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A good workplace culture is important. But it does not necessarily refer to sleep pods or ping-pong tables as we have seen across the media and pop culture in recent years. These things are obviously desirable to have and can potentially have positive influences on employees, but culture is much more than that.
What is meant by a ‘strong workplace culture’ are the higher things such as values, attitudes, behaviors and standards that constitute the overall character of a business or company. It is the employees’ day-to-day experience while working, and when workplace culture is strong, employees are committed, driven, motivated and excited about their work. Its importance is clear as a strong workplace culture becomes a decisive factor in determining profitability, competitiveness and the ultimate success of your business.
But how does a strong workplace culture influence all of this? If you are working in Human Resources, studying for a Masters in Human Resources, or are part of your company’s leadership team, then this will be a guide for you to learn how to boost your business’s workplace culture and maximise its success for the future.
Why Workplace Culture?
Employees want, and frankly need, to feel connected with their colleagues and company to ensure that they are doing their best and can excel. Creating a positive workplace may seem easy, but positivity can also rapidly devolve into toxicity. A positive workplace can also look different from one company to another.
Just to give a picture of the diverse meanings of what a positive workplace culture is, the Great Place Work Surveys in 2018 placed these words (not all) to describe positive work environments:
- ‘Fun’
- ‘Challenging’
- ‘Friendly’
- ‘Engaging’
- ‘Rewarding’
- ‘Flexible’
- ‘Supportive’
- ‘Caring’
- ‘Family’
- ‘Busy’
While it is clear that these words are different from one another, what they have in common however is the emphasis on the employee’s experience. Precisely, a strong workplace culture is focused on the employee, and whether they feel valued – if they do, there is commitment and enthusiasm for their work.
By the Numbers
A strong workplace culture means a stronger business.
A study was conducted by Forbes in 2011, surveying twelve firms ‘with performance-enhancing cultures’ and twelve firms ‘without performance-enhancing cultures’. According to the results of the survey, companies that had the former had revenue growth of 682%, while the latter only stood at 166%. Employment for the former grew by 282%, while the latter only 36%. And in net income growth, 756% for the former, and only just 1% for the latter. These results are staggering.
More recently, another study, the Global Culture Survey, was conducted in 2021 by Strategy&. 3200 workers across 50 different countries were surveyed on the impacts of workplace culture. Accordingly, 68% of survey respondents viewed that a positive work environment was the primary source of competitive advantage for their business. Many also agreed that a strong workplace culture included recruitment and retention, digitization, occupational health and safety and collaborative work between employees.
The importance of a workplace culture is clear. A culture that promotes innovation and productivity is a culture that will thrive. And happy employees also mean happy customers.
A Workplace Culture that Ensures Success
A good workplace culture does not come out of the blue. In fact, many of the characteristics are carefully created, planned and managed by the company’s leadership or Human Resources team. So what does a strong workplace culture look like? Again, it may look different from company to company, but here are some common characteristics of a positive or strong workplace culture:
Purpose-Driven
We all know that the primary purpose of a company has always been to generate a profit. But mere profit for profit’s sake is not enough for employees, as it can very quickly take a toll on employees, making them feel disconnected and alienated.
To be purpose-driven is to ensure that employees embody the fundamental values and principles of the business. This is not a mere recital of slogans of course. Rather, these are manifested through behaviour, choices, decisions and how they communicate and interact with each other. Purpose means that employees can feel that their job is important, and have a direct sense of ownership of their purpose.
Giving Feedback: Giving Hope and Encouragement
Making mistakes is an inevitable part of business. The crucial thing however is giving feedback to employees to ensure that chances of future errors are reduced and confidence is built.
If in contrast, there is not a culture of feedback, not only employees, but leaders too, will continue to do things they should not which would only spiral the business into a cycle of unwanted challenges and problems. Employees become fearful of making mistakes which would only lead to stalling of productivity and eventual stagnation.
Employees should be able to feel safe and encouraged to both share and receive feedback. However, feedback should not solely be positive, for example, when it is a situation that needs constructive criticism. That would only lead to the opposite problem where mistakes would be repeated without proper rectification. It is only through feedback that employees can feel motivated and valued for their work.
Respect and Fairness
Everyone knows this. Leaders need to show respect towards employees to earn that respect in return. The best form of respect is to regularly recognise the efforts of employees, receive employee feedback and ensure that the lives of employees outside work are cared for.
Respect also means fairness, and where fairness exists, workplaces excel. Employees should feel that they and everyone else have fair play, and this is not just in the area of salary or pay, but also in healthy competition and the opportunity to succeed.
Trust
All in all, the foundation of all of these characteristics is trust. To build healthy relationships between employees, and engage in effective communication, collaborative teamwork and commitment to work are all rooted in trust.
While the importance of trust is clearly acknowledged by businesses today, it is rarely properly implemented as trust is, admittedly, hard to pin down. Trust is fundamental to business and success, and in circumstances where it has been damaged, restoring it should be the utmost priority.
A strong workplace culture should be the basis of every business and company. It is the ingredient for success. Amidst the current sluggish economy, now is the best time to ensure that employees feel valued and committed to and for the work they do – and it is only through a strong workplace culture that this can happen.
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