Even when you create a team environment in your workplace, your employees may not get along as well as you intended. To improve morale in your business, it may be necessary to encourage your employees to bond on a more personal level. These tips can help you promote friendships among your workers.
Start with the Onboarding Process
As you bring in new employees, how you integrate them into the company culture is important. In the past, most companies would put the employee in the hands of their direct supervisor and assume they would get acclimated as they dove into their work. However, changes in this process have produced better results. You can make new employees feel more welcome by developing an orientation process that introduces them to key department leaders.
Try Coffee Pairings
Employees can be encouraged to sign up for this type of program, which is solely intended to help co-workers get to know one another. Each month, a drawing is conducted to choose two employees. Those employees meet up for coffee outside work, where they can learn more about one another’s personalities and interests. A social setting encourages them to open up in a way that may encourage friendships to continue to develop.
Throw Company Parties
Instead of handing the responsibility for this over to your HR department, choose a different team or department to handle the preparations for each event. You might even consider throwing more than one party a year to give everyone a chance to participate. This gives your employees something fun and different to do together.
Host Educational Luncheons
For this type of activity, a buffet style lunch is the best option, because it allows everyone to serve themselves. During the luncheon, individuals from various departments share information about new projects they’re undertaking. In this way, each team leader can become more informed about what other departments are doing. They can take this information back to their prospective teams, which will help everyone feel more involved in the company.
While there are many ways to promote closer relationships in the workplace, they won’t all work in every situation. What works for you will largely depend on your unique management style. However, by trying out new methods, you will find one that does work sooner or later. You’ll know you’ve started to succeed because your employees will work better together as a team.