Cultivating a positive work culture

What three words would you use to describe your current workplace culture? If you asked your team the same question, do you think they would choose the same three words? And would those three words all be positive?

Employee surveys tend to show that colleagues who view their workplace culture in a positive light are much more likely to recommend their employer to friends and family as a great place to work. Where there’s a mismatch between management and colleague perceptions it can lead to declining levels of engagement, productivity and motivation.

In this blog we’re going to delve into the key elements that contribute to a positive workplace culture and offer some pointers on how to grow a culture that’s engaging, motivating and above all, a great place to work.

The benefits of a positive workplace culture

There are way too many benefits to go into detail, but here are a few examples:

• Fosters creativity and innovation

• Creates an infectious feeling of belonging

• Positive impact on colleague health and wellbeing, including reduced sickness and absence

• A clear competitive advantage when it comes to attracting and recruiting the best talent.

Cultivating a positive work culture takes time, resource and commitment. It’s not something you can create overnight. If cultural change is an area you would like to improve in 2024, there are some key building blocks to think about implementing or revisiting: Values, Recognition, Belonging and Inclusion. Let’s dig deeper into each.

Organisational Values

There’s a reason workplace values are first on the list - they are an immensely valuable tool. Creating and implementing a set of organisational values provides every employee with guidance on what good looks like at work. A set of values is also a leveller. They apply to everyone at every level, guiding behaviours and decision making, providing common ground and focus to enable everyone to work towards achieving their goals.

Having a set of values to refer to can be particularly effective during times of change and to support managers and colleagues with tackling difficult conversations. Above all, company values set out what your organisation expects of its employees. When colleagues understand that their performance is assessed and evaluated against the same set of values, a sense of equality, fairness and respect begins to build.

Start with a values workshop

A good place to begin creating your company values is to bring a working group together to drive the activity. Include a cross-section of employees at different levels who are all driven to make a difference to the company culture.

Listening to everyone’s views (including consulting colleague opinions from outside of the group) is important. You might have the perfect facilitator in mind or look to bring in an experienced external facilitator. If this is something you would like to discuss and bring to life in 2024, please get in touch.

However you decide to approach creating or reviewing your company values, listening and learning will be key. Consider all the channels and mechanisms you have available to learn from: employee survey and performance review feedback are two useful ones.

Organisational values should align with the things that are important to your business and be meaningful for everyone in the organisation, leading to a sense of pride and belonging at work.

Create a sense of pride and belonging

According to research from Ipsos Karian & Box, pride at work (92%) and recommendation (84%) are the top two measures of employee engagement. When employees feel a sense of pride and belonging at work they are more likely to take ownership and accountability for their performance. A desire and commitment to come to work and do your best every day is vital in creating a positive work culture.

Facilitate a sense of pride and belonging in your workplace by:

• Listening, valuing, and engaging with employee feedback

• Visibly taking action on, and responding to, the feedback you receive

• Promoting collaboration and teamwork

• Involving employees in business decisions

• Encouraging open communication and providing safe places to talk

• Recognising and appreciating employee contributions

• Providing valuable and relevant employee benefits

Recognising employee contributions

Recognition is a brilliant way to show how much you value your employees and their contribution to the overall success of your organisation. When colleagues feel appreciated they are more likely to feel their employer cares about and values them as an individual. This leads to greater motivation, empowerment and productivity, and contributes to a positive culture. Consistency and balance are both key to successful recognition. Be careful to avoid favouritism when choosing to give feedback.

Ways to recognise and appreciate employees

You don’t have to invest in an all-singing, all-dancing recognition and reward system to appreciate employee contributions. Sometimes a verbal acknowledgement of a job well done is all that’s needed. Peer-to-peer recognition is as valuable as manager feedback and helps to foster a strong team spirit.

Here are some other ways to recognise strong performance:

• Thank you cards - paper and online

• Awards programmes and experiences

• Shoutouts at team meetings

• Mentions on social media

• Wall of fame - physical and online

• Financial recognition, e.g. salary increase or bonus

• New employee benefits

Creating a positive and inclusive work environment

Feeling able to be yourself at work is a basic requirement for psychological safety. Creating an inclusive, equal working environment in which everyone can thrive is an essential requirement of a positive workplace culture. When colleagues feel treated fairly at work, they will likely be more productive, committed and take pride in what they do.

Acting on a commitment to promoting equal opportunities and supporting a diverse, inclusive workforce contributes to a culture where every colleague can be their true self and achieve their aspirations. Managers have a vital role to play in achieving success.

These are some areas to consider in your Diversity, Equality and Inclusion strategy:

• Flexible working opportunities

• Fair pay, terms and conditions

• Individual needs and ways of working

• Transparent access to information

• Equality of opportunity and career progression

• Diversity and inclusivity in recruitment

• Providing open channels for colleagues to speak up in safety

It’s time to put toxic workplace cultures behind us. Let’s begin 2024 with the intention of creating happiness at work through building supportive, empowering, positive workplace cultures.

Further reading

If you’ve enjoyed this subject you may also like our blogs on The Foundations of Management, Getting and Using Feedback, this guest post on Creating an Inclusive Culture and our free ebook download on Employee Engagement.

How we can help you

If you’d like to discuss any of the issues raised in this blog, get in touch with us today on 0161 941 2426. We’re here to help.