What do you think makes a happy working environment? Share your views with Xero and you could win a £100 Apple voucher. NOW CLOSED

[AnnMumsnet]

Xero, an app for small businesses that makes managing finances easy, wants to know what you think makes a happy working environment.

If you run a business – or if you've ever thought about doing so – what would you do to make it happy? What does your employer do that makes you happy in the workplace? And if you're not working at the moment, what do you think would make you happy at work now?

Maybe it's flexible working hours, the best technology, great relationships with your work mates or the freedom to get creative.

Here is what they say: "At Xero, we believe a happy business is a beautiful thing. So we've launched the Business of Happiness project to help define what makes a business happy, championing those who are doing it well and supporting those who need a helping hand."

Please share your thoughts on this thread. Every MNer who posts a comment will be entered into a prize draw, where one MNer will win a £100 Apple voucher, which can be used at an Apple Retail Store or in the Apple Online Store.

Find out more about Xero's Business of Happiness campaign here.

Standard Insight T&Cs apply. Note, anon comments may be used by Xero on their website and on social media.

Thanks and good luck!
MNHQ

A cheerful atmosphere where everyone is equally valued for the different roles they do. And cake.

Being valued is the number one thing. I have gone from working somewhere where they looked for something you had done wrong all the time to put in your end of year appraisal to working somewhere I get thanked on a regular basis and the project I work on has been nominated for an award. Pay is not great but I am so much happier. It's very stressful to be under constant watch and criticism.

Having the resources to get your job done properly. In my current job I use a 10-year-old computer that they won't replace, and it won't run lots of the software or websites I need to use, which means I end up having to take a lot of work home to do on my own laptop (which I bought specifically for this purpose) or access websites on my phone, as they won't accept the out-of-date hardware as a reason not to to the work.

A team atmosphere where people are praised and not just penalised is also a much nicer and more productive environment.

Also an understanding that 'flexibility' should work both ways - if an employee is expected to stay late or go to a meeting outside of work hours, it should be reciprocated if they need to leave early one day for a doctors appointment etc.

Feeling what you do is important and makes a difference
Having some level of autonomy
Being listened to, your views mattering
Not being overloaded (busy is fine)
Liking the people you work with
Mastery - being able to do what you're good at
Knowing how you contribute and fit in

Good pay helps too

Flexible working hours and being able to get a teabreak not 8 hours into a 12 hour shift

Flexible working, teleworking. Trusting staff to do the job and then giving them freedom to do it.
Avoiding presenteeism and focusing on productivity/results.
Encouraging collaboration not competition between staff.
yy to decent pay and conditions.
Having windows! I can't bear working in offices without a window and daylight.

Provide coffee and biscuits; make sure people have lunchbreaks at same time, if they want, be sympathetic to requests for flexible working, keep in touch with people regularly to see what is happening - remembering workers are people too.

Reducing noise levels in open plan offices, flexible working and the odd chocolate biscuit!

Recognising when employees do good work, even if it's just a say so from the manager. Friendly, approachable team leaders/managers, so you feel you can talk to them about anything to do with work and issues. Let's you have time off or swap shifts for your childrens assemblies/events at school

As a freelancer who has also been employed in the past, I have a range of views on this.

What makes me happy at work are the following:

1. Being able to achieve something every day. This involves also being able to trust others to do what they are meant to do. One of my most frustrating and least enjoyable jobs ever was in an industry where pointless presenteism was encouraged, which led to a vast amount of unseen inefficiency and unproductivity. Very little is more demoralising for a goal-driven, task-focused person than being surrounded by co-workers whose only interest in their job is the pay packet and their weekend plans.

2. Decent management. The enjoyment of a job can be ruined by psychotic, over-involved managers attempting to micro-manage. In my view, managers are there to direct the overall direction of the company or project. My most enjoyable job in this respect was in an environment where initiative was very much encouraged. Managers should be aware of what individual employees are doing in general terms, but as soon as they start to micro-manage every last detail of the job, they risk infantilising staff and creating resentment and demotivation. On the topic of management, the best ones are approachable when a staff member feels they need more input or help.

3. Time management. Many businesses are deluded and believe that their employees have nothing else to do but come to work. People have lives outside work that are equally as important. Work should be scheduled in such a way that employees are able to plan their lives outside work and be able to stick to arrangements, be effective parents, friends and carers. It is perfectly possible to achieve this- in fact a very good friend of mine runs an organisation in which he insists that nobody do last-minute overtime, nor be routinely available outside their contracted working hours. His staff are happier, and it makes imo for a more productive working environment. Nobody should be forced to give up part of their non-contracted hours to mop up a management failure. Again, a good management issue.

