What Makes a Successful Work Environment (2024)

Coronavirus crisis deeply impacted how we work and live. Months of containment forced millions of people worldwide to work remotely, impacting how they perceive their jobs, companies, work-life balance, and more broadly their professional identity. People and companies all over the world are now questioning their work environment.

How important is work in our life? What do we bring to society as a professional? What is our place in our current organization? What conditions reveal our full potential? Is our professional identity fulfilling? All the more questions that leave us wondering what life we want tomorrow.

Having worked at several different companies from GAFAs to startups, all having different work environments, management values and rules, I’ve identified 5 characteristics of companies that will impact your job performance and satisfaction for the better… or the worse. Whether you’re looking for a new job, starting a new company, or managing a team, this article will help you understand the hidden characteristics of the most successful work environments.

One of our basic needs as humans is to feel valued and important. We need to matter, to feel that we belong. Too many companies overlook this paramount fact while studies have confirmed that people give the best of themselves, are more engaged and perform better when they feel valued and considered. Feeling valued is a key indicator of your job performance and satisfaction.

The same study even shows that half of the employees who don’t feel valued plan to leave their company in the next year.

You might think that you can recognize your own value without needing external validation, and you should. That being said, however strong we think we are, we are all weak when facing genuine recognition from the people around us. Coworkers' and managers' praises, high-fives, and support do make us feel good. And when others value us we want to live up to their valuation and consistently prove ourselves of value, therefore being more engaged and performing better.