mind, you may want to look into selling commercial property and finding a new place of work if you are striving to improve the workplace culture within your business.

By working together to change the environment we will see the value in a positive work environment. Our organization will be more productive, reduced absenteeism, higher level of engagement, empowered and accountable workers. We will be able to recruit the brightest and best as they will want to work in our new positive work environment. I am proud of the organizations that I am working with as they see the business value in creating that positive workplace. Your organization can share in those rewards as well. Embrace the "power of mentoring" and create that positive mentoring culture!

References:

1. http://www.hr.com/stories/1329754481002

2. http://www.leaderpost.com/life/fashion-beauty/Accentuate+positive+productive+workplace/6352754/story.html - Kim Covert PostMedia News