Changing employee attitudes and behaviors can be a challenging task, since they are often influenced by factors outside of an employer’s control.
An individual’s personal life, their psychology, and their health, for instance, can play a big role in an employee’s attitude. While some of these types of issues cannot be controlled by the employer, others can, particularly those that are related to the workplace.
By shifting practices connected to the workplace, the work environment, and the business, managers and business leaders can have a positive impact on employee attitudes, behaviors, and ultimately their performance.
Below, we’ll look at a few tips for changing employee attitudes by making changes to the organization.
10 Tips for Changing Employee Attitudes
Here are a few tips that can help create better attitudes among workers.
1. Increase opportunities for growth
If there are no pathways for upward mobility in the workplace, this can have a negative impact on employee attitudes.
After all, career development is important for many workers and it can directly impact their loyalty to an organization, employee retention rates, performance, and more.
Improving career opportunities begins with actually creating promotional tracks within the organization and ensuring employees are aware of them. Another important step is to actually support employees’ career growth.
2. Create a career development program
Growth opportunities are important for upwardly mobile employees. But HR managers and business leaders who want to go one step further may want to invest in a career development program.
Through mentorship programs, employee training, career counseling, and similar efforts, these programs provide employees with long-term support for improving their career prospects, their skills, and so forth.
That, in turn, can help employees have a more positive outlook at work and towards their employer.
3. Improve the physical work environment
Work environments can also have a direct impact on employees’ attitudes and the atmosphere of the workplace.
Interior décor, office equipment, the building, office location, office layout, and other elements of the workplace all have subtle but direct impacts on the mindsets and psychological well-being of workers.
Though the ROI of this investment may be difficult to quantify, it does affect workers. Asking workers for their input and ideas is a good way to get started improving the workplace.
4. Simplify the digital employee experience
The digital workplace and the physical workplace are intertwined and both affect mindsets, attitudes, and behaviors.
In fact, in today’s digital-first world, the digital employee experience may be even more important than the physical work environment. This was especially true during the COVID-19 pandemic, when many businesses became remote.
5. Invest in management and leadership training
Research from Udemy discovered that 60% of employees think their managers needed more management training. Gallup’s research agreed, suggesting that managers account for over 70% of the variance in employee engagement.
Companies that wish to positively impact employee attitudes and engagement, therefore, should assess their managers’ skills, their employees’ feelings about their managers, and how management in one’s own organization impacts employee engagement.
Once that is done, employers can invest in leadership training and development courses that address the identified issues.
6. Help employees find meaning in their work
Employees’ work often has a positive impact on their customers and the world, though employees themselves may not be able to see this directly. As a result, they may not find their work meaningful, which can negatively impact their attitudes towards their work.
One way to help employees find more meaning in their jobs is by directly showing how their work positively affects customers. Good customer reviews or stories about the impact of their work, for instance, can help motivate employees and improve engagement.
7. Lead by example
One of the best ways to create the change you wish to see in the workplace is by embodying that change.
Managers who project positive attitudes are, for example, more likely to attract employees with positive attitudes and cultivate a happier workplace atmosphere.
8. Hire selectively
Hiring positive people is yet another straightforward way to build a more positive work atmosphere.
On the other hand, hiring employees with negative attitudes can influence the entire team, their behaviors, and their productivity.
9. Boost social connection in the workplace
Though there are always exceptions to every rule, teams who get along socially are often more likely to work well together. Better informal communication in the organization, for instance, can improve formal communication as well.
Adding opportunities for social connection can go a long way towards reducing friction, improving employee attitudes, and enhancing the workplace climate.
10. Invest in a health and well-being program
People’s health is often directly tied to their attitudes and mindsets. Naturally, employers cannot control employees’ health or how much they exercise.
However, a corporate well-being program can help reduce stress, boost employees’ emotional and physical health, and improve their attitudes.
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WalkMe Team
WalkMe spearheaded the Digital Adoption Platform (DAP) for associations to use the maximum capacity of their advanced resources. Utilizing man-made consciousness, AI, and context-oriented direction, WalkMe adds a powerful UI layer to raise the computerized proficiency, everything being equal.