5 tips for a great work culture and boost productivity – by Mr. Harish Jagtani

The modern workplace is changing at a great pace after the pandemic. And organizations across the world have adopted new work arrangements like remote working or virtual workplaces. Fortunately, there are ways to keep the company culture going even when an organization is working from a remote location.

According to Forbes, workplace culture is the shared values, belief systems, attitudes and the set of assumptions that people in a workplace share. It also says that a positive workplace culture improves teamwork, raises morale, increases productivity and efficiency, and enhances the retention of the workforce.

There is no one solution that can fit every organization, but there are a few actionable ideas that you can put in place to improve your organization’s culture for the short term, as well as the long term.

1. Transparency

Transparency is significant for building trust in a workplace. By creating an open working environment, employees feel free to communicate in constructive ways. This makes brainstorming sessions and meetings more important because you can get fresh ideas from everyone around which is also good for your business. So, the outcome of a transparent culture can impact the whole organization and provide highly engaged employees.

Moreover, an organization with open and healthy culture can motivate its employees to give their best quality in their work like Mr.Harish Jagtani does. This creates a high-performance culture that also strengthens the entire organization and ensures that products and services are of the highest standards.

2. Communication

Healthy and open communication help create mutual respect and trust, despite different roles or responsibilities. Workplace cultures where people are not able to ask questions, share ideas or connect with one another are less transparent and may not get the best out of their employees. So, to get everyone engaged, communication must be open.

Humans are basically social beings. So, create opportunities to know each other at work and outside to create bonds between employees. You can even keep it simple by having hybrid after-work parties or weekend get-togethers.

3. Engagement and Retention

Organizations with positive work culture value their people and their contributions to the success of their business. And employees who feel they are part of a community are more likely to stay with the organization. Companies that promote healthy cultures also tend to retain their Next Gen employees. This leads to long-term loyalty and at the same time also lowers the cost of recruiting new talents.

You may not be aware, but companies that emphasize a recognition-rich culture tend to have very lower turnover rates. Employees who do not feel recognized are more likely to leave their jobs within one year, but companies that have a recognition-rich culture have a much lower turnover rate.

4. Teamwork

Strong relationships at work drive employee engagement, but it does not happen magically, it takes time, effort, and dedicated team-building activities. Teamwork helps bring together people from all kinds of backgrounds and nurture team spirit. People with very different outlooks and personalities can work well together if they get a common purpose. Today’s highest-performing teams insist on more diversity for their success.

According to McKinsey and Company, the most diverse companies are now more likely than ever to outperform their more mono-cultural peers when it comes to profitability. A successful collaborative culture can break down barriers between teams, while a toxic environment can make employees selfish and grow a blame culture.

Focusing on teamwork also creates opportunities for informal learning to take place. In a work environment, about 10% of employees learn from formal training. They pick up most things on the job and by interacting with colleagues. The more training your employees receive, the more they become better at their jobs and bring more success to the company.

Practice Flexibility

Today, many companies are trying to understand the value of providing their employees with added flexibility. This will help improve the morale and bring down the rigidity at work.

Workplace flexibility can allow a parent going out for a few hours for a school event, work-from-home options, or an employee taking a sabbatical.

More than 70% employees wanted a flexible work schedule as the best incentive their employer could offer. Organizations are now adopting hybrid work environment or flexible scheduling and it is even a highlighted perk for some of the Best Places to Work.

This nurtures a pleasant working environment and improves engagement between employees, teams, departments and the organization as a whole.