In business culture, there are two ways for companies to manage employees- raw authoritarianism and an inclusive approach. But what do the terms, raw authoritarianism and inclusive approach, mean?” We want things done this way. You guys simply follow with no questions” – this is the first in a nutshell. On the other hand, the second is more like, ” This is how we want things done. Does anybody have other suggestions to make this project more successful?
This article isn’t only helpful to local small-time and big-time business owners, but also to those who are operating in nearby and far-flung areas. The core topic is creating a friendly business culture following the above premises. Things for you to learn by reading this article are what business culture is, what is friendly business culture, and best practices in creating a friendly business culture.
What Is A Friendly Business Culture?
You can’t understand the answer to the above question if you don’t know what business culture is in the first place. Simply speaking, business culture and work environment are the same. Business culture is the manner or behavior in how the company manages the interaction of employees and the manner the employees handle business transactions.
Next comes the definition of friendly business culture. Friendly business culture is synonymous with an inclusive work environment, one that provides a sense of accomplishment, belongingness, and happiness to employees.
So is a friendly business culture beneficial for your company as a whole? It could be in employee management. One area in employee management where it’s significant is the levels of employee affiliation. Employee affiliation is the employees’ sense of belongingness and commitment to your company. Factors that it affects are:
- employees’ motivation level
- employees’ innovative behavior
- employees’ absenteeism
- employees’ interaction with one another
- employees’ job retention
The above bullet makes you realize an important point – business culture determines whether your company succeeds or goes belly up. In terms of business culture, a friendly one greatly helps it survive. With that being said, the next part of this article discusses the specifics of creating a friendly business culture.
How To Create A Friendly Business Culture?
Friendly business culture can drastically improve the employees’ motivation, resourcefulness, eagerness to attend work on time and schedule, professional relationships with peers, and willingness to stay on the job. Now that you’ve grasped it a bit, your next task is figuring out how to create it. So how do you make a friendly business culture? Look at these guides.
Recognize Diversity in the Workplace
You can’t run a company with only yourself. Your company needs employees to function well. This isn’t subject to further arguments. So how many employees are currently working for you? Five? Ten? Fifty? Or over 100 maybe?
Whether employees are numerous or not, diversity is an issue that you have to address as an employer. Gender, age, religion, culture, and national origin – these are factors that diversify employees. And most of the time, diversity often creates problems in the workplace such as communication issues, hostility, lack of cohesiveness as an organization, etc.
With that said, you have to recognize your employees’ diversity in the workplace. Don’t assume that everyone agrees with each other for this is a major flaw. Don’t blindly hire anyone based on skills alone. Hire those that are more likely to be the perfect match in terms of skills, beliefs, and personalilities.
By recognizing diversity, you are making the business culture friendly since it’s easier for you to address the problems that differences bring.
Understand That It’s Not All About The Salary
All employees want to get paid well. Compensation that equates to employee performance is a characteristic of friendly business culture. Still, this doesn’t mean that you can act like a dictator since you’re paying everyone right. Everyone indeed wants to get paid. However, money isn’t the only thing that employees want to accept while working for you.
Understand that your employees want to feel like humans instead of mere objects. So aside from a good salary, the business culture is friendly to them if you provide appreciation, clear and polite communication, support, and opportunities for career advancement.
When it comes to friendly business culture, you can even treat a good salary as a superficial factor. If you do quick research, you’ll see that salary is rarely included in the top reasons why employees stay loyal to you. Instead, some of the most common factors are:
- Feeling of belongingness
- Sense of purpose and meaning
- Appreciation
- Peer respect
- Mentorship
- Trust on their superiors
- Fair treatment
Build Personal Relationships Outside of Work
Though familiarity indeed disrupts productivity, it is nevertheless important. A workplace that’s too formal or objective feels bland to the employees. This makes tasks less interesting and motivating. Everyone wants to have personal relationships with peers at work. Of course, doing so isn’t desirable in the office. Still, know that you can help employees know each other better outside of work.
So how do you do it? Korea provides you with insights. Korean companies love to hold monthly corporate parties to gather all employees from all levels of the organizational structure. If not monthly, then these parties happen every time a project is successfully done. With these parties, Korean employees can lightly talk about work while having drinks or singing to the karaoke.
Korea’s example wants you to realize the power of corporate parties in building personal relationships in the workplace that makes a business culture friendly. You don’t have to spend a lot. A simple treat to your employees will do. What’s important is that you allow them to gather and talk casually outside of work.
Welcome Innovation
Six plus 2 is 8, but so is 4 + 4. There are different ways to finish a task. Therefore, forcing your way of doing things isn’t the best. Most of the time, what it does is make you look like a complete dictator in the workplace that your employees should fear and avoid. Once this sets in, know that your employees will see the business culture as non-friendly.
That being said, welcome innovation. Recognize that everyone has unique ways of finishing things. Accept it as long as it efficiently makes the task easier than the way on how your company does things traditionally. Different ways for you to welcome innovation are by holding a meeting before starting a project, helping the employees learn new skills, and asking employees to take part in problem-solving and management.
Set An Example To Your Employees
Since you’re at the top of the hierarchy, employees expect that you’re familiar with all tasks as the boss. Simply put, they are expecting you to guide and teach them. Proving criticisms works but it’s only effective if you demonstrate to correct mistakes. With that being said, you should set an example to your employees instead of badgering them whenever awful things happen at work.
But how do you set an example? Doing this is simple, you just have to be everyone’s mentor. For instance, if John, can’t make a good business letter then teach him how to make one instead of pointing out his errors. Remember to be in the lead. If you want your employees to succeed at something, then show them and not tell. Always remember that you’re not in a classroom but are instead in the workplace. Therefore, demonstrating is more effective than speaking.
Make The Workplace Look Motivating
A workplace that’s looks drowsy does not constitute to friendly business culture. It could potentially chase the employees away from you. Know that working drains the mind and body. Noise, odor, poor ventilation, confined space – these are some of the things that your employees are repulsive about while doing their tasks.
Strive to ease the burden that the employees experience at work by making the workplace look motivating. Make the environment of the workplace more optimal. Things for you to do are keeping work equipment in good condition, making the environment bright and well ventilated, providing comfortable chairs and tables, growing indoor plants to improve mood and aesthetics, and eliminating things that distract the employees from work such as odor and noise.
Provide Work-Life Balance
Understand that your employees also have their personal lives. Therefore, the business culture doesn’t feel friendly to them if you ask them to bring work at home. Even with compensation, most don’t like to work outside of their work hours since such time is spent spending time with friends or family, exercising, engaging in recreational tasks, or resting.
Providing work-life balance is very important in creating a friendly business culture. It provides the employees with a sense of freedom and meaning in life. It prevents the possibility of burnouts and decreased productivity. In fact, work-life balance is one of the reasons why some employees leave highly demanding tasks.
Conclusion
To sum up, friendly business culture is what your company needs to succeed. Remember that the survival of your company rests with your employees. Therefore, make a business culture that agrees with them. In connection, friendly business culture is what they need. With a friendly business culture, your employees will find it easier to carry out tasks with peerless initiative, resourcefulness, and expertise.
