HR

What is Work Culture?

By Sean Gordon

Gone are the days of sitting in a grey office constantly staring at a screen from 9-5. As organizations are continuing to evolve and develop, new objectives around what culture within the workplace looks like have emerged. Organizations create objectives and goals to bring individuals together on a common platform, motivating individuals to perform at their best every day. It is essential for employees to enjoy showing up and being able to confidently own their role. Work culture plays a vital role in cultivating the best from employees and creating loyalty within the organization. So how do you achieve this?

There is no one-step solution to create the best workplace culture. It looks different for every organization. Before we give you a few tangible steps to identify a healthy work culture, let’s better define what work culture is:

Company culture is a focus that looks at:

  • Attitudes, beliefs, and thought processes of all employees.
  • Principles, ideas, and values of the organization.

Work culture is how employees interact with one another and how the organization functions. When organizations have strong work culture, they follow the organization’s rules and regulations and fully adhere to the guidelines. However, this line becomes grey when companies have strict procedures that make their employees feel unheard, unseen, and invalid in the workspace.

Characteristics of A Healthy Work Culture

A healthy work culture fosters satisfied employees and increases motivation and productivity.

Employees must champion each other.

Individuals have to respect one another. Gossip and hurtful intentions should not take up space in your organization. Both are unprofessional and produce unhealthy work culture. There will never be any benefit or gain of tearing down others, nor does any gain come out of a policy that supports it.

Equality must speak louder.

Partiality produces an uneven playing field within your workforce. As an organization, you should always be striving to produce an atmosphere that promotes equality. Favoring a select few employees can hurt the overall health of your organization, causing individuals to feel left out and less than. A key tip for including everyone in your workspace is to provide educational tools that advocate for inclusive conversations and equality.

Celebrate big wins.

Praise your employees when they are performing well. Give them a pat on the back and encourage them in their efforts. People should be able to confidently feel that they have value in your organization. Instead of focusing on criticizing underperformers, celebrate those who are making strides.

Create practical guidelines and friendly policies.

Goals have to be specific, measurable, and attainable. In order to create a great work culture, your organization has to have goals that fit all of these parameters. If you’re not setting attainable but challenging goals, you’re setting your company up for failure.

Be reasonable in what you’re asking. Asking your employees to work late on a birthday or anniversary wouldn’t be practical. Rules, regulations, and goals should be for the benefit of your people and your organization, not your organization alone.

Everyone is a leader, not just you.

Bosses should have a mentor approach toward their employees. Your team leaders should serve as a source of inspiration for subordinate employees. Your leadership should empower and encourage team members to take incentive and responsibility. Have conversations with employees about ways that they can lead within their own role. When everyone feels that they have a responsibility to be a leader, they stay highly motivated and seek opportunities for growth within your organization.

The investment you make in your people matters. These tips help access how to integrate healthy company culture into your workspace.

To learn more about building a strong company culture, check out our blog on Why Building A Strong Company Culture Is Vital to Your Organization.

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