What is CULTURE

The term Culture represents the collective set of customs, conduct or behavior, ideas, beliefs, everyday routine, food consumption patterns, a form of arts, etc. of a particular set of people, who cultivate everything by adhering to it and even in the course of change as all human civilization keeps evolving, they inculcate the same set of values, principles, customs etc., which gives them a unique identity and makes them distinguishable from other sets of people having different cultures.

Culture in Organizations  

Every organization, office, department, and institution has a set of people, who work for a particular objective, at a particular place, at a particular time etc. Even if the location and time differ according to work profiles, they all work for a particular objective. They interact with each other to complete the task as no work is done alone. There has to be teamwork in an organization. 

As they all conduct their day-to-day tasks interacting with each other, a set of patterns of behavior is formed, which is governed or influenced by the core values of the organization, which is formed on the basis of those principles and missions, on which the organization itself is formed.

 Definition of Work culture

 Corporate culture or the work culture of any organization refers to the beliefs and behaviors that determine how a company’s employees and management interact and handle outside business transactions. Often, corporate culture is implied, not expressly defined, and develops organically over time from the cumulative traits of the people the company hires. – 

( source – Investopedia)

Work culture, synonyms and words meaning 

There are various words describing the work culture of any organization but all refer to the same thing or the essence of the meanings are the same. Like corporate culture, Office culture, company culture, organizational culture etc.

All have the same meaning. All talk about the work environment, its effect and effects on employees, employers, overall business and its relation with the consumer or customers. It is like the character of the particular organization and it creates a face value of the particular Institution.

Eg. TATA Steel’s company website reads Culture@tata

Encouraging a performance-oriented culture while nurturing diversity within our workforce

Various sources compare the work culture of different companies to give the prospective employees an idea about how their life can be impacted if they opt to work with the particular organization.

 The comparison describes how employees feel about their environment, relationship with leadership and coworkers as well as their productivity in the workplace. A few of the questions that are answered include “How would you rate your executive team?” and “On average, how many hours do you work a day?”

A company’s culture will also be reflected in the language spoken by employees, and how they address each other,  there can be defined or unspoken dress code, business hours, office setup, employee benefits, turnover, hiring decisions, treatment of clients, client satisfaction, and every other aspect of operations. 

Impact of work culture on the Employer

Work culture influences many aspects of a business, like decisions regarding the type and volume of orders to be taken.  It also affects employee retention rate and talent acquisition as well. Beating the competitor in the market etc. It is the Employer who seeds the particular work culture with their work ethics but it is the employees who cultivate it with their persistent efforts. In any organization,  employees keep being replaced due to retirement, transfer, change of work profile due to promotion, attrition etc. But the work culture of the organization does not die but keeps passing on to the new employees and the work culture keeps thriving across the organization. 

To Build a Healthy Work Culture companies need motivated Employees as a general rule you can make a happy person happier and only positive people can be motivated towards the desired goals.

So hire a positive workforce with the help of Pre-employment screening

For the recruitment process. Besides interviews, 

Once screening is done, and the already positive attitude people join as employees, it becomes easier to train them according to the core values of the company. It becomes easy to develop and maintain a healthy work culture in the organizations, which results in good productivity, long-term employee association and a great reliable face value of the company.

Indicators of a Healthy Work Culture 

1. Trust – 

Trust of employees in the organization is the first indicator of a healthy work culture. 

Employers should ensure transparency in decision-making, have employee-friendly policies, have open channels of communication, grievances redressal, equal treatment, fair practices, timely disbursement of salaries, medical assistance or emergency help to the workforce. An organization should have a sensitive and compassionate approach towards the employees which creates a safe and secure environment for the employees or any workforce associated with the organization.

In absence of the above elements, employees may not trust the organization and fear of uncertainty regarding job security, unfair treatment or not being recognised and valued etc., may affect the motivation and productivity of the employees.

So, employers should ensure that they take measures to win the trust of the employees in the first place.

2. Open communication –

An organization should have a strong public relations department or the HR Department. It is the duty of the PR department to take care of internal communication. Company policies and decisions or any kind of communication from the management to the employees and any kind of grievances or concerns of the employees should be conveyed efficiently and timely by the PR department. It works as a bridge of communication between the employer and the employees. 

In some organizations, only the HR department is functional and acts as a link between employer and employees. 

In any case, employees should be conveyed any information clearly and any concern of the employees should be addressed by the management clearly and on time. 

Employees should not feel unheard or have difficulty in communication due to complicated systems. Concerned employers or management should be easily available to the employees. 

3. Empowered employee

 Develop a system of work in the organization, which enables and empowers employees to take decisions on their own without waiting or going through a tedious process of approval or examination for any work by the management. Certain work can be authorized and the employee can make decisions and do their work efficiently. 

This not only makes an employee feel empowered but also motivates them to deliver their work efficiently, as they feel the responsibility. Altogether they feel worthy and it motivates them to do good.

4. Teamwork and collaboration

Employees should be encouraged to do teamwork and collaborate with co-workers to complete the task quickly and efficiently. In large organizations lack of collaboration and teamwork spirit brings unmeasurable failures. 

To encourage teamwork and collaboration, organizations can take measures like providing a common dining area, and organising informal meetings and events within the campus, so that all employees participate without any excuses. These activities will help employees open up with each other and interact informally. It will help in establishing cordial relationships among employees. 

Management should ensure equal participation of all the employees and should not allow groups to take place within the campus of the organization.  

5. Flexible work environment

During the period of the covid pandemic, organizations understood the value of working from home and also the importance and benefits of flexible working hours for employees. 

Today a flexible working environment is an indication of a healthy work culture as employees get the benefit of work and life balance, without compromising on either front. It helps the employees to complete the task and work is not hampered if the employee has to take a long break due to reasons like personal commitments, illness, etc, as they can work from remote places and at their convenient time. 

6. Training and development or closing the skills gap

With time, technology and its applications keep changing or upgrading, the working model changes and to keep pace with time, employers and employees both need to upgrade their knowledge and skills, for better results. 

Large or  Small, any organization needs a dedicated programme for imparting training and development to the employees to help them upgrade their skills. 

It not only helps in improving productivity and competing in the market but retains the employees as well as they enjoy the upgradation of skills through in-house training programmes. 

In order to select employees, where special training is required, HR needs to recognise the specific qualities of the employees like leadership qualities, ability to work under pressure, decision-making abilities, team player, honesty, personality disorder and even the interest and intelligence of the candidate, which helps the HR, what training or skill upgradation is required. 

We at tvayaa.in understand this very well and we are here to help you with the exclusive Psychometric test via  Handwriting analysis for the Personality assessment service. 

We analyze the handwriting of the interview candidate and submit a report to the employer so that they can make informed hiring decisions. We assess personalities like leadership qualities, taking initiative, trust factors etc.