What’s the Best Place You Ever Worked?

Think about the best place you ever worked.

What made it great?

I bet it was a combination of these factors:

The boss was demanding, but she was positive and supportive. She had high standards and high expectations, but you felt motivated to meet and exceed those expectations.

The people around you were great to work with, and some even became friends.

There was a sense of excitement about the organization’s purpose, direction, and growth.

The work you did counted for something.

You were respected and treated fairly always!

You had ample opportunities to grow.

People came together to solve problems or to do new things. They thrived on collaborating and innovating together.

You were coached, trained, and supported, even when you did something wrong.

The organization’s values resonated with you, and you were proud to work there.

Forming the Healthy Working Environment

All of the above combine to form the working environment. There’s more, but that’s a good starter list.

If you manage, lead, or are otherwise responsible for the work of others, the working environment is everything.

Creating a healthy working environment is literally your only job.

I bet it’s not in your job description. I’ve never seen it singled out.

I would love to see it as a one-line job description.

The Impact of a Healthy Working Environment

A healthy working environment is:

  • What gets people out of bed, excited for their days.
  • What keeps them coming back with a fierce resolve to make it better when there’s a rough patch.
  • What finds them referring great people for new opportunities in the organization.
  • What they miss when they’re no longer a part of it.

If You Manage, You Control the Systems that Make the Weather

It’s been said that managers control the weather on their team. In reality, it’s more granular.

Managers control all of the variables that combine to create the weather.

Good managers get this and work at strengthening the health of the environment daily.

I talk to hundreds of professionals a year who work in organizations where the environment isn’t healthy. Many of them leave those organizations.

Turnover is a failure of leadership that exacts tremendous costs on an organization and its stakeholders.

In reality, turnover is mostly a lack of recognition of the one-line job description by those who lead and manage.

The Bottom-Line for Now:

Get the working environment right; results take care of themselves.

Art's Signature