How to break the barriers in the workplace and create a positive environment?

Barriers at the workplace act as a hindrance to the employee's growth. Everyone goes to a workplace to grow, to become better, and to achieve something in their own way. It becomes the employers' responsibility to create such an environment where everyone can grow freely, and that is the only way the whole organisation can grow.?

Some of the barriers include,?

Recognition

If someone doesn't feel valued, their interest in contributing dwindles. When employees' contributions are not recognised or rewarded, their motivation to do great work, productivity and performance take a hit. Employee stress is real; failure to acknowledge that or give the right recognition for all their efforts can be demotivating.?

Growth and Development

Employees nowadays are looking for every opportunity they can get their hands on to grow. If an employer doesn't create such an environment where employees are allowed to pick up new skills and can take up further courses, then it's a huge barrier for employees in the workplace, as employees are demotivated to do the existing work as they feel restricted. Along with that, an organisation with employees who are not upgrading their skills according to the market requirements tends to fail in the long term.?

Continuous Improvement and Innovation

Constant innovation is key to success. If employees don't show interest in innovating, then long-term sustainability will be an issue. But even when they are ready to innovate, unnecessary bureaucracy, lack of resources, and creating a culture where your ideas are laughed upon will act as a barrier to success, and it definitely will not be a positive environment to work in.?

Communication

Lack of open and honest communication is a clear barrier to growth for any employee within an organisation. Communication within the team or across multiple departments is necessary; otherwise, it may lead to unnecessary disarray.?

Collaboration and Teamwork

A traditional organisation setup where a particular team manages a particular department won't work in the current set of things. Interdepartmental collaboration and teamwork are necessary for the growth of an organisation. When an employee is stopped and restricted to working within his/her team, while he/she can contribute much more when they are allowed to freely collaborate with other teams, it may be a barrier to that particular employee's growth.

Empowerment

Empowering your employees is extremely critical for them to reach the pinnacle of success. Employees who don't feel empowered are less interested in the happenings. Empowering individuals through the right opportunities by letting them know that they are being heard or by giving them enough growth opportunities within the organisation makes them feel they are noticed. When people feel they are important, they give everything for the growth of the organisation.?

So, here are a few ways to break the barriers within the organisation.

Get the Senior Leadership Team On Board

Senior leadership can have a huge influence on employees, and they can inspire a workforce to do amazing work because employees look up to leaders whom they can follow. So, leadership must set the right example by being available, communicating openly, and consistently working on the culture of the company.?

Define How You Expect Employees to Behave

Make sure every employee understands exactly what is expected of them. They need to be made to understand how their actions can make or break the organisation and how they need to be part of breaking the barriers and creating an overall positive environment. This can be achieved through team meetings or even team-building sessions.?

Hire and Promote with Your Desired Workplace Culture in Mind

Hiring talented people is the general norm. But one also should focus on hiring people that fit right into their culture, who will contribute to breaking the barriers and who will make sure they uphold the values of the organisation.?

Communicate Perfectly

Communicating perfectly so that your message is reached and understood by everyone in the organisation is a primary step in breaking barriers.?

For that, making people feel that they are being heard is important. Be fully present while communicating with someone and listen to others' ideas with an open mind. This should be done by both people in leadership and the employees with their fellow team members.?

At the same time, be specific with your information. Don't overload with details but also don't under share. Be concise and let others ask questions to give them enough clarity needed.?

Showing confidence in the employees through confidence-boosting phrases is another way to break barriers within the organisation.?

Breaking barriers in the workplace and creating a positive environment is beneficial not only for the employees but also for the organisation, as the growth of the organisation is dependent on the growth of the individuals working for the organisation. Happier the employees, the higher the success graph of the organisation.?