Positive Work Culture- 14 Ways to drive Positive Culture
The state of mind
of the Employees who make up an organization decides the well-being of the
organization.
Making
Employee feel good is the key. When we experience positive emotions—excitement,
recognition, amusement, assurance, passion—our brains are flooded with
chemicals, neurotransmitters. What this means ? in effect, is that
our brains are able to work better, faster, deeper. We are able to deal with
more complexity and ambiguity. We are more creative, we learn faster. In
addition, we become more sociable. Generally these states are assets at work.
A company’s
culture can be a tremendous competitive advantage. It’s what retains the best
staff, motivates the right behavior, encourages quality customer service and
drives the business forward. Most important, unlike products and services which
can be copied at lightning speed, corporate culture cannot be replicated by
competitors.
Developing and maintaining a winning culture is a considerable challenge. Where the culture is bad, the employees don’t look
forward to coming to work and this can have far-reaching consequences. It
is often very difficult to see what is, and what isn’t lacking about a culture,
but you know when the culture isn’t right. To many, ‘culture’ is a feathery
term, commonly used but rarely understood.
Here are 14 suggestions in creating a positive culture
1.
Top
led by actions. While many things can influence culture, the single most
important one is leadership, at all levels
2.
Be fair and consistent – get the basics right. Be fair and
consistent in applying policies and
including basic hygiene, be fair and realistic
about the productivity you expect, be fair and consistent with your quality
management programmes and supportive coaching and development.
3.
Determine
what really motivates people. This is where intrinsic motivators (like
meaningful roles with learning and growth) vs. extrinsic factors (such as
compensation) need to be evaluated regularly
4.
Recognize and Develop your team leaders. Avoid people feeling
they want to move teams because they think they will get treated differently by
another team leader
5.
Celebrate
and communicate success. Employees need to feel involved and appreciated, and that
they are part of the overall success of the company
6.
Positive reinforcement—Accolades never
hurt
7.
Be visible & accessible, Create Open Door Platforms
8.
Ask the people, Meet people , take their view through Skips,
1-1, Survey or just over a cup of Coffee
9.
Align support systems to reinforce the
desired culture (e.g., performance management, hiring/firing, training,
recognition, etc.)
10. Let
the passion flow, Take an interest – encourage your team members’ development
outside of work, and take a keen and active interest in how they are getting
on
11. Define
the guiding behaviors that support the organization’s values
12. Create
culture of Mentoring, Coaching and Feedback
13.
Improve the rest area. It’s always a sign something is wrong
when people don’t even use it
14.
Don’t be a control freak – The impulse from
a Manager can often be to micromanage a given KRA. Let the people hired do the
job they were hired to do
Remember
that change requires a critical mass to negate old behaviors.Also, Remember
that true behavioral change occurs at the emotional level, not at the intellectual
level
The path of
building and sustaining Work Culture is not quick or easy—after all, the great organization
took a long time to get to where it is. It will take time and effort, but as a Leader, If you can leave everyone
who works with you feeling better after their interaction with you than before,
you are well on the way
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