While many employees tend to look at the paycheck or the benefits when choosing the right job, the one thing that they should take a closer look at is work culture. No matter how much you make, if you don’t get along with the people you work with or have to exist forty hours a week in a dismal atmosphere, you’re going to feel like a sack of shirts every time you walk into the office. On the other hand, a good work culture in your business means happier, productive, and efficient employees.
Source: PixabayWhen we think of improving office culture, we think of team building activities for work first. These are great and should definitely be part of the culture, but there are important considerations to make that set the foundation first. What can you do to create the foundation for an awesome work culture? Reading employment related articles and the following suggestions can help.
1. Remember that leadership sets the tone.
As the manager, CEO, employer or main man, you’re the one shaping all parts of your company, including affiliate marketing on the internet and the office culture. Your leadership team should represent the type of company you want to eventually become. You’re the leader, so lead. Do you want to create a culture based on teamwork? Make sure the leadership team works together. Do you want your company to focus on transparency? You and your execs better be super transparent then, in all respects. You can’t expect your employees to follow through with a positive culture if you’re not doing it yourself.
2. Acknowledge and accommodate work-life balance.
As much as you might think it’s a good idea, no employee should focus entirely on his career. It’s not human, nor does it make for an especially interesting workforce.
Managers really need to do away with the idea that the only “good” employees are those that put in a ton of work and sacrifice all of their personal time to get the project done. It’s your responsibility as a manager to reward those employees who maintain a good balance between work and life while still performing well.
If you think that’s counter intuitive, think again. Spending time with family and friends, relaxing, and pursuing creative endeavors allows employees to feel more confident about themselves, allowing them to perform to their fullest in their employment. It also circles back to work in the form of more creative thinking and problem solving, so teach your employees how to to simplify their work lives.
3. Recognize hard work.
Don’t assume that a paycheck is the only reward necessary to keep a worker’s morale up. Other rewards are essential to encouraging behaviors and motivating employees. This could mean a bonus, but not all rewards need be monetary. Something as simple as verbal recognition on a job well done can do wonders for someone’s motivation.
It’s all about making employees feel valued for what they contribute to the company. Doing so will encourage employees to go that extra mile knowing that they’ll get something in return or will at least be appreciated for it.
4. Eliminate the idea of “no friends at work.”
From middle school to high school, I was taught that work wasn’t for making friends, that the “professional” and “personal” were never meant to mix, but that’s such a caustic and unintuitive mode of thought. The fact is, humans are social beings, capable of making friends at the café, on the train ride home, or, yes, even at work.
That doesn’t mean you need to create life partners, but having friends at work is an important part of work culture. When you feel comfortable around the people you work with, you work more efficiently, have more fun, and are more comfortable presenting new, creative ideas.
Positive work culture is potentially the most important part of any office, but it’s also one of the hardest things to uphold. Use your resources and never forget that being a professional doesn’t mean you have to do away with being human.