10 Oct 5 Key Factors To Creating Workplace Vibe
You might think workplace vibe is illusive, unimportant, absurd even – after all it boils down to just a feeling doesn’t it? Workplace vibe is just a feeling, yes, but that feeling becomes tangible through our behaviour.
High vibes feel like; positivity, eagerness, cheerfulness.
High vibes look like; employees exceeding expectation, taking initiative, increasing their productivity.
Low vibes feel like; stress, limitations, dread.
Low vibes look like; employees disempowering others, creating low level thinking solutions and ideas, disengaging with tasks.
Workplace vibe is just a feeling – but that feeling can be hugely impactful on an organisation, both internally and externally.
So how does one harness the high vibes to create desired behaviour? Below are 3 key elements in shaping high workplace vibes.
COLLABORATION
How is collaboration related to Workplace vibe?
- Collaboration feels like; belongingness, excitement and synergy.
- Collaboration looks like; employees connecting, creating innovative ideas, strengthening communication, mixing skill sets, complimenting each other’s strengths/weaknesses and increased work satisfaction.
How does an environment influence behaviours and feelings?
Our surroundings provide us with ques which can foster and support collaborative behaviour. While you can suggest or ask your people for better collaboration, a collaborative environment will inspire them to inherently work in this way. For example, providing a standing table in close proximity to a group of workpoints or between two teams, provisioned with whiteboards or even a TV screen, enables individuals to spontaneously come together to explore concepts and idea’s with minimal effort; collaboration. These idea’s may have started by a simple chance encounter in the office café at the coffee machine (the modern day water cooler), between two people from different departments, providing the opportunity for people to communicate with someone they may otherwise have not sought out.
A great example of how the physical environment helps drive collaboration is Livingstones workplace design where Executive Director Nadia Taylor commented;
“For the first six months after we moved into our new premises, we had the highest performance on record in our 35 years in business. We attribute that to the way the newly designed workspace enabled our different teams to engage and come up with multidisciplinary enhanced solutions for our clients. Our teams are able to interact [collaborate] better than they had in the old workspace.”
It’s in these strategically designed spaces that people begin to feel excited about their work, increasing their sense of belonging, and enhance synergies with their coworkers – adding to the overall workplace vibe.
CULTURE
How is Culture related to Workplace Vibe?
- Positive company Culture feels like; admiration, empathy, and loyalty.
- Positive company Culture looks like; employee retention, attracting strong applicants, increased job satisfaction, strong employee relationships and reduced stress.
How does an environment influence these behaviours and feelings?
It’s no doubt that the physical environment impacts employee experience. Workplace design supports company culture in many ways and is often specific to an organisation’s vision and values. For example, for an organisation that values flexible working, it’s important that the work environment helps to reinforce this by giving employees the tools and space required for flexible work. Workplace design solutions should be an extension of the HR agenda to extend the companies culture and engage employees. It’s in these strategically designed spaces that people begin to feel admiration, empathy and loyalty – adding to the overall workplace vibe.
STORY
How is a company’s Story related to Workplace Vibe?
- A companies Story feels like; allegiance, togetherness, unity
- A companies Story looks like; employees paying respect to the history whilst looking firmly to the future aspirations set by the business
How does an environment influence these behaviours and feelings?
Branding in an environment is hugely important to reinforcing a company’s story. More than just a logo on the wall, good branding will create an immersive experience for every person who enters the workplace – bringing people a feeling of allegiance, togetherness and unity. More than just your employees, clients will begin to feel an affinity to your brand when they enter your space, feeling immersed in your story.
Its through a deep discovery phase that we unearth the story within an organisations purpose, vision and values. It was through this process that Melissa Marsden started to form an image of Hall Chadwick’s Story;
“The space subtly reflects rural Queensland through the colours, material selections, textures and architectural forms, from which the organisation was born over 40 years ago, in Longreach, Western Queensland. This palate also represents the strong country values that are embedded into the way in which the organisation operates” explains project lead, Melissa Marsden.
It’s in these strategically designed spaces where company values are told through a visual story that people begin to feel allegiance, togetherness and unity – adding to the overall workplace vibe.
By focusing on these three key elements that shape workplace vibe you can selectively create a high vibe for your workplace and reap the benefits.
Benefits of a high workplace vibe are not only felt internally, they also create a ripple effect that defines your organisation from your competitors, how you do business and interact with the outside, specifically your customers, partners, suppliers, media and all other stakeholders.
Your organisations vibe (high or low) will represent the way you do business, simultaneously helping to represent the organisations identity and image which means it determines how your people and customers perceive you.