Reboot Your Culture!

If you are going to take the time to read this article, I need you to make a promise, ok? You are going to have to be honest about yourself, your co-workers and colleagues and your current workplace culture. What is your workplace culture like today? Mostly positive, good energy, nice people, good feelings? Or can it use a reboot due to stale ideas, flat energy, negatively and mediocrity? Does it need improvement? Describe your current culture in terms of a food. Is it comforting like chocolate or vanilla or is it bumpy like rocky road?

Defining Your Culture

“Culture change” have been buzz words in almost every business sector out there and for some time now. One important factor to remember is culture does matter. It guides you and your employees’ behaviors, attitudes and interactions. Culture begins where your employee handbook leaves off. It tells us how to respond to each other, to care situations, and service requests. It is our compass and gives us direction in sharing new ideas or remaining quiet at times. Culture is important. So, how do you define your current workplace culture?

Culture encourages us to communicate or it kills communication. It guides employees to do the right thing or to hide problems. Your company culture encourages your employees how to behave when no one is watching. Your culture is so powerful that it actually helps employees decide to stay or resign. Are you and your culture worth staying around?

Your culture shapes perception of challenges, problems, other employees, and the environment. Culture will either create more stress or buffer it. It will help to sustain employee enthusiasm, trust, commitment, involvement and professionalism. Or, on the other hand, it won’t.

Creating a Culture of Happiness

At the end of the day, no matter your title at work, be it administrator, director of nursing, director of social services or therapy, you want to be happy. Your employees and the people they care for want to be happy. Your vendors, medical directors, and visitors all want to be happy. What is so difficult about this concept and why don’t we talk about it more often? Because it is like the air we breathe. It’s there but we don’t focus on it much until we have little or none of it.

Workplace culture is actually a recruitment tool and people can feel the energy coming off of your culture. Ask any millennial if they seek happiness at work. When you focus on culture you are focusing on your company’s guiding principles, ethics, and morals. A culture that embraces happiness can lead to lower turnover, higher job satisfaction, better quality of care and health outcomes, better employee performance, less waste and increased revenues. Do any of these sound bad to you? Nope. I didn’t think so!

Evaluate Your Current Culture

Some businesses do think about their culture. It’s the last thing on their mind. The truth is that every business has a culture whether they think about it or not. The question is what is their culture like? This is where you have to be honest. How would you grade the following elements of your workplace culture, using a grading system that we all grew up with in school: A, B, C, D or the dreaded F.

• Employees
• Leadership
• Environment
• Attitudes
• Work ethic
• Relationships
• Support
• Communication
• Commitment
• Values, principles and mission
• Recruitment
• Training
• Retention

Well? How did your company do? Lots of A’s, B’s, or less? By looking at the grades you gave to these parts of your culture, you get a clearer picture of the areas that need improvement. Now, don’t keep this to yourself. Share it with your colleagues and administration. Otherwise you may not take steps to improve your culture at work.

Final Thoughts on How to Reboot Your Culture

This article is far too short to really get into the necessary parts and pieces of culture change, but it does serve to increase awareness. And, that’s a good first step. Now, you need to be honest and evaluate your culture. Share it with someone you trust at work. Talk about it. What needs to be done? Which areas above require the most improvement? Make a priority list and start to make positive changes with your colleagues. Culture change can be invigorating, empowering and can lead to company-wide success. Isn’t it worth a conversation?

More Culture Articles

• 5 Ingredients to a Culture of Happiness at Work
• Fixing a Broken Culture at Work
• Improving Communication in the Workplace
• Is there a Bully at Work?

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