5 Ideas to Help Build Workplace Culture

This article offers a few methods you may try if you wish to build a better workplace culture. Just keep in mind that sometimes, it is not about the big gestures you make, it is the things you “Don’t” do that matters. Here are a few ideas to get you started.

1 – Take Down The People Who Revel in Misery

One bad apple will spoil the barrel. There are some people who can smash apart a team in a matter of days, and they do it by being miserable. They snipe at people, they make toxic comments, they spread rumors, and they talk about how horrible or miserable it is being at work. This attitude spreads very quickly, and people soon start to feel silly for being happy at work. It makes it difficult to have a good time and enjoy the team dynamic when there is a negative cloud hanging over the air.

Do not try to reason with this people, do not try to encourage them or change their mind. You need to either get rid of them, move them to a different department, or give them such an awful job that they quit. At the very least, if you give them the worst job, then people may understand why they complain all the time.

2 – Set up a Staff Digital Sign

Back in the old days, you would have a whiteboard, or perhaps a cork board with things pinned into it. Some companies have tried circular emails but getting people to read them is not worth the effort. Instead, set up a digital sign and use your Mac digital signage software to tell people all the things you would tell them over emails. Tell them about the KPIs they have hit, tell them about upcoming events, tell them about loyalty programs and rewards and so forth.

3 – Act 10% Better Than You Expect People to Act

Telling the team they should work together and look out for each other, and then locking yourself in your office for eight hours per day is not going to win any office culture awards. There is the old saying that goes, “Treat people how you wish to be treated yourself.” This is pretty dumb if you give it any thought. Better still, as a manager or supervisor, if you want your staff to act a certain way (within the company and with each other), then act that way and do it 10% more. Be a champion of the correct behavior by doing it a little more than you think you should.

4 – Put The Staff First

Contrary to what your college professors will tell you, most people are pretty smart. They can tell when you are talking down to them, they can tell when you are treating them like objects. Don’t be fooled. Just because they don’t call you out on your behavior doesn’t mean they haven’t spotted it and secretly hate you for it. Put your staff first. When there are corporate rulings that hurt them, then work against them and offset them so that your team is not affected. People can tell when you genuinely have their best interests at heart.

5 – Don’t Have Staff Competing Against Each Other

Some middle-manager will suggest things like competitions between staff to get them motivated. They will suggest prizes and such, and it will be heard to rapturous applause. Setting your staff up against each other is nice if you want them to perform, but it will destroy staff morale and will have the team working against each other. When they are not cheating and collaborating against each other, they are finding ways to cheat customers and the company so that they may win artificially.