Your work culture is the shared set of values, beliefs, and attitudes that guide your organization. It’s reflected in the way you cater to your customers and employees. It impacts the target candidates you attract for open positions. A robust company culture boosts productivity, reduces turnover, and enhances employee engagement.
Work culture naturally develop within every organization. Allowing negative behaviors and toxic attributes to fester will cultivate unfavorable and an expensive work experience.
Toxic workplace cultures cost U.S. employers $223 billion in turnover in five years, according to a report by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).
However, by being intentional with your core values and culture initiatives, you can create a positive work culture that will inspire your workforce and help your business thrive.
What is a Work Culture?
A company’s work culture is typically its overall personality. It’s a medley of elements that create an intangible ecosystem where people can work to the optimum of their capabilities and creative skills.
Some vital elements that creates a productive ambiance are:
- Values
- Ethics
- Task management
- Collaboration
- Feedback
- Expectations
- Goals
- Workflow
- Time management
In a nutshell, your company’s culture reflects the ideology of the business, its leadership, and its employee satisfaction ratio.
Characteristics of a Positive Work Culture
While every workplace is different, companies with happy employees have some common characteristics. Here are four features of a favorable workplace culture that we’ve observed while working with enterprises of all types and sizes.
Good Communication
Nothing is more frustrating for an employee than ambiguous job expectations. These scenarios make effective communication one of the most important aspects of positive workplace culture. Managers shouldn’t make themselves inaccessible. Instead, they should strive to give their employees frequent feedback on performance. Employees should also be encouraged to communicate with each other and be provided with the proper allowances to do so. Communication among the company’s system should stick to three principles: being clear, courteous, and proactive.
Opportunities for Growth
The best employees want much more than just punch a time clock each day for a paycheck. They want a chance to upgrade themselves and grow on the job. Companies with a positive work environment render employees with clear expectations for advancement and the opportunities and training needed for success. It can be done by hosting on-the-job training programs and creating specific goals for employees to reach promotions and raises.
Culture of Collaboration
Humans are social beings who flourish by working together as a team. Organizations that encourage collaboration help to foster a camaraderie among personnel that boosts both performance and morale. Creating a sense of unity makes them feel like they are working for something bigger and better than themselves.
Reward Systems
Recognizing good work is an essential morale booster and helps encourage staff engagement. Employers should have a formal reward system in the organization that provides other benefits to employees who help meet company goals. Informal rewards—like notes, special events, or gifts—can also make them feel valued without affecting a company’s bottom line.
Why is a Work Culture so important?
A workplace is an environment where employees spend over one-third of their lives. Moreover, they tend to work for hours to meet the goals and expectations. Naturally, when an employee is happy and satisfied at work, their overall productivity and utility are improved. But the goodies don’t end there.
When you provide a good work environment, your employees wake up every day looking forward to spending a great day at work rather than counting their days to the weekend. They feel the same loyalty, ownership, and dedication towards the company as you do, and the result gets reflected in the efficiency they deliver.
How to create a strong Work Culture?
If you’re thinking about building the company’s work culture of your dreams, you need to first layout your core values. These will act as the foundation of everything that happens at your company and guide your business’s evolution. Dedicate as much time as necessary to ensure that everyone is aligned and include leadership, long-term employees, and HR representatives so all essential parties of the system can weigh in. In the end, you should have a concise list of values that reflects your current company culture and long-term goals.
Then, think about the kind of work culture you want to create. Consider everything from the physical layout of the office to how often employees interact with their colleagues, managers, and members of the C-Suite.
Bottom line:
Work Culture is always a work in progress. It’s crucial to plan for development and have the agility to adapt to unexpected or unfortunate events. It’s also essential to examine how different people respond to change and how to keep your workforce engaged. Building a great employee experience and a rich, vibrant work culture is vital as we all continue navigating through uncertain times.
If you’re looking for expert help in creating a healthy work culture, we’re here for you.
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