How to nurture your company culture…
The last two years have seen over a decade’s acceleration into the debate around the future of the workplace. Hybrid working and flexible working have become the new normal for many businesses which means in turn, the purpose of their office has changed. And with that, so has their culture.
Companies have had to reconfigure their office space to best support their new workings needs whilst also retaining and nurturing their company culture.
What defines the culture of a company involves a myriad of things, but ultimately has people at its heart. At a time when businesses are already struggling to retain its best talent, building the right foundations and ensuring that your culture not only returns but is nurtured, is vital.
Nurturing your culture involves many aspects of your business and is even more challenging in a hybrid working world. First, it is important to get the foundations on which your culture is built, right.
Below are our top 3 fundamental foundations all businesses should consider when looking to improve and nurture their company culture:
Understand your purpose
First things first, what makes your business different? Why would people want to work with you and for you?
The purpose in which your business is built has a heavy influence on every company outreach and touchpoint including those less tangible such as your personality, brand values and of course, your culture. Your culture is essentially the embodiment of your organisation. It is both the foundation and the glue that holds your business purpose and strategy together.
Understanding your overall purpose and ensuring this is communicated and consistent across the board, will have a significantly positive impact upon your company culture and the core foundations in which it is built.
Your office space
One size does not fit all, and as returning to the office picks up pace, businesses must strike the right balance between hybrid working provision and ensuring that the workplace is fit-for-purpose so that it supports your business goals, staff welfare and those core cultural aspirations.
We passionately believe that the office is the physical manifestation of your company culture and use this as a fundamental insight within our workplace consultancy process. Businesses must now consider how best to adapt their office space to support multiple factors of their desired, or existing, company culture.
Company culture exists whether it is intentionally created or not, and a culture left to its own devices that is bandaged with pool tables and Friday drinks is not sustainable in the long run. You can nurture your culture by harnessing the voice of the workforce and providing a central base where employees can grow within a business. An office’s location, design, and functionality all help to organically grow, develop and retain company culture.
Offices are no longer just a place to work, they are a social destination for bringing people back together. Establishing how the office can impact an organisation’s strategic priorities, leadership styles, talent plan, operating model, and technology ambitions are key considerations in any business’s strategic vision. Only by considering all these facets can companies best use their office space to grow their desired culture.
Establish your workplace strategy
Workplace consultancy essentially defines the vision, approach and strategy for how your environment should enable and support your business in achieving its long-term goals and objectives. Director of Workplace Consultancy at DeVono, works closely with our clients’ leadership teams and employees to carry out surveys that help us establish your existing and ideal culture.
This, combined with further employee feedback, working style insights and understanding your future business aspirations, allows us to help you define your workplace strategy and office requirements.
If you are looking for support and advise in building the above foundations then get in touch with the team today.