What is Workplace Culture and How to Build It?

According to the results of a study conducted with 5,000 participants in England, America and Germany, 77% of employees pay attention to workplace culture when applying for a job, while 56% think that workplace culture is more important than salary in terms of job satisfaction. This study, which reveals the importance of company culture, also offers the opportunity to predict more or less what kind of problems organizations may encounter in cases where this phenomenon is ignored.

In this article, we will examine what workplace culture is, how it is created, and how business management software such as PeerBie contribute to the formation of a positive workplace culture.

What is Workplace Culture?

First of all, what is not workplace culture? Workplace culture is not a whole thing, insensitive to differences, consisting of strict moral rules that all employees must comply with, or it is not bonuses and all advantages. Workplace culture also is not a cornerstone that causes all employees to be measured and labeled as good or bad.

Company culture is a phenomenon shaped around the goals of an organization and the common values, attitudes and practices of those in the organization. The purpose of the organization, the reason for its establishment, its attitude towards people and the environment are other basic elements that make up the organization culture.

The works and relations that are carried out inside and outside the organization occur according to the company culture, the company culture directs the actions. For example, if a company has a culture that attaches importance to employee mental health, it will take measures and train its employees accordingly.

Their culture is the living soul of organizations. They change and are updated according to time and place.

A good company culture applies to everyone, from a beginner to a senior, from an intern to a manager; encourages development, harmony and hard work; It helps to create a peaceful working environment.

Importance of Workplace Culture

Nowadays, when qualified employees choose companies, the fact that a company has a good workplace culture brings it to the fore. In recent studies, we see that company culture comes before salary in terms of employee loyalty and satisfaction. Companies that want to keep their employees, who are the biggest resources, and to offer a satisfying work life, are forced to have a good culture. More importantly, the way to be a chosen and desired company and to include qualified people in the team is through workplace culture.

Workplace culture is a factor that affects not only existing employees and order, but also most processes in an organization. For example, hiring someone who is compatible with the organizational culture is the best way to prevent future problems. It is a well-known fact that companies with a positive workplace culture have higher productivity of their employees and work than other companies.

How to Build Company Culture?

What do companies that are at the top of the annual best companies to work list published by Great Place to Work do differently? Do they achieve this success simply by launching desired products or by fulfilling what employees want “on demand”? Do these companies only sell products/services and updates?

Most of the preferred and proven companies offer innovation and commitment above all to both their customers and their employees. This shows that there is a good workplace culture. This company culture satisfies, develops and encourages employees, resulting in unique products or services. The side that affects the customer dimension is the presentation of the company’s culture to the customers. When buying a product, the customer looks not only at the appearance or price, but also at the service offered when buying that product, and the traces of the company culture are also seen here.

So, what kind of company culture should one have in order to be preferred by qualified employees, to have customers who have bonded with the company, and how to take advantage of current technological opportunities such as PeerBie Here’s what you need to do to build a good organization culture:

1.Determining Company Values

Working is not just a paid activity. People in general want to be a part of something meaningful. And customers don’t just choose you for the service or product you offer. That’s why you need to present a meaningful story to your customers and employees that they want to be a part of. You have to create a culture to be envied and want to be a part of.

Imagine yourself as an employee, working at a workplace for a certain period of time and looking back. How would you like to talk about this experience?

Do you want to say about the place you work “It was a place with really professional people, where I grew up, where I felt valued by my leaders. Working in such an environment allowed me to both invest in myself and produce meaningful services/products.” or “There was nothing in the name of professionalism, it was very stressful, I had problems all the time and my psychology was broken. I hope I never go there again.”. The first can be given as an example of a positive workplace culture and the second is an example of a toxic workplace culture.

2. Being Genuine

Created company values ​​will be effective if you truly believe in them. The working culture and values ​​to be built for real change should not be just on paper. Creating a company culture that you only expect employees to follow is also wrong from the start. It helps employees to adapt more easily when leaders and managers adopt and act according to the determined company values.

3. Observing and Listening

In theory, you may have created a really great workplace culture, but every organization has a different DNA. Every organization has different needs and because each employee is unique, the organization has a unique spirit. A positive work culture motivates employees and creates a peaceful working environment. It may be necessary to observe how the organization responds to the culture introduced and to make updates taking into account the feedback from the employees. For example, if resignations are increasing or performance evaluation results are low and your work efficiency is decreasing day by day, this may be a sign that you need to change your company culture.

4. Creating a Safe Environment

The best way to create a positive company culture is to involve employees in this process. For this, communication with employees should be good. Employees should be able to report problems and offer new suggestions. In short, environments where employees can express themselves comfortably should be created and they should be made to feel that they are listened to. Silence is the most obvious sign that employees are in an environment where they do not feel psychologically safe.

Psychological safety is one of the outputs of a good company culture. In order to create an environment where employees feel psychologically safe, observations should be made, listened to, and mistakes should be accepted and changes should be made.

5. Admitting Mistakes

One of the critical factors in creating a positive organizational culture is leadership. The way leaders handle mistakes affects this process almost directly. The process of creating or changing company culture should begin with the recognition that mistakes can occur.

Employees’ objections should not be evaluated negatively, but should be considered as a signal, a set of data, on the way to achieving better. Admitting mistakes and making changes are also part of a positive company culture.

When a problem is encountered, the error should be examined in the context of the base values ​​and how the error occurred. Thus, the source of the problem can be solved and a solution can be produced accordingly.

6. Being Open to Change

Organizations are like living souls, they change by being affected by the time and place they are in. Change happens all the time and is very complex. It would be a waste of energy to try to regulate complexity or stop change. For this, actions that will create positive effects should be created and efforts should be made to turn the direction of change into positive.

Take into account the changes required by the times and follow the trends. Having a good work culture doesn’t mean you don’t get updated. Actuality is as important as company culture.

One of the most basic features of change is that if any change does not appeal to the people who will be affected by that change, no change will take place. You can make and implement a plan to be updated, which you believe will lead to positive change, but if the employees who will be affected do not find it useful or do not see it appropriate for themselves, this attempt will fail. Therefore, always listening and observing the employees and acting according to the obtained data leads to success. Not every new thing is suitable for the organization.

7. Utilizing Technology

In a world where information is proliferating and many things are becoming more complex, managing a business digitally can eliminate most problems and make most tasks easier. Using a digital business management application/software also helps in the formation of workplace culture and in implementing the policies created in this direction.

The biggest benefit of business management applications like PeerBie is seamless communication. PeerBie does not just offer communication like messaging; It also allows employees to share posts, make comments under shared posts, organize surveys, and keep team members in touch at any time and place via video conference.

 PeerBie helps to create an environment where employees can freely share their ideas and psychological safety exists. Through surveys, you can take the pulse of the current state of the organization and determine what changes your employees need. You can even involve your team in the creation of company culture by conducting surveys on new changes.

Another useful feature is performance measurement. You can learn how the company culture works by following the profiles of your employees with PeerBie. You can examine what works your employees completed, what they did, and their tasks; If there is a problem, you can identify and produce solutions.