What makes an organization unique? You have the unique product offerings, the mission, and vision and the people representing the company at the forefront and behind the scenes. But the most important ingredient that brings out that unique flavour, that embodies what the organization is all about is the culture. It is uniquely distinct to every organization. Culture is hard to define and you cannot see it but it makes its presence felt through its physical manifestations in the workplace. Culture is the true identifier made up of the values, beliefs, attitudes, and behaviours shared by a group of people who brings their own life experiences to the organization. In other words, culture is the character and personality of the organization.
Studies have shown that a positive and strong company culture tends to produce stronger and better results compared to those with weaker or negative culture. A strong and positive culture produce highly engaging and performing employees who are motivated at work.
Here are some ways that can help you to create and foster within your organization.
1. Listen, Learn and Apply
Culture is more than just the perks and benefits provided by an organization. It is the environment of how the employees interact and their expectations. One way to understand this unseen force that can bind everyone together or push everyone away is to simply talk to your employees. Such communication be it formally or informally when done often enough helps you understand each of the employees’ values and what motivates them. This will help you create a culture with your employees in mind.
2. Goals and Workplace
In your quest to create a culture for your organization, you need to strike a balance between values and the environment. For example, some companies may strive to promote fun and collaboration so they may prefer open workspaces and with a corner of fun like a table tennis that allows employees to take a short break from work and have fun with a game or two with their teammates.
3. Show Gratitude
Often, a smile, a little praise or even a small conversation about their achievements and work can break the wall between the management and employees and giving rise to an open and positive culture. Public acknowledgment of a good job done or their extra efforts can motivate people to try harder and go the extra mile more.
4. Engagement your Employees
Creating a culture is not just the task of the senior management and employers but rather, everyone should play a role in it. One good way to solicit engagement is to get the employees to contribute ideas for events or celebration parties that are held within the office. Some organizations have also created social groups and activities for employees with similar interests.
Culture is not easy to create or change as it requires people to unlearn their old way of doing things and start performing consistently in new behaviours. Culture is also dynamic so it’s always a work in progress. So it’s necessary that you include culture as a part of your business strategy as it’s too significant to ignore.