Are You Creating Chaos Without Process Behind Your Workplace Strategy?

78% of HR professionals surveyed by Crain’s Future of Work survey say flexible schedules and remote working are effective ways to retain workers without spending money, making the effort to solve the issues worth the focus, time and investment. 

What can you do about it?

1. Develop Your Top-Down Strategy
   
   The first step in avoiding chaos is to develop a comprehensive top-down strategy. This should include everything from the company’s mission statement to the specific processes used to manage employees. By developing this strategy, you can ensure that everyone is working towards the same goals and that there is clarity around what is expected of them. A good strategy should always be reviewed and updated regularly to keep the company aligned with its goals.
   
   
   
2. Building Trust Starts with Setting Clear Expectations
   
   One way to ensure that employees feel supported, is to establish clear expectations from their managers from the outset. This includes everything from job specifications, performance metrics and targets, to communication protocols. By setting clear expectations, employees are able to focus their energy and work more effectively, while avoiding the frustration of being left in the dark.
   
   
   
3. Empower Team Managers
   
   Another way to eliminate chaos is to empower team managers. This means giving them the tools and information they need to effectively manage their teams. In addition, it’s important to support team managers to set the tone with consistent messaging that is in line with company goals. For the strategy to work, team managers must have a clear outline of their responsibilities and understand how to bring about achievement.
   
   
   
4. Understand How People Work before you Enhance your Digital and Physical Workplace
   
   Today’s workplace is dynamic and diverse, and companies need solutions that cater to different working preferences. It’s important for business leaders to understand how people work best and implement systems that enhance both digital and physical workplace experiences. This could involve onboarding platforms and communication platforms that allow employees to evaluate how well they’re doing and interact with team members effectively. Additionally, physical office arrangements could include thoughtful ergonomic furniture and optimal space configuration that helps foster creativity, comfort and safety.
   
   55% of respondents from a study by Stanford want to spend some time in the office and some time at home. 25% of workers in the study want to work a home full time and 20% of workers only want to work in the office. 
   
   
   
5. Reinforcement Behavior through Recognition
   
   Finally, reinforcement through recognition is an essential tool for enforcing culture and promoting employee retention. Make sure staff are recognized for their hard work, encourage quality feedback within team members, and incentivize top performers. This will help to motivate employees and create a positive work environment. Make it part of the process to celebrate victories both small and big while showing overall appreciation of staff effort towards company goals.

Without proper processes and tools in place, the constant pressure to innovate and evolve a company’s workplace strategy can lead to chaos. By developing a top-down strategy, building trust starts with establishing clear expectations from management, empowering team managers, understanding people's working habits and enhancing the digital and physical workplace, and reinforcing positive work behavior through recognition, businesses can ensure employees are getting what they need to work more efficiently and with purpose. Management at all levels should prioritize investing time, energy and resources to establish effective systems and tools to set employees up for success, promote harmony in the workplace, and ultimately achieve organizational goals.