Culture plays a significant role in a company’s success. A healthy culture paves the way for great relationships in the office, which, in turn, helps increase productivity, a major driver in a company’s growth and development.
In contrast, a bad culture decreases motivation, increases attrition, and ultimately affects a company’s performance. That said, a company that struggles with its culture is almost always set out to struggle with its growth as well, making it extremely difficult to reach its full potential.
If you take a look around the office, you would probably be able to spot the signs that your company culture needs some work with the help of a transformational business coach. Here are some of the most common examples:
1. Your employees are unhappy, disgruntled, or demotivated
One or two unhappy employees in a group of fifty is usually an isolated case, but when the majority of your office is unhappy or dissatisfied with the company in some way, you’re in trouble. People don’t have to be frowning for you to know that they are unhappy: lack of laughter, light conversation, and even increased tension should be enough to answer your question.
2. Your employees do not trust their leaders
What is a relationship without trust? In the workplace, little can be done if people don’t trust their leaders. When employees question their managers’ goals, practices, and behaviors, it is a clear sign that your company culture is suffering from a high level of mistrust within its ranks.
3. Problem behaviors are common and intense
Absenteeism, gossiping, bullying, poor communication–these just some of the problem behaviors that indicate a bad company culture. While you cannot avoid many of these things in isolated cases, it becomes a problem when almost everyone in the office is doing them. Don’t wait for these behaviors to get worse and do something about them ASAP.
4. There is a lack of collaboration and teamwork
Collaboration and teamwork are two essential elements in healthy company culture. When they are absent, employees tend to work by themselves. They don’t properly understand one another, and would sooner pass the blame to each other than work things out. If your employees behave this way now, the problem has likely been with your company for a long time to be able to divide people in this way. And chances are, they will pass the behavior to new hires, making the culture even worse.
5. Your employees are not committed
Commitment is another critical factor in workplace culture and the health of a company as a whole. That said, if your employees are not displaying a strong commitment to your company, it is a clear sign that your culture needs some work. Weak commitment can result in high attrition rates, which can cause you to lose talent faster than you can replace them.
6. Your employees are complaining about burnout
Burnout is sometimes unavoidable, but it is not something that people should have to go through on a regular basis. In fact, companies with healthy workplace cultures do everything in their power to avoid burnout because they know how it can affect productivity; they know that when employees are burnout, they cannot perform their best, are less healthy, and are more likely to quit.
So, if your employees are complaining about burnout, listen. Identify the factors that lead to increased incidence of burnout in your workplace, then work on correcting those factors and help your people maintain a positive work-life balance.
7. Feedback is negative
Collecting employee feedback is a great way to gauge their satisfaction with the company as a whole. It is also useful in identifying potential problems in your company culture. That said, negative feedback from employees should always be taken seriously. Not only that, but the management must act swiftly to correct these problems; otherwise, employees will feel like they are not being heard, which will likely result in more resentment towards the company.
8. Your employees are spending too much time in the office
Working overtime is not a sign of being industrious. Instead, it is an indicator of suboptimal efficiency in the workplace. If your employees are constantly working overtime to finish their work, there is likely a problem with your processes and your culture, as well.
Bad company culture leads to poor productivity, low employee retention, and stagnant growth for a company. Hence, if you see these signs within your company, it is high time to start making some changes that can bring back healthy working relationships, open avenues for communication, and a higher trust for management.