Firstly, no culture is perfect, there is no silver bullet and a leader's job is never done developing, training and maintaining a healthy workplace culture. That being said, every organisation needs to start somewhere because healthy workplaces don't happen by chance.
The first step in developing a healthy culture is to understand:
- What is involved in the culture of an organisation?
- Who contributes?
- What do I want my culture to be like?
There are many aspects to this, but below are the main contributors:
- The Leader
The first key ingredient is you, the leader. As the leader, you get to decide what kind of culture you want to have. Sooner or later, a leader's positive or negative traits and actions will work their way into your organisational culture, because there is no such thing as a healthy workplace culture without a healthy leader.
- Your People
Cultures are because of people, about people and amazing ones are for people.
- Standards, Systems and Procedures
Everyone has standards, but it’s only businesses and organisations that set high standards, communicate them well and then hold people to account that thrive.
For a culture to be healthy - It has to be positive, transparent, empowering, strong, caring and attentive to the needs of others.
For a culture to improve, it has to be deliberate, hard-working and accountable.
For a culture to endure, it has to be honest, above board and consistent.
Culture is the heartbeat of your office. It's the how and why behind everything you do. That's why it's so important.
