How To Build A Positive Work Culture?

Can you imagine an employee work force that believes in ‘Thank God it’s Monday?’ Building a positive work culture is not rocket science. Sir Richard Branson (Founder of Virgin Group) also agreed when he said, “There’s no magic formula for great company culture. The key is just to treat your staff how you would like to be treated.” People are fundamental in driving the success of a business. If you treat your staff like the smart and capable adults they are, and give them the ability to make informed decisions, you will cultivate an environment in which everyone can flourish.

Below are 4 things to help build a positive work culture:

1. The Right Fit:
   Hiring plays a pivotal role in building a positive work culture. Inculcate company values in the evaluation matrix for hiring. People that resonate with the company values are more likely to adapt, enjoy, and stay longer in an organisation. In the classic book Good to Great, Jim Collins says, “to build a successful organization and team you must get the right people on the bus.” His research shows that great companies and organizations do this.
2. Meritocracy:
   Employees feel motivated and inspired to grow when merits are evaluated by personal and professional growth. While this helps build talent pools, it also boosts confidence and encourages an unbiased culture. People generally look up to their leaders and a culture of meritocracy puts the right people in the right seats.
3. Fun @ work:
   Infusing humour not only helps in reducing stress levels, it also maintains the very fabric of corporate culture. Having funny quotes in washrooms and enjoyable team building exercises are just a few examples of this work/play balance. Fun is also one of the values that we at FocusU live by.
4. Openness:
   Nurture a culture where people are allowed to openly share ideas and concerns. Keep communication transparent from top to bottom and bottom to top. Openly acknowledging personal and organisational facts not only creates transparency, but also builds morale. An emphasis on openness helps team grow closer and discourages artificial harmony.

Interestingly these are most of the things that we believe in at FocusU. The results are pretty evident; I can proudly say that we are a closely knitted team that truly enjoys coming to work, be it Monday or Friday.
What’s your corporate culture like? Feel free to share your insights.