A poorly managed workplace has dissatisfied staff yielding low productivity. On the other hand, a productive workplace is one with good workplace management.
How do we characterize a good workplace? Is it the presence of good workplace management? Is having managers practicing good management skills really enough to ensure this? Let us first try to define what a good workplace is by looking at its antithesis.
A poor workplace has a high rate of turnover. It is easy to understand why employees would want to leave a bad work environment. Such a place often causes work-related stresses that leave employees feeling burnt out. The reasons for this greatly vary. The office's physical environment in itself could be unsatisfactory. It could be that responsibilities given are not clear. There is no feedback,
just questionable promotions and dismissals. Another reason could be the common complaints about wages not being fair. Or, employees may simply feel that they are not going anywhere because of the lack of opportunities for career and personal development.
In such a place, managers themselves also complain of being burnt out. This is usually because they have little or no support at all from higher management. Their responsibilities may also be unclear or they may be given unclear goals that are easily altered without prior notice or explanation. On top of that, they have to deal with subordinates who lack motivation and are thereby incompetent. Even with their own unmet personal expectations, being managers, they still have to deal with other people's expectations of them. Who would not be stressed out from all of these?
A bad work place then has dissatisfied staff members. They have no motivation to work so they are often tardy, call in sick, or just fail to report to work. Needless to say, a poor work place leads to poor productivity and other disappointing outcomes, including perhaps an angry union of workers.
The absence of any mentioned above, better yet, the opposite of all of those is what we call a good workplace. Such companies enjoy high productivity and quality products and/or services. Instead of hostile employees, theirs feel secure and are cooperative because they practice fairness and provide opportunities for growth. In the end, instead of high turnover, they get high customer satisfaction. So, what makes them better? Here are a few best practices that poor workplaces can learn from them.
One difficulty that management faces is clarity. A good place to work in is one whose mission, vision, and strategies are clearly stated. They are documented, kept up to date, and are properly communicated. Open communication is also practiced. Misunderstandings are lessened because everyone is free to approach anyone to ask a question or to make a suggestion. The management policy clearly states how they work and how they wish to relate to employees. Thus, responsibilities are clear and are thereby also clearly communicated. With regard to opportunities, many are created to motivate managers in doing their tasks. Accordingly, ineffective leaders are relieved of their management functions.
However, there is more to ensuring a good workplace than having quality workplace management. Everyone and everything should work together. All links from the management, policies and systems, processes and plans of action, up to individual employees must all hold in a comprehensive and consistent structure.
