6 Best Ways to Encourage Positive Employee Behavior

Did you know? 70% of companies have made physical workplace changes to support healthy behavior.

Employee behavior in the workplace is an important aspect that influences your overall work experience at an organization. Positive workplace behavior leads to enhanced efficiency and performance for both the team and the individual. 

People who perform more professionally and efficiently at work are more likely to become irreplaceable. In this blog, we’ll look at what employee behavior is, why it’s important, what factors influence employee behavior, and behaviors that will help you become a great employee at work.

Definition of Employee behavior

Employee behavior refers to how employees behave in certain circumstances or situations in the workplace. Numerous factors determine an individual’s behavior at work, but employee culture is also a key factor.

Employees’ communication and interactions with one another and with management are influenced by personal and organizational culture. Likewise, an employee’s opinions have an impact on his or her morals and feeling of legal responsibility.

Importance of Employee behavior

Employee behavior is very important to a profitable and productive workplace. It acts as the foundation for many HR functions, including recognition and rewards, salary and compensation, and succession planning. 

In the absence of all of these, it is impossible to assess an employee’s worth and keep an organization working efficiently. This is why employee behavior is such an important factor to consider.

What’s intriguing is that how people act at work is not the sole thing that matters. Employees must keep an eye on their online image in today’s tech-savvy and social media-inclined work environments, as it can perhaps have a direct influence on the image of the organization for which they work. 

Many situations have appeared in which employees have vented their negative energies on social media, reflecting an unfavorable light on the company’s brand and, as a result, damaging the company. Moreover, if unpleasant online opinions abound, it becomes difficult to attract top employees to the team.

Employee behavior is so much more than simply a secondary concern that can be ignored. It is more significant than an organization’s financial sheet since it is impossible to manage strong statistics without well-behaved individuals on board.

Here are a few examples of how important employee behavior is:

1. Efficiency

Efficiency is the result of some of the finest behaviors among employees. Employees who seek to work together in accordance with organizational goals and accomplish expected outcomes exceed employees who participate in blame games or pointless arguments, resulting in lower ways to improve efficiency. 

This has a knock-on impact on the organization in the form of unhappy customers, increased expenses, dissatisfaction, and so on.

2. An Organization’s Reputation

People are more mindful of an organization’s market reputation in the era of the internet. A company’s public image can suffer if it has a reputation for unprofessional employee behavior. Similarly, if the organization has employees that are professional and efficient at their jobs, this reputation can bring in more clients and support employee engagement. Employees that are nice to one another are likely to be nice to clients as well.

3. Achieving Employee Retention

When it comes to company recruiting and staff retention, the working environment is extremely important. If potential candidates discover that the company promotes unethical workplace behavior, they may look at other organizations, making hiring top-level prospects difficult. Good workplace behavior keeps employees happy and boosts productivity, making the company more appealing to prospects.

4. Morale

Morale in the workplace is higher when employees like coming to work and interacting with coworkers. Unresolved tension and disagreement among coworkers, on the other hand, can make the environment feel unwelcoming, which depletes morale. Low morale promotes absenteeism and employee turnover, both of which can be costly to an organization.

5. The Recruitment Process

As previously said, job applicants now have several resources available to them to learn about a company’s work culture and inner workings. If anything suggests that unprofessional employee behavior is the norm at a certain job, they might choose to avoid it, or if they do join, they may soon resign due to the toxic environment.

Examples of Successful Employee Behavior 

Here are some examples of successful employee behavior that can be kept in mind:-

1. Effortless and Reliable

Employees who are successful are not scared to take on huge responsibilities because they are confident in their abilities to finish any job. They are trustworthy, allowing you to rely on them to finish tasks on time and effectively. Employees that are irreplaceable do not leave and have the ability to see things through, even when they face challenges.

2. Humble

While many professionals like claiming credit for their achievements, few accept the blame when they make a mistake. Employees who accept accountability for their actions and missteps must be acknowledged for their willingness to learn from and improve as a result of their missteps. Such employees provide a welcome change in the workplace.

3. Communicator with Outstanding Skills

They understand how to effectively and simply deliver their ideas. They respect other people’s time and communicate effectively. If a customer complaint has to be addressed, for example, they reply in a way that comforts the person and addresses any follow-up concerns the client may have.

