16 Nov What is your office culture?

Posted at 00:00h in Business by

The word “culture” is commonly used our candidates & clients to describe office environments/ organisations. But how do you define it and what does it actually mean? Why is it important and how do you create it?

The true definition of office culture is, “the character and personality of your organization. It’s what makes your organization unique and is the sum of its values, traditions, beliefs, interactions, behaviors, and attitudes”. Stated by wiki as – “the behavior of humans within an organization and the meaning that people attach to those behaviours”. Therefore, each and every individual within an organisation affects and creates the culture. Culture affects performance, attracts talent, drives retention and engagement so it is important to get it right and maintain it.

Our Director at RECD, Melissa recently attended a conference in the US where one of the main seminars was surrounding culture. One of the main questions was how to define, create and protect this. So what is so important about culture and how do you go about improving it? Number one is the people, you can’t create a strong culture without strong people, but you cannot attract these people without the strong culture. It’s a catch 22 situation…

So what is the solution? It is important to create and discuss your company vision and goals that you are aiming to achieve with your employees. Each and every employee should play a part to implementing this vision and align what they are working towards achieving. Culture is not just about ping pong tables and free drinks on a Friday… it is about a team heading towards success because of working towards a mutual goal and enjoying providing that service to their customers or in our case, candidates and clients.

Overall, everyone plays a part in an organisation’s company culture. Every employee within a company should be made accountable and work towards a vision that they have helped create. It is important to create and communicate a this clear vision, and set of values.

By Kate Rowe