Building the right workplace culture can have several tangible and intangible benefits. For it to be effective, it needs to proliferate to all touchpoints in your organization. Read on, to know how to achieve this.
What’s the difference between culture and values?
Workplace culture has become a popular buzzword lately. But does everyone clearly understand what it means and stands for? Each organization, usually, has a well defined and formally articulate Mission, Vision, and Core Values. Ideally, these values should be immovable and are supposed to be the bedrock upon which the company’s strategic decisions are made. What businesses to enter in, which geographies to expand into, mergers and acquisitions are all heavily influenced by the core set of company’s principles.
Workplace culture, on the other hand, is implicit and a bit more transactional in nature. It governs the daily interaction amongst colleagues and the processes, policies and practices at play in the workplace. In the perfect setup, the workplace culture stems from the core company values and resonates the underlying principles in all aspects and levels of engagement. The workplace culture is especially more relevant in startups and emerging small-medium sized businesses as it holds high importance in bringing the right talent into the organization. Let us take a look at its relevance and ways to create a fertile workplace culture conducive to growth and development of the organization as well as its employees.
How can you create a great workplace culture?
Every organization wants a highly productive workplace culture but it is easier envisioned than actually built. Creating a great workplace culture requires equal measures of intent and commitment and may require a top-down propagation. A 360-degree alignment of the workforce with the core values of the company is a good first step. It may also help to get the pulse of the current dynamics and culture prevalent in your organization to understand what is working and what may need to be done away with.
The next step usually involved drawing up a To-Be scenario. How do you envision your workplace culture to be? The answers to this question can help you set up a plan in motion. The facets of this plan should include:
- Set Clear Goals – both departmental and organizational
- Encourage A ‘Speak-Up’ Culture
- Promote Diversity, Respect, and Tolerance
- Recognize Employees And Their Contributions
- Optimize Work-Life Balance
- Seek Feedback and Act On It
- Declare Zero Tolerance On Toxic Workplace Behavior
- Use Technology As An Enabler
In the aftermath of the global pandemic, the existent workplace culture has undergone several shifts. Remote and hybrid working models have become the new normal. Employees have turned towards their companies for various kinds of support, including mental wellness. These changes in mindsets and priorities also need to be put into perspective while setting up the platform for your workplace culture.
Start with a solid first impression
Most cultural experts believe that having an unshakeable set of values and beliefs in place act as a solid foundation for the company culture to be built upon. While the company’s culture may undergo shifts, as visible in the post-pandemic era, the core values should hold firm and guide employee behavior and interactions.
The company culture needs to be evident in all aspects starting from the employee onboarding process. Often overlooked, the onboarding process is usually the first impression of a new hire to your company and everything about it. According to an HR survey conducted by Inc.com, “up to 28 percent of new hires quit within their first 3 months on the job”. A majority of them state poor onboarding and inability to fit into the company culture as key reasons for their decision.
To counter this, organizations have turned to automated Application Tracking Systems with in-built HR onboarding software to provide a smooth and seamless experience to the new hires. Since these systems are cloud based, they are accessible from anywhere and at any time, thereby allowing employees to feel connected to the company and its leadership while engaging in self learning and exploring more about the company’s culture.
Define what success looks like for your team
A well articulated culture code goes a long way in developing a strong and vibrant culture in your young enterprise. Since it will be the beacon that guides all your future business endeavors as well as for the basis on people interaction, a culture code should be defined with employee involvement. Seeking suggestions and feedback on how your staff imagines their workplace to be like can be a great step in inclusivity as well as shared accountability of the culture’s upkeep. The benefits of this are most apparent when your organization starts scaling up and the veteran employees become culture-champions and guides for the new incoming talent pool.
Communicate and celebrate wins together
Companies with open-communication policies and a culture that celebrates individual as well as collective wins are known to have high employee satisfaction levels. Going by what Forbes reportes, this can lead to a 4x increase in revenue and a 21% increase in your top line. Clearly, a win-win for all.
Not only does this increase a self of belonging, it also helps create advocates for your company’s culture in the form of referrals. Employees that feel valued and appreciated are 32% more likely to refer to your organization thus giving you access to a vast pool of talent to drive your business further.
Summing Up
In emerging enterprises, creating a wonderful workplace culture can be a bit easier as there are no old-rooted belief systems that need to be torn down. Working with a clean slate you can consider the above mentioned tips and suggestions to build a company culture that promotes healthy interactions in your organization. Technology platforms are great enablers that can significantly reduce manual efforts, improve productivity and efficiency, and raise the quality of work-life for your employees
