Workplace Culture: Definition, Characteristics & Solutions

Workplace Culture Defined 

Simply put, the working culture is the personality of a company.

Constantly evolving, workplace culture is built on core principles like a business's values, mission statement, and beliefs.  

Culture in the workplace is fluid and constantly influenced by its employees' shared assumptions, behaviors, and practices. It's a collective way of thinking, behaving, and doing that is often unwritten and unspoken, acting as the social glue that gets people striving toward common goals. 

A positive work culture that aligns with employees and job hunters' values and beliefs has the power to increase staff retention and recruitment tenfold. While workers want to be paid fairly, they also would like to join a meaningful workplace that ascribes to their goals and values.

Why Office Culture is Important 

Employees form the backbone of any company, and when they’re not happy, the business will ultimately suffer. 

A business is more likely to run more efficiently, retain staff for longer, attract the right talent, and gain consumer loyalty if they have a positive work culture. 

The general morale of the office could be upbeat and optimistic in a positive workplace culture, where staff is engaged, productive, and enthusiastic about their work. This ultimately affects the company’s performance and productivity and to improve workplace culture is a constant effort. 

When companies give clear guidelines and expectations, staff will have a greater sense of purpose and reason to continue working enthusiastically.
 

Characteristics of Positive Workplace Culture

Working culture might be unique to companies, but you’ll find these universal characteristics inherent in a workplace where the office culture is positive. 

Inclusive 
An inclusive office space supports, nurtures, and values all staff members equally, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, or color.

In an inclusive workplace, differences are celebrated, while opportunities for career advancement, office perks, and rewards are provided equitably to everyone.
 
Resilient In The Face Of Challenges
An excellent example of resilience to improve workplace culture was the impact of the pandemic on companies. 

Businesses with a good work culture might have responded to the changing circumstances by uniting their remote teams and uplifting morale while maintaining team camaraderie and spirit during the most uncertain times. 

Pleasurable Working Environment 
When staff knows how to respond and understand what’s expected of them, they respect each other and get along better. 

When a work environment isn’t fraught with tension, it becomes a place that people view positively. 

High-Quality Work Output 
Employees might not be working at their prime when a negative or poorly executed workplace culture exists. They may be confused about their goals and objectives or not motivated to do their best.  

The inspired staff has a clearer understanding of the goals they’re working toward. They might also enjoy more freedom and flexibility because they complete deadlines and hit targets without supervision.

Does My Workplace Have A Toxic Culture?

Having a bad Monday or experiencing a challenging, stressful week is part of the job.

But a lousy day at work is different from a toxic work environment or a negative and dissatisfying work culture. 

A symptom of harmful or toxic work culture is a high turnover rate. If you're losing valuable employees, it's time to reevaluate your workplace culture and make the necessary changes to keep your staff happy to stay in business.

Plenty of variables color an employee's workplace experience. It might be about challenging or changing the current social order, unmotivated staff members who feel overlooked and undervalued, an out-of-touch employer, or a general lack of transparency permeating the office space. 

Below are a few signs showing that your workplace culture needs modification.

Poor Communication Skills
The side effects of toxic workplace culture or a good organization running poorly are weak listening skills, lack of clarity, and general misunderstandings. In an environment where communication is inadequate, employees might leave because they lack purpose and direction or don't understand what's expected from them. 

Where Bullying, Alienation, And Cliques Exist
While friendships with colleagues can improve a person's time at work, these relationships or alliances shouldn't intentionally harm or exclude others. 

A Bad Boss
The adage, "You don't leave a job, you leave a bad boss", rings true because poor leadership can taint the workplace culture entirely. Poor leadership styles blemish the work environment, from micromanaging bosses to managers who never take accountability for wrongdoings and employers constantly messaging and emailing after work. 

Unmotivated Workers
Those unhappy at work affect others who have to pick up their slack or deal with their low moods. While their lack of motivation might relate to a more significant organizational issue, their behaviors negatively influence others at a granular level.

Feeling Guilty About Switching Off 
Employees feeling this way find it difficult to enjoy their free time if they're expected to work outside of peak office hours. They've earned the right to unplug and might decide to resign if they can attain a better work-life balance elsewhere.

How To Improve Your Workplace Culture 

Revisit Your Business's Core Values
Every company has a set of core values that influences its entire operations. Are these practiced in reality or purely theoretical? Furthermore, are these values relevant or applicable to modern times and workers?

Not sticking to your proposed values, having unattainable ideals, or being guided by outdated ones has real-life consequences. 

Ask your employees for input and create a fresh perspective if you need to update these values. 

