COMPANY SPECIAL.......Does Your Company Culture Work For You?

Does  Your Company Culture  Work For You?

When I wrote the article Delete Stress from Your Life, reader RT posted an angry but accurate comment:  All the gyan is only for the employees to 'manage' themselves to cope with stress. Isn't it a fact that corporations'/employers' practices lead to huge & avoidable stress on employees? Their obsession with profits & greed also needs to be scaled down to make workplaces happier than what these currently are. I couldn't help but agree with him. When organisations place too much emphasis on numbers, the human factor often gets lost. With the growing focus on company turnover, sales figures, app ratings, or TRPs, employees eventually feel less human and more like machines… who must keep producing…never to be appreciated for their individuality  or unique contributions.  What makes a great workplace? Sooner than we think, the workforce will be taken over figuratively (and literally for some industries) by robots, people merely performing tasks like zombies in front of their screens, unable to respond emotionally  or intellectually to the world around them...unable to even say a few good words to their colleagues. Employee disengagement is a big issue today.  And managements of corporations are using every trick in the book  to retain employees and keep them productive. Office picnics to exotic  locales, in-house yoga sessions, snooze rooms, and even perks and healthcare benefits for the family are some strategies they use to curb  attrition and alleviate stress. To survive and thrive, companies have realised that they must above all care for the well-being of their employees and promote a good work-life balance. An irate customer is out of your control, but an irate employee definitely is.  That's probably why these words of Richard Branson ring true:  'Take care of your employees, and they'll take care of your business.' The world is seeing a paradigmatic shift in organisational culture. Everything seems more fluid and intangible, but ultimately more uncertain. Employers and employees are witness to a rapidly changing business ecosystem with fewer coping mechanisms. Decision-making is much quicker, yet its impact lasts much longer... One slip and the customer will immediately replace a service provider  or product with any one of the multitude of options available in the online or offline market. Insecurities and uncertainties now abound in every kind of business. Old-school businesses have to update their ways of thinking and operating  to become more nimble. Meanwhile, start-ups have to become more stable and trustworthy in the eyes of their young employees and investors. Roles are being reversed, structures have dissolved, and traditional ideas of 'acceptability' have become blurred for many in the corporate world. Does this all boil down to company culture? Very often it does.  While the culture of a company cannot be clearly defined in most cases, one does get a sense of it. Within a few days of working in an organisation,  one can instantly know whether an organisation is more people-driven  or more process-driven, whether it is hierarchical or flat, whether a company will reward soon or delay the reward. So how do you decide if an organisational culture works for you or not? And how do you as an employer or employee create a culture that is more inclusive, less stressful, and allows growth for every individual within it? Here are some questions that may help you set the tone... Is your company culture open to change internally and externally? Today, a company culture is more likely to survive if it is porous and opens itself up to influences both from within the organisation and outside  it. It must provide room for change and be open to diverse voices. For instance, are important decisions in your company taken collectively or unilaterally? Is only one department considered or is everyone represented equally? Is your organisation keeping channels of communication open? There's a great line in this article: 'Show me a company with great communication, and I'll show you a great company.' Communication very often has a direct correlation with success. Companies with an open door policy (or a no door policy) and inclusive meetings are probably less structured, and consequently, less stressful. Is your organisation promoting team growth or individual growth? When the organisational focus shifts from 'star performers' to teams,  the organisation will see more harmony and a lot more intrapreneurship. One benefit of working within a great organisation is the knowledge that you have amazing colleagues to learn from and lean on.  Teamwork is pivotal to employee growth. As Glassdoor Career Trends Analyst Scott Dobroski wrote on his  blog on Forbes, 'Employees are speaking very favorably about working  at a company that's supportive, motivational, very team-oriented,  and just fun.'  That brings me to the next point... Is your company having fun? An uptight company lacking in laughter and good cheer is not a place you can work at for long. Breaking together for lunch, collaborating and exchanging notes, and feeling at home enough to express yourself with your colleagues makes for a great workplace. Team-building games and the occasional celebration are good ways to break the monotony and encourage collegiality. Is your work impacting the world?  For many of us, growth isn't just about hitting numbers and building new products; it's about doingwork that contributes to a better world. When a company serves a larger purpose and actively contributes to society, either through its corporate social responsibility or its values (green practices, for example) or its end product, employees will feel a greater sense of pride and belonging. And this will keep them motivated  when they're feeling the stress of their responsibilities. The article, 10 Examples of Companies With Fantastic Cultures, expresses  this idea well with the example of Twitter, which ranked fourth:  Workers rave about being part of a company that is doing something that matters in the world, and there is a sense that no one leaves until the work gets done. Work is never really finished. Thus, it is the job of both employers and  employees to reduce the levels of stress, create a culture that promotes work-life balance, provide opportunities that challenge everyone intellectually and creatively, and give a sense of purpose to the work that makes everyone want to rise above the call of duty. As they say, if you love your work, it is no longer work.

By Ritika Bajaj