Best Practices to Improve Work Relationships

The ability to work well with others is the key to having a successful career in human resources. Interpersonal relationships also impact job satisfaction. When there is a lot of tension between employees and management, team morale, engagement, and retention all suffer. The following practices can help you improve work relationships.

Show Accountability

You can’t get along with others if you don’t have the respect of the people you work alongside. The fastest way to lose the respect of your colleagues is to blame others for your mistakes or failures. Yet, you will score a lot of points if you acknowledge when you’re wrong and make it right. You also want to show accountability in your relationships. If you don’t get along with a coworker or manager, don’t assume it’s the other person’s fault. Conflict is usually two-sided so you have to be willing to cooperate with the other person and actively work to improve the relationship.

Reflect on How You Communicate

People often focus on what they say but not on how they say it. They often don’t consider how others interpret their tone of voice or body language. If you talk too loudly, use too much sarcasm, managers and colleagues may find you disrespectful or even hostile. You can often improve work relationships just by maintaining a positive attitude throughout the day and speaking in a respectful, friendly tone.

Show Gratitude

Work relationships will generally be healthier if people perceive you as a team player. For this reason, it’s important to be humble and thankful. No one likes arrogant people or people who take advantage of others. Every time you succeed at work, there are others who contributed to your success. When you thank colleagues, you show them that you value them and that you don’t take them for granted. This is a great way to build better working relationships with co-workers.

Keep Your Word

Trust is critical to relationship-building. If you say you’re going to do something, do it. Keep your commitments and promises. If you don’t, your coworkers will see you as unreliable. Over time, if you don’t keep your commitments or meet your deadlines, they will start to resent you because when you underperform, your colleagues are the ones who have to pick up the slack.

To succeed in human resources, you have tend to your work relationships. Success is a team effort, so you need the people you work with to trust and respect you. You can improve interpersonal relationships in the workplace by demonstrating positive communication, taking responsibility for your actions, and showing gratitude.

by Ruben Moreno