4. Effective delegation. Delegating to the best person for the job leads to the happiest working environment. Everybody playing to their strengths whilst being encouraged to try something new every so often is the way employees stay happy. Nobody wants to be forced to do something they are pants at, every day.

5. Social aspects of work. We spend most of our working hours at work. There is nothing unreasonable about wanting human contact (friendships) with people we spend most of our days with. Ideally people will be able or even encouraged to develop social links with others.

I have to say, my current boss (me!) is a bit of a slave-driver, and her company is a trifle boring at times. Also her time-management leaves a lot to be desired, but importantly I don't inflict any of these failings on anybody else.

Regular breaks, being sufficiently staffed for people to do ther job. We are so massively understaffed that we are always working at crisis level. Team meetings are scheduled and cancelled, same for training, same for one to ones. Five hours without a break and managers moaning about their workload and not bothering to look up and acknowledge a good morning when you come in...

Flexibility.

Natural daylight, if possible (though unfortunately it doesn't always go well with screens).

Chances to mix and chat with colleagues.

Simple, sane (and quick) processes for everyday activities - things like holiday requests, sorting out access or requesting essential kit shouldn't take hours and make you tear your hear out!

Management who listen...

Flexibility has to be the number 1 thing - if i know i can dive out to sort the kids or something without being 'judged' - i'm more than happy to do more for work

Encouraging team work amongst staff members so that we know we can rely on each other so no one ever gets too stressed. Free food also helps...

The boss trusting you to know what you are doing
Homeworking being an option

Flexibility & trust - time off taken when needed (appointments etc) knowing that extra time is made up elsewhere

Everyone pulling their weight, helping each other out when needed

Enforcing "lunch away from desk" policy to make sure everyone takes a proper lunch break

Interestingly we have been looking at this where I work (Higher Education). I think the top motivators that have come up are:

Flexible working environments
Supportive Teams
Opportunity for Staff Development

Our team seem very happy actually, best place I have worked in to date :)

Depends hugely on the industry sector as to what sorts of things would work best to make a happy workplace. I think generally managers being good managers and caring about their employees is a big one as i think it is often true that 'people don't leave jobs, they leave managers'. good managers make for happy employees and bad managers can make life miserable!

If i ran my own organisation, i'd love it to be creative and entrepreneurial and the workplace to reflect that.

Think moshi monsters / mind candy with the slide to get from upstairs to downstairs. Decent catering / canteen facilities with subsidised good food. A decent creche facility on site would definitely get me back to work after maternity leave.

Other little fun quirky things in chill out areas so people can unwind and relax during breaktimes and get creative juices flowing - beanbags, big writing walls for inspirational quotes to be scribbled on, a scooting area with adult scooters, an outdoor space for fresh air. Somewhere people want to be.

I always think a dream job is taking a hobby or something you love doing and earning a living from it - So i'd make the workplace somewhere where people could express themselves and then get the best out of them doing what they are passionate about.

A clean, tidy and well organised work area. Equipment that works, printers, photo copiers. I love the radio on too, makes my day go faster.

A reasonable boss, not a soft or weak one or a bully but one who is fair and honest.

I could live without tea, coffee and biscuits (and indeed do!).

Other than the obvious stuff about respect, team spirit etc, I think getting the space right is important.

Planning the environment so that busy people don't have to waste time trekking all over the building, unless absolutely necessary.

Temperature regulation - so that it fits the dress code of the business. Eg: Don't expect people to keep fully suited and booted if there is no air con.

Colours - keep them calm and soothing; not garish.

Totally agree re the windows comment below. Plants make a big difference too (provided somebody bothers to look after them).

Behaviours:
Smile and say, 'Good morning' etc. There's nothing worse than people being so busy, or thinking themselves so important perhaps, that they forget to bother with basic courtesies.

Say, 'Thank you' to people regularly - and mean it.

Be aware of staff as individuals and treat them accordingly.

YY to collaboration, not competition - the latter can be horribly destructive.

Flexible working
Being treated as a person not a cog in a machine
Positive colleagues

I think it's all about feeling valued. Simple things like please and thank you make a huge difference. Dress down Friday works and so do biscuits or cakes every so often. They're just all signed that staff are appreciated.

Professionalism and respect. NO humiliating 'morale boosting' team building exercises/ice-breaker type things.