What Happens When Your Employees Bring Their Whole Selves to Work

When you interview a candidate, you probably don’t ask many questions that aren’t related to the role or the candidate’s skill sets. You may not ask what their hobbies are, what they do for fun, or what causes matter to them yet these are very important assets to each and every one of us. It is important to know more than just what skill sets and experience candidates hold and what’s even more important is allowing that person to bring their whole selves to work. While our jobs are important, they are only a part of our overall lives. When they’re not at the office, employees can be trying to balance different aspects of life such as children, activities, and health to name a few. Allowing and encouraging employees to bring their whole selves to work is, in fact, a huge act of inclusion.

When you encourage employees to bring their whole selves to work, you are fostering trust and making them feel valued and accepted. You will ease their stress and urge to fit in, especially if they are new to the organization. Not only is this a plus for them as employees but allowing people to practice authenticity in the workplace has many benefits for employers as well.

Here are some benefits of creating an environment where employees can bring their whole selves to work:

Higher Productivity

Allowing your employees to have a personalized workspace can boost productivity within the organization. Something as simple as family photos can have a huge impact on the productivity of your employees.

Diversity & Collaboration

Diversity can increase when employees bring their whole selves to work. Not only can teams learn to celebrate their differences, but they can find support knowing others who may be going through similar life experiences. When employees get to know more about each other, it can foster collaboration resulting in fresh and innovative ideas.

Employee Retention

Encouraging employees to be themselves instead of wearing a “work mask” will make employees feel comfortable and happier. This means you’ll have a reduced turnover resulting in reduced acquisition and training time and costs.

Employees already struggle between finding a way to balance life and work. Creating a path toward success for your employees means providing an environment where they can be themselves and being confident to do so.

Here are some ways you can encourage others to bring their whole selves to work.

Personalized Desks

Allowing people to personalize their workspace with family photos or other personal items is a great way of letting people be themselves in the office. For parents, specifically, moms, having pictures of their children actually increases productivity.

Employee Resource Groups

Employee resource groups are a great way for employees to meet colleagues from different departments who share similar interests, ethnicities, and backgrounds. This provides a feeling of belonging to which people can react by fostering collaboration amongst teams. Take a look at #ThreeTips on Employee Resource Groups strategies for your organization.

Be Appreciative

Celebrating and appreciating employees’ differences can broaden our horizons and help us gain new insights. This is different than recognition. Recognition is positive feedback from performance whereas appreciation is recognizing the value of people.

Be Flexible

Being flexible doesn’t only mean you offer work-from-home policies and unlimited PTO. You can be flexible by creating a culture of learning and not just compliance. Ideally, you want your employees to embrace challenges and failure to use them as learning opportunities. Success is important but your employees shouldn’t be fearful when mistakes happen.

As much as we try to hide it or make it seem as though we have everything under control, life happens. Whatever your employees are going through outside of the office - whether stressful or joyful -- follows them into work as well. If we show up to work authentically, we can work and lead better. 

What are some ways you bring your whole self to work? Let us know!