Healthy Culture: How Your Business is Affected: Part 1
Business Technology | February 1, 2012
Often, in business, concentrating on the strategy of the company is the main focus.
Is that because it’s the most important aspect to concentrate on? Many companies think so, but solely focusing on strategy may lead a company into stagnation. People make up a company and they collectively create the culture of the company. Culture does not just impact the employees in your office, it impacts your brand, marketing, and how the public in general views your business. Without a healthy prospering culture a brand has little chance of long-term success. When we examine brands like Apple, Google, or Starbucks we not only recognize the logo, but we correlate a variety of feelings and thoughts about these companies. This is primarily due to the culture of these companies.
Why Culture is so Important
A healthy workplace culture encourages creative thinking. When employees like the place they work and feel like they are part of the team it can make them challenge themselves in innovative ways. In a workplace in which people feel invisible or stifled they’ll often do the bare minimum required. It is a part of human nature to want to feel valued and important. A business is made of its people so whatever mindset prevails will show up in your brand and the merchandise and service you offer. In the end, nurturing the culture of your workplace is everyone’s duty from the CEO to HR.
If you are not yet convinced, here are a few of the obvious advantages of fostering a healthy culture.
- Focus – The old adage is true; two heads are better then one. When all the people in a company are focused on the same goal, everything runs more efficiently. This sort of focus comes with a healthy culture; your employees will value the collective goal because they feel like they are a part of it. When people do not feel like they are part of the team, they don’t care about the goal, and this can lead to cynicism.
- Cohesion – For a team to have cohesion they should have strong communication. Companies with a healthy culture find that the communication of both success and failure happens more often and more quickly.
- Motivation – It may seem obvious that a motivated workforce gets things done, but firms that are not aware of the health of their culture could be suffering when it comes to efficiency.
Measuring the Cultural Health of Your Company
This can be a challenging step but ought to be assessed several times a year. One of the first steps is to look at how individuals are managed, how jobs are given out, and do individuals have some say in what they are doing? Obviously you may find a few people who’ll never be happy, but if the general consensus is unfavorable, start considering making a few changes for the healthy of your organization. Check back soon for some tips on transforming your company’s culture for the better.
Often, in business, concentrating on the strategy of the company is the main focus.
Is that because it’s the most important aspect to concentrate on? Many companies think so, but solely focusing on strategy may lead a company into stagnation. People make up a company and they collectively create the culture of the company. Culture does not just impact the employees in your office, it impacts your brand, marketing, and how the public in general views your business. Without a healthy prospering culture a brand has little chance of long-term success. When we examine brands like Apple, Google, or Starbucks we not only recognize the logo, but we correlate a variety of feelings and thoughts about these companies. This is primarily due to the culture of these companies.
Why Culture is so Important
A healthy workplace culture encourages creative thinking. When employees like the place they work and feel like they are part of the team it can make them challenge themselves in innovative ways. In a workplace in which people feel invisible or stifled they’ll often do the bare minimum required. It is a part of human nature to want to feel valued and important. A business is made of its people so whatever mindset prevails will show up in your brand and the merchandise and service you offer. In the end, nurturing the culture of your workplace is everyone’s duty from the CEO to HR.
If you are not yet convinced, here are a few of the obvious advantages of fostering a healthy culture.
- Focus – The old adage is true; two heads are better then one. When all the people in a company are focused on the same goal, everything runs more efficiently. This sort of focus comes with a healthy culture; your employees will value the collective goal because they feel like they are a part of it. When people do not feel like they are part of the team, they don’t care about the goal, and this can lead to cynicism.
- Cohesion – For a team to have cohesion they should have strong communication. Companies with a healthy culture find that the communication of both success and failure happens more often and more quickly.
- Motivation – It may seem obvious that a motivated workforce gets things done, but firms that are not aware of the health of their culture could be suffering when it comes to efficiency.
Measuring the Cultural Health of Your Company
This can be a challenging step but ought to be assessed several times a year. One of the first steps is to look at how individuals are managed, how jobs are given out, and do individuals have some say in what they are doing? Obviously you may find a few people who’ll never be happy, but if the general consensus is unfavorable, start considering making a few changes for the healthy of your organization. Check back soon for some tips on transforming your company’s culture for the better.