Workplace culture; ideas on how best to engage your people

Photo by Sean Pollock on Unsplash

Workplace culture is a term that has been thrown around a lot recently as a method to bring together the values, vision and the wellbeing of an organisation.

Traditionally, corporates have instilled this in the form of a written handbook or intranet page outlining the ways in which they work.

The last two years and the pandemic have clearly altered this. Remote working and a lack of community within businesses have meant that a culture that was once office-bound has disintegrated into thin air.

How then do companies create a culture that works for their employees with all these obstacles?

This article will hopefully help to answer this question.

1. Your people are the perfect sounding board

Listening to your people is of the upmost importance. From entry level employees to senior leadership and everyone in-between, your people and your people alone are the only ones who can build this culture. Form wellbeing group and strategy groups at all levels as you never know who will have the best ideas to mould your culture.

A company-wide culture built from the ground up means everyone is accountable and invested in your success.

2. Regular check-ins

Keep innovating.

In the same way tech startups build products and measure their success, learning from every detail. Do the same for your culture. It is an ever-changing process with new challenges. Be aware of them and understand any triggers that are affecting the people in your business.

Creating feedback channels that are in real-time allow you to understand the mood changes and operational issues within the organisation.

3. Utilise your network

Talk to partners, collaborators and similar sized businesses. They will have brilliant initiatives and ways they support their people and it is important to be open to hearing about them.

No ideas are original and there could be businesses with initiatives that could work for your organisation too.

4. Learn from the recruitment market

When interviewing potential candidates, highlight the culture of the business and ask how they would add or make changes to it. Not only does this show you are an adaptable business but also one that cares about attracting and retaining new talent to your organisation .

It is not always about what can a candidate bring to your organisation. Make it what your culture can bring to them in terms of responsibility and an openness to innovation and development.

5. Encourage constructive feedback

Too often businesses and their people are afraid to speak their mind. Psychological safety within an organisation is essential for people to collaborate, communicate and progress effectively.

Open conversations at all levels of the business allows for innovation and positive change. Evolving process and embedding this in your culture is crucial.

These steps will enable organisations to rip up the traditional hierarchical business model and turn disengaged people into engaged and more importantly inspired people who want to make the business a success.

Taking them on the journey is no longer enough in a candidate driven market. Helping them build this journey through their own means is far more likely to succeed.

By Charlie Winton, Founder of OK Positive