Take A Closer Look At Your Current Workplace Culture 
To enhance the quality of workplace culture, you’ll first need to identify the problems currently impinging upon it.   

Are staff engaged with the work and productive? Do staff members work well together? What’s the mood like?

It might also be helpful to look at cross-departmental relationships. Do these exist? Too often, departments are siloed and rarely interact with each other, which is undeniably problematic and points to disconnection in the workplace. 

Include Your Staff In The Conversation 
Invite your staff to share their thoughts on overhauling your current work culture for something new-and-improved. Different perspectives from all levels will help build an all-inclusive work culture that benefits everyone. 

Build Trust With Your Employees 
A lack of transparency and trust in senior management might be the nail in the coffin for employees seriously considering quitting their jobs. 

As you rebuild your workplace culture, work toward improving transparency in the workplace by keeping your staff better informed about the company’s dealings and plans or initiatives. 

Ensure That Everyone’s Committed 
Long-term, real change needs a top-down approach, meaning that people holding senior positions should lead by example. 

Leaders need to demonstrate the core values and not behave in a contrary manner to inspire change among their staff. 

Help Staff See The Bigger Picture 
Even companies with the strongest work culture were affected by the pandemic.

Staff might feel disconnected from the company, doubt their value after months of working from home, and wonder where they fit into the business.

Reminding people about what your company stands for, what you’re trying to accomplish, and what the future holds might help them feel like they’re part of something bigger.

This should include team wins and milestones. If you’re successful in helping your staff see the bigger picture, they’ll bask in company triumphs and milestones.  

Don’t Wait Until Something Big Happens To Evoke Change 
Your workplace culture is a work in progress, don’t wait until something big happens before addressing serious issues. 

Avoid top employees quitting or gaining a terrible reputation by paying attention, making continual adjustments, and listening to your staff’s ideas. Regular check-ins with team will keep you updated about what’s happening on the floor.

Help Staff Members Connect 
Working from home seriously impeded our ability to communicate and connect with our work colleagues. 

Although virtual platforms help connect people, they’re limited and don’t compare to in-person interactions. 

Now that we’re spending more time at the office, an effort needs to be made to help people reconnect or harmoniously integrate with their team if they’re new starters.

Lead the change by scheduling team-building events on company time. These gatherings may help staff members get to know each other and create a fun and positive work atmosphere. 

Help Staff Achieve Work-Life Balance 
Staff members who overwork are at risk of burning out. 

Reduce your staff’s anxiety and stress by helping them to achieve a greater work-life balance, as a result, this will also improve the workplace culture significantly. 

Schedule non-work-related events in the month, organize classes onsite, or provide them with greater work flexibility over where and when they work. 

Place Value Workplace Flexibility 
The pandemic forced us to change how we worked and made us realize that we can work without surveillance or according to a controlled structure.

Giving your staff autonomy over how, when, and where they work should make them feel valued and less likely to look for reasons to leave the company. 

It’s also important to realize that there’s more remote work than before, and people might not think twice about leaving your company for workplace flexibility elsewhere. 

Tied to flexibility is giving employees added responsibilities and greater freedoms, and trusting them to work on their own. 

Realize Staff Have Personal Lives 
Many businesses paint themselves as “tight-knit families”, and often that’s code for overstepping and not respecting personal boundaries. 

Staff don’t want to receive phone calls in the middle of the night or respond to emails on vacation

Help Staff Advance In Their Careers   
A positive workplace culture only does so much to retain employees if there are limited opportunities for career advancement in a business. 

One of the top reasons people look for new work is to find these opportunities elsewhere if they’ve realized there’s no room for growth or have nothing left to learn. 

Instead of regretfully losing vital staff members, chart out career advancement plans, if possible, detailing the steps they’ll need to take to reach their professional goals. 

If career growth is currently limited or unavailable, offer training or mentoring valuable to the people who work for you. 

Understand That Change Can’t Happen Overnight 
You might be tempted to charge full steam ahead with making improvements. But you’ll realize that real-life change happens incrementally - it takes time and also a huge amount of effort. You might also face obstacles when making adjustments to how the company runs, with employees who are averse or unwilling to adapt. 

Final Takeaway 

A positive work culture impacts employee satisfaction by giving them pride over where they work and what they do. But there’s no magic bullet or one way to achieve it because corporate culture looks different to everyone.

While there’s no one-size-fits-all, making the company happier, healthier, and prosperous starts with prioritizing job satisfaction, retention, and staff happiness.

If you are ready to make a switch or are going the extra mile to improve your workplace culture by moving to a new and better workspace then Office Hub is there to help!