Coding
Company culture not in a good state?
Building a strong and positive workplace culture is integral to any successful employing business. Without a positive workplace culture, employers will inevitably see a decline in productivity and an increase in workplace disputation.
For some businesses, getting their workplace culture right can be the final piece of the puzzle. It can take a good business and make it extraordinary or lift a struggling business into a period of unseen success.
For some businesses, getting their workplace culture right can be the final piece of the puzzle. It can take a good business and make it extraordinary or lift a struggling business into a period of unseen success.
Building a strong and positive workplace culture is integral to any successful employing business. Without a positive workplace culture, employers will inevitably see a decline in productivity and an increase in workplace disputation.
For some businesses, getting their workplace culture right can be the final piece of the puzzle. It can take a good business and make it extraordinary or lift a struggling business into a period of unseen success.
For some businesses, getting their workplace culture right can be the final piece of the puzzle. It can take a good business and make it extraordinary or lift a struggling business into a period of unseen success.
IDENTIFYING NEED
What is
Workplace Culture?
Workplace culture is at its most basic level, the character of the business. Workplace cultures are often unique to the business and is made up of elements including:
Workplaces should strive to create and maintain a positive workplace culture as this has been repeatedly shown to promote productivity and employee satisfaction. As such, positive workplace culture ensures the wellbeing of the individuals within it, but also positively affects the businesses bottom line.
- The businesses stated values or beliefs;
- The businesses stated values or beliefs;
- The behaviours that are demonstrated, encouraged or allowed to prosper;
- The organisational goals
- The work practices within the organisation; and
- The attitudes of the individuals and teams within the organisation
AFFECTING WORKPLACE CULTURE
What affects workplace culture?
Creating and maintaining a positive workplace culture may appear simple or straight forward. However, the recipe for success is complex and is liable to change as the businesses grow or the people change within it. Businesses should be pro-actively refining their approach to workplace culture rather than reacting to declines in employee satisfaction. Without this ‘hands-on-the-wheel’ approach, workplace culture can go from positive to downright toxic in a short space of time.
Some of the most important ingredients in the recipe for positive workplace culture are as follows:
Some of the most important ingredients in the recipe for positive workplace culture are as follows:
AFFECTING WORKPLACE CULTURE
Leadership and Management
Although it should be obvious, leaders and managers can lose sight of the fact that the behaviours, attitudes and culture that they exhibits has a flow on effect to the rest of the business. Leaders need to actively promote the culture they are seeking, and ensure they themselves model the culture they
are promoting.
Company policies and stated values
A business’s stated aims and values and the workplace policies that underpin them, play a vital role in ‘setting the standards’ within any organisation.
The physical environment
The physical space that employees occupy has a direct and immediate influence on their attitudes and satisfaction in the workplace. This may mean that employers give consideration to things such as natural light, clean spaces, areas where employees can meet and adequate and accessible privacy where required. If a portion of the workforce is working from home, It should also include a consideration of how those arrangements might affect the individuals positively or negatively.
The People
Workplace culture often starts with recruitment. Ensuring that you have the right mix of people and enough diversity within your staff can directly impact the way in which the workplace is perceived by your employees. Workplaces are like teams, and like teams they are their most effective when you are able to assemble the right mix of individuals to complement each other’s skills.
Workplace processes and procedures
The practices that operate within any organisation set the mood for any workplace culture. For this reason, it is important that businesses consider developing and maintaining formal procedures. A relaxed and casual approach to processes and procedures can breed a relaxed and casual approach to the work being performed. This can include things such as robust yet accessible standard operating procedures, but should also include things such as workplace training and a considered approach to work-life balance.
