The Role of Workplace Culture in a Company’s Success
A proactive approach is needed to define and develop an environment where everyone thrives
June 17, 2022
Imagine if the place you spent a third of your life was a hostile environment, would that be conducive to your emotional well-being or ability to function? Statistics show that over 77% of voluntary turnover is preventable, by treating the cause. Some of the reasons cited for quitting include “dissatisfactory compensation & benefits, unrealistic work expectations, or problems with management”. Employees working with poorly-rated managers are four times more likely to change jobs.
A company that fosters open communication and a healthy work-life balance, where employee feedback is incorporated into the benefits package, with checks and balances in place ensuring accountability and transparency, is a company that creates the kind of environment where everyone thrives.
When we talk about culture in the broader sense, we mean a set of shared values or behaviors that support a particular belief system or social arrangement. Certain customs may permeate social groups organically. For example, people who live in the same geographic area, belong to the same class or ethnicity, or share the same language, may share aspects of the same culture. On a micro level, every family unit may have its own norms and traditions.
But when it comes to a business, a more proactive approach is needed to define and develop culture. Most employees will have little in common besides the company they work for. At this point, it is the management’s job to create an environment employees thrive in; the culture can come from multiple directions, bottom-up, top-down, or even lateral, but the management needs to have an active role in fostering it.
What Does Company Culture Entail?
It’s easy enough to say you want to promote diversity and inclusion in your workplace, but what concrete steps are you taking to build it? Are you prioritizing skills over degrees when hiring? Is the hiring process bias-free? Are you ensuring the removal of gendered language from all communication? Is sensitivity training part of the onboarding process?
Building the right culture starts with hiring the right people. Certain traits like interpersonal skills and being a team player are essential for all hires, no matter the position. It’s important to set reasonable expectations on both sides because overpromising and underdelivering is a recipe for disaster. Transparency is important for both the company and the potential employees.
Beliefs and Values
These form the core components of your company, the foundation on which everything else is built. The vision, mission, and every goal set for the company should align with its beliefs and values. A clear sense of purpose dictated by these corporate values should be shared by everyone from the CEO to the interns. This will ensure that all your team members are striving towards a unified goal. The core values should be the basis on which all major decisions are made.
Norms, Processes, and Policies
Beliefs and Values are abstract concepts that need interpretation, and that’s where Policies and Processes come in. These govern the operations of the business. Whether they are formal policies or informal standards of etiquette, they set the precedent for how employees are expected to behave at work. An employee handbook that codifies these policies should be made accessible to every employee as part of their onboarding.
Rites, Rituals, and Shared Language
Culture manifests itself through the shared Rituals and Rites of practitioners. With time, a language develops that is only understood by those within its folds; even extremely niche sub-cultures like anime cosplay or popular subreddits have an entire lexicon inaccessible to outsiders. Corporations are no exception to this trend; office acronyms, in-jokes, and certain unique words and expressions become part of the employees’ vocabulary.
For an illustration of Rites and Rituals, let’s look at Swit Technologies’ example; Bi-annual Retreats, Tuesday Tea-time, Diet Coke with Josh, Care packages, and Asynchronous Communication. All of these are part of the Swit experience and serve as a bonding exercise that helps reinforce a relationship between employees and their place of employment. Does your workplace encourage traditions that are valued by employees? Are new experiences added and accepted among the group? What are some success stories that have taken on an almost mythical, legend-like status?
Benefits of Promoting a Cohesive Company Culture
Improves Reputation
Thanks to social media and the internet, word travels fast. Any company that puts effort into creating an inclusive and supportive work environment for its employees will gain a reputation for being a great place to work; that’s how you attract the cream of the talent crop. A good name will also increase your appeal to the right kinds of partnerships, sponsors, and media representation.
Employee Satisfaction and Retention
This is kind of a no-brainer; a culture that nurtures employees’ mental and physical well-being and takes their feedback into account when creating policies, will help the company retain its best people. A positive environment causes a stark decline in employee turnover, infuses feelings of loyalty, and increases overall productivity.
Increases Employee Productivity
That ‘just a cog in a machine’ feeling comes from a disconnect with the company’s overarching objective, at times when you are being told to do your part and not ask questions. If everyone works as a unit towards a unified goal, it creates a sense of ownership and having an important part to play. It also has a positive impact on productivity and the quality of work.
Diversity and Inclusion
A company culture that emphasizes diversity and inclusion, draws from a much bigger and more diverse talent pool. This means distinct life experiences and varied viewpoints.
- Make diversity and inclusion initiatives a cornerstone of all long-term strategic plans.
- Promote diverse perspectives through specifically created forums.
- Highlight minority leadership gaps with measured demographics.
- Increase minority representation at leadership and executive levels through mentorship or sponsorship programs.
- Address unconscious biases by providing educational webinars across the company.
Builds the Brand
An inclusive workplace culture where concrete steps are taken to promote diversity and employee satisfaction will not only attract quality potential employees but also partners and collaborators. It strengthens your brand.
Corporate Social Responsibility
Corporate responsibility refers to strategies put into action that are designed to ensure the company’s operations are ethical and beneficial for society. It’s a broad concept, where each company employs its own interpretation, based on its resources, industry, and beliefs. The underlying idea of CSR is to operate in a socially, economically, and environmentally sustainable manner.
Professional Development
Professional development is an ongoing process; it can include specialized training, formal education, and informal learning opportunities such as short courses and diplomas. An organization that invests time and money in training and career development can expect better-trained employees with clear job performance goals and objectives.
Employees, in turn, can expect that any training or advancement opportunities they take advantage of will enhance their portfolio and standing, both within the current organization and any future places of employment.
Swit Company Culture
Now that you know the definition of company culture and its effect on employee productivity and satisfaction, let’s see what it looks like in practice.
Swit’s company culture and its core beliefs and values revolve around the idea of ‘rehumanizing’ work. Though the team may be spread out across the globe, that feeling of being connected is never lost. Chat and tasks go together in Swit because that’s what collaboration is all about - discussions, assignments, adjustments, and completion.
Examples
“All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”, sometimes you want to take a break from work and just hang out with your team.
- Swit encourages using the Chit Chat channel to share photos, jokes, personal news, and anything else on your mind.
- Team members often play online games together, to create a healthy sense of competition and fun.
- When you need a little more than just online bonding, there’s Swit’s biannual retreats, all-expense-paid trips to choice destinations, to create strong bonds and lasting memories.
- Tuesday Tea time is a weekly check-in for everyone to jump on a video call and catch up on all the tea.
- Diet Coke with Josh, a monthly video call with the CEO. This time can be used to share exciting news about partnerships and deals or to play games and chat.
- Asynchronous or Non-linear work means everyone signs in and out according to their time zones. Sudden emergencies or even spur-of-the-moment walks to the park because it’s a nice day, can be catered to by adjusting your schedule and making up the hours later, without using any PTO.
For more information on Swit’s Beliefs, Values, and Culture, refer to our website. Contact us for a product demo and details.
Nyda Ahmad, Copywriting Manager
