The business case for investing in culture
How to create a great workplace culture and why it’s good for business
In brief
- Boosting productivity and happiness in the workplace can be challenging
- Personality types can greatly influence and affect the way a company functions
- Being available 24/7 can really hurt company culture
Creating a thoughtful office culture is one of the most important frameworks to work out when building or restoring any company. Whether you’re a CEO, or a manager looking to better engage and motivate employees, this is the best place to start.
According to a 2016 LinkedIn survey on why people change jobs, more LinkedIn members said they valued workplace culture over company benefits and compensation, and chose to move on from jobs because they weren’t happy in the current environment.
Some businesses choose to focus externally instead of looking internally. They spend more time looking outside the business, analysing what the market is doing, closely watching their competitors and valuing other company structures instead of assessing their own.
A good office culture can create a productive – and even fun – atmosphere and encourage a team to work better, be more enthusiastic and grow together.
Boosting productivity and happiness within the confines of a structured workplace can challenge even the most experienced HR professional. The following factors need to be considered.
Hierarchy
Within every business, there is a hierarchy. If the hierarchy breaks down and if messages aren’t delivered in the right way, the overall culture can suffer. Good management controls messages that build morale. Poor management fails to communicate and disrupts the hierarchy.
Personality types
The type of personalities you hire can greatly influence and affect the way your company works together. Some personalities work easily together, while others bring each other down. It comes down to behaviour and as an employer or manager, it’s important to understand what drives people to do their best work.
As Carol Myss outlined in Archetypes: Who Are You?, there are ten primary archetypes, including the creative, the intellectual, the executive, the visionary, and the advocate. When people know their strengths, and managers tap into that, they can hire the best team to grow the business.
Office politics
Power, influence and office politics can play a big role in steering workplace culture. When the chain of command breaks down and personality types clash because people are either in the wrong role or team, a company cannot thrive.
Competitiveness
Competition is healthy, but only when it boosts productivity. When colleagues start targeting each other to benefit themselves rather than benefitting the business, little can be achieved.