4. Flexible

Flexible employees are quick learners who are well-versed in the company’s products and services. When anything new approaches the company, they are able to quickly adapt and incorporate the fresh information into their existing process. Given how quickly organizations evolve, they may be unable to match market expectations without flexible individuals.

5. Reliable

Employees who are dependable do not need to be micromanaged and require less supervision. They keep the organization running smoothly by ensuring that no work is delayed. Employers are continuously in the search for such employees who can be trusted with sensitive corporate information and responsibilities. Recognizing dependable employees in a team atmosphere can inspire others to be more dependable and trustworthy.

6. Overachiever

Successful employees go over and above what their supervisors want of them in order to solve a problem or improve a project. They feel that there is always room for improvement and are continuously looking for ways to improve anything by adding or removing features from products or processes.

7. Dedicated to the Team

In a competitive workplace, everyone characterizes every other colleague as a competition. Employees who not only interact well with one another but also inspire others are necessary for such an atmosphere.

Employees having this trait should be publicly acknowledged and rewarded in some way. This can motivate other employees to work as a team, which can only benefit the company’s success.

8. Proactiveness

A proactive employee is one who solves problems rather than reacting to them. Even before being instructed, a proactive employee analyses the industry and makes the best judgments to keep the organization ahead of the competition.

Tesco Mobile is an example of a proactive organization that has taken customer care to the next level by reaching out to clients long before they send in their complaints and concerns. Employers should learn to recognize and reward proactive employees.

9. Confidence

When doing a challenging activity, a confident employee will inspire a lot of confidence in others around him. Most of the time, this will result in the effective completion of such work. People show confidence in their commitment to seemingly difficult jobs.

You can identify an employee’s confidence in their dignity on the biggest stage, among other things. Organizations must value this employee’s behavior in order to keep such a spark alive.

Rewarding Positive Employee Behavior: What’s the Best Way?

The urge to be respected and appreciated is the most basic of all human wants. Observing positive employee behavior and failing to acknowledge it is nothing short of criminal. Furthermore, positive reinforcement is actually rather easy. This is why rewarding the employee behavior that the management requires is necessary, as it is extremely likely to be replicated. Managers can guarantee that positive behavior is repeated by rewarding it.

Here are some ideas for rewarding employee behaviors:

1. Presentations

While acknowledging someone one-on-one has its value, another option to acknowledge employee behavior is to highlight it in front of the entire organization. Install a leader board to highlight the outstanding behaviors demonstrated by employees from various company departments like as sales, operations, customer service, support, and so on. This provides employees with the chance to set a good example and inspire their coworkers.

2. Responsibility

Delegating work to deserving employees helps them develop confidence and self-esteem. Allowing positive work behavior, greater flexibility, and resisting the desire to micromanage such employees is the greatest method to reward it. This builds trust and pushes people to take on demanding tasks from within the organization, allowing them to design new career objectives and successfully attain them.

Factors Affecting Employee Behavior

Here are the following factors that mostly affect employee behavior:-

1. Workplace Culture

The most important factor influencing employee behaviors is workplace culture. Employees need to feel pleased and at ease at work in order to be productive. Employees and management should indeed follow the same rules and regulations regarding employee behavior. Transparency like this encourages employees to respect their managers. Another important factor influencing employee behavior at work is job security. If you help your team amid a crisis, they may be inspired to help you as well.

2. Taking Charge

Managers and supervisors have a significant impact on employee behavior in their teams. Employees who have unpleasant supervisors are more likely to be unhappy at work. As a leader, you should manage your team and constantly be there for them. Guide them through their responsibilities and assist them in gathering information and improving their abilities. Having an inspirational leader pushes your colleagues to accomplish their best as well.

3. Personal Life

People who have problematic connections in their personal lives can look distant at work. Employees who have a complicated home environment are more likely to stay late at work, which can have a negative impact on the workplace.

Because personal disagreements contribute to stress, attempt to isolate your problems from your professional concerns. This may appear difficult, but with intentional effort and frequent practice, it is attainable.

4. Typical Job Duties and Responsibilities

Make sure your employees are accomplishing tasks that are appropriate for their level of experience. Try not to overload them, but instead encourage them to gain new skills and move forward in their careers.

Encouragement to learn new abilities tells employees that you care about their professional development and might even make them desire to stay with the organization longer.

5. Communication

Employees and supervisors must build efficient ways to communicate. If the employees are excluded from corporate decisions, they may lose interest in their job over time.

