What is the working culture in your office like? There is a good chance that it is far from ideal, statistically speaking, and you might be wondering what you can do to improve it. All good business owners know that the working culture of a business is important because it has a number of ongoing effects on the business as a whole.
Yet what is much less commonly known is how to actually bring about a positive culture that people enjoy working in. In this article, we are going to go through some of the best ways you can improve the culture in your office, starting today.
Be Aware of Culture
The first step in your process should be to be more aware of culture. When you look at your company as a whole, do you know what kind of culture you have and how it got that way? Are you aware of all the pieces in your culture puzzle? In order to create a more positive culture, you need to know what the current stated of your culture is.
Creating a survey and getting feedback from as many people as you can is a good way to start. Once you have this data, you can start looking at ways to make improvements. But this is not a one time thing. Culture changes all the time. Every change, whether external or internal, can change the cultural dynamics. Creating a culture barometer through continuous feedback, transparency, and an open door policy are great ways to start your positive culture process.
Assign an Owner
This next step is so simple that it is routinely overlooked. But the act of assigning an owner of culture in the workplace is shockingly powerful. The moment there is one person who is in charge of ensuring the working culture is positive, you will notice a radical change in the atmosphere – and the quality of the work. It is much like with anything else that you want done well – you need to give someone accountability for it, and once you do, it opens up into exactly the kind of thing you are looking for.
Of course, you should aim to choose your owner well, as their effectiveness and passion will make a noticeable difference.
Establish Fair Play
One of the most powerful aspects of ensuring an open and honest culture is to establish a sense of fair play. Not being fair in any of your dealings with employees is one of the quickest ways to turn people against you, and against each other, and that is exactly what we are trying to avoid here. Fortunately, it is actually relatively straightforward to establish fairness in the office.
Most businesses find that it is helpful to hire the help of the likes of www.elliswhittam.com on this front, as having professional HR teams on board can ensure that you are fair in all matters. Unfairness often comes from ignorance, not a purposeful attempt, so this might be the best decision you make all year.
Set the Tone
As with anything else that you are hoping to achieve in business, it helps if you have the proper leadership to help make it happen. Basically, as with most things, here is somewhere where leadership sets the tone. What this means in practical terms is that you need your leaders and your management to be doing everything in their power to keep the spirits of the office up. Whether they do this by promoting it in themselves, or simply by bringing a smile to people’s faces, it all helps, and it ensures that you are lifting the idea of a positive working culture out of the realm of ideas and into the world of action.
Set the tone with a strong leader, and watch as everyone becomes happier in their role and in their work.
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