A positive organizational culture is much more important than one might think, and managers would do well to understand that a positive culture is both a necessity for increased efficiency and appreciated by the workforce.
In contrast, a weak, negative or faltering culture can have adverse effects on a business and its employees. Very often, companies see a decline in productivity and employee satisfaction, and fail to take the necessary steps to slow and reverse the downward spiral. Sometimes it is simply a matter of analyzing the current culture and instilling some positive changes.
Let's now examine some of the key signs that may reflect a negative corporate culture.
Maintaining a positive culture is critical to success as people's behaviors, decisions and even corporate values are borne from the culture in place.
1. The majority of your office doors are closed consistently through the day. This signals employees that you don't want to be bothered, which may be a reasonable request if you are especially busy. However, it also fosters the impression that employees are unable to approach the management with questions or concerns.
2. Management fails to share critical information with employees, or is unwilling to collaborate with other departments in an efficient, timely manner. This slows down productivity and increase mistakes, which employees are then usually reprimanded for.
3. Employees are reprimanded for mistakes but never complimented on their successes. This is a surefire way to increase employee dissatisfaction and decrease productivity.
4. Neither management nor employees accept responsibility for their mistakes. Instead, they point the finger at other employees, managers or departments.
5. In severely failing corporate cultures, management adopts a "love it or leave it" attitude towards employees. Management also fails to act on positive suggestions that may increase efficiency and improve organization, refusing to see that any way other than theirs might be better.
6. Management fosters a separate working environment from employees, via separate lunchrooms, bathrooms, etc. In large corporations, this might not be uncommon, and is not necessarily extremely bad, but it does tend to make employees feel less important and appreciated. Combined with some of the other points above, it only serves to increase negative feelings towards the management.
There are of course other factors that can lead to a failing corporate culture, but these are some of the more common ones found in more businesses than you might have believed. Properly assessing your own business and determining if any of these factors are present is the first step to making positive changes. Then, it is of course critical to maintain a positive culture in order to instill a sense of trust and a health balance between all organizational levels.
The size and structure of an organization will have a large influence on how employees respond and react to the company's rules and values. If a behavior by one or more employees or managers that is considered to impact productivity negatively is allowed to continue for an extended period of time, this same behavior can be adopted by additional employees, and will be much harder to reverse and correct down the road.
It is therefore important to look at the company's organizational structure as well and make sure that there is a clear line of communication through all levels, which each department's responsibilities clearly defined. An employee who understands his responsibilities tends to be more productive. In contrast, an employee who feels that they are handling more they should be (usually tasks that should be handled by another department) will quickly become dissatisfied, and work may suffer.
In addition to developing and maintaining, a strong, effective organization structure, morals and ethics are also important elements of a positive corporate culture. Management should be first in line to set clear examples of strong morals and ethics, as top level behavior is typically adopted by lower levels. Depending upon the type of business, there will of course be some variations on what best defines a positive corporate culture, but a little common sense goes a long way in building the foundation and keeping a strong focus on fostering positive feelings in all areas of the workplace.
It is especially important for management to value their resources: specifically, their employees, who can be either the corporation's greatest assets or cause its downfall. Employees that feel valued and appreciated are more productive, more efficient, and more focused on their performance. Employees who are dissatisfied can cause the whole organization to suffer. Even worse, employees who are essentially good at their job may leave, and some may even resort to corporate sabotage, such as stealing from the company or leaking vital information to a competitor.
Of course, understanding what needs to be done to create a positive culture is much easier than actually implementing the changes. Depending upon how bad the current culture is failing, it may take a massive amount of effort on the part of several areas of management and departments, and perhaps even severe organizational changes, in order to eliminate the negative aspects and regain the trust of employees. But once the cycle does begin, the positive results can be tremendous, and a well-maintained corporate culture will soon move forward of its own volition of company pride and employee happiness increases.
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