Engage in talks with your team and encourage them to share their thoughts and points of view on topics. If they have any complaints or grievances, you should address them quickly as a supervisor in order to maintain a positive work atmosphere.

6. Relationships in the Workplace

Having a pleasant attitude at work requires the development of workplace connections. Consider organizing team-building events for your coworkers to help them bond. Team lunches, Friday trivia, icebreaker questions, and holiday celebrations are just a few examples of activities you can host.

The Best Ways to Encourage Positive Employee Behavior

Organizations want employees that demonstrate good behaviors that may boost their company to new heights of success. Everyone wants exceptional performers, risk-takers, good communicators, leaders, and the list goes on. 

Employees, on the other hand, are essentially human beings with distinct personalities. As a result, it might be difficult for a manager to influence and implant desirable behaviors in their employees.

Here are some suggestions to help individuals in achieving their objectives.

1. Behaviors that should be expected

An apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, as the phrase goes. Employees will undoubtedly copy the behavior of their superiors. It is important for leaders to accept responsibility for their actions in order to set a good example for their colleagues.

This is one of the most effective methods for reinforcing excellent behavior and setting new standards of excellence.

2. Consistency is key

Positive employee behavior is partly the result of managers establishing clear and consistent expectations. When managers are unaware of the desired set of behavior from their workforce, chaos and uncertainty reign.

It will just convey mixed signals, which is why consistency in what one sees to be positive behavior is one of the greatest methods to encourage positive employee behavior.

3. Be observant of Employee Behavior

Being extremely inquisitive is the most important strategy for identifying the fundamental reasons behind employee behavior. Managers must keep their eyes and ears open to ensure that an employee’s behavior is consistent with the organization’s needs and expectations.

At the same time, if their behavior does not improve fast, it is necessary to hold people accountable. This will instill a sense of responsibility in the expected behavior.

4. Take Action by understanding

There is a reason and a motive behind every unwanted behavior. While this is no excuse for such behavior, it does provide managers with important information for dealing with it. Employees are people, and as such, they might have ‘human’ goals based on emotional vulnerabilities, such as wanting to please everyone, which is a sign of low self-esteem.

As a manager, a large part of correcting behaviors is listening to, comprehending, and empathizing with employees in order to eventually be able to drive positive behavior.

5. Communication is important

Managers cannot expect employees to read their minds or detect nonverbal clues indicating positive behavior. In reality, most employees are unsure of what is expected of them since managers fail to emphasize or properly communicate the same. Managers should be loud and transparent about the type of behavior they want their staff to show.

The more people talk about it, the more certain it is that they will obtain it. Having said that, it is necessary to not just encourage professional behavior verbally but also to document it in a way that workers can see all of the time. Include it in all staff communications, employee handbooks, and other in-person interactions so that employees are exposed to it throughout the day.

6. Reward Positive Behaviour

When you notice a positive behavioral change in an employee, be sure to acknowledge and reward it. When your team sees that good behavior change can be rewarded, they will work harder to reach their objectives.

Positive behavior change should be rewarded in order to reinforce the message you have been delivering to your team. It’s important to remember that even the smallest positive improvements should be recognized.

Recognize an employee’s determination if you see they haven’t yet accomplished their goals but are trying incredibly hard to do so. Recognize the tiny accomplishments, and the larger ones will definitely come.

Wrapping it up

Human resource issues may rip at the company’s primary fabric, slowly destroying even the most solid foundations based on the greatest services or goods. As a result, for any organization to succeed, an awareness of employee behavior and a good compensation and recognition program are required.

Employee behavior is described as their ability to create positive or bad behavior or to apply a new concept that affects individuals in the company or the organization’s performance. 

Employee behavior may have various characteristics that are related to other behaviors. Hoping that this blog has helped you in knowing everything about employee behavior.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. What is the definition of work attitude and behavior?

Work attitude refers to how a person feels about his or her job and demonstrates his or her devotion to it. Attitudes are a form of thinking that determines how we interact with the environment, both within and outside of work. An attitude expresses our thoughts, ideas, and feelings about many elements of our surroundings.

2. Why is employee behavior important?

Both the employee and the employer gain from positive employee behavior. It results in more enjoyment, contentment, and productivity. Employers should promote and support positive employee behavior in the workplace, but it is ultimately up to employees to bring great mindsets to work.