By Venkata Suman Cherukuri,
Your child will follow your example, not your advice – goes a popular parenting quote. It is amazing how true this is for an employee and a company’s work culture. This is not to say that employees should be treated like children, but that empathy, training, patience and positive encouragement are what help create a great place to work. Work culture determines the quality of employees, their output as well as the progress and profit an organisation makes.
Recently a video of a boss shouting at his team and abusing them for poor performance went viral and toxic work culture became the buzzword. But how does a workplace turn toxic? It is never an overnight phenomenon. The poison seeps in slowly when leaders replace empathy with apathy, respect with disdain and feedback with criticism.
It takes a lot of time and perseverance to build a good work culture. Often companies, many of which are in extremely competitive markets, encourage a cut-throat approach to success. This comes at the long-term cost of both the employee and the organisation. The take-no-prisoners attitude that many organisations employ often results in a can’t-get-good-employees situation. Studies have shown that a positive work culture translates into better performance for both the employees and the employer. Most of these statistics pertain to the Western world but there is no reason why India should be any different.
So, what happens when a company invests in creating a good work culture?
Effective communication
A company with a great work environment will invariably have effective, open and honest communication in place. This not only helps in recruiting the right personnel but also ensures employees know what is expected of them. Essentially, the goals are made clear and employees are empowered to seek help when they feel stuck. Effective communication also leads to better feedback. This is very critical in the case of businesses like hospitals and laboratories where accuracy and timely delivery of reports are critical for reputation.
Reduced attrition
An organisation with a poor work culture will always have high attrition. Better salary and other sops will not prevent an employee from trying to escape a toxic place. Businesses that need highly skilled employees (e.g., pathologists/lab technicians) or require new employees to undergo extensive training will see turnover costs hitting the roof if they have to constantly replace trained/experienced staff due to high attrition. A toxic work culture also leads to ‘invisible’ attrition. This is when an employee does not quit but becomes partially or completely disengaged, doing the bare minimum that is expected of them.
If bad culture drives away talent, a good one that recognises, and rewards employees has the power to recruit and retain the best of the lot. This in turn helps an organisation stay competitive.
Better productivity When employees feel empowered, heard and valued it gets reflected in their productivity as they feel a sense of shared commitment to the organisation’s goals. A good work culture encourages employees to give feedback, offer suggestions and take initiative. It also results in improved relationships among employees and between the leader and his team. This aids in better cross-functional collaboration and teamwork which provides better work accuracy and boosts growth.
In customer-facing organisations like laboratories, this is even more important as happy employees ensure better customer satisfaction. A good working environment creates less stress allowing employees to have better health and leading to low absenteeism.
Better branding
An oft-repeated phrase in marketing is that a satisfied customer is your best brand ambassador. The same holds for an employee. Not many organisations understand the powerful link between workplace culture and brand building. An employee who feels valued and is excited to work at an organisation will always be its loyal brand ambassador even after he/she quits the organisation. Such employees are more likely to recommend your organisation to potential employees, customers and clients. Moreover, engaged employees have a better-quality output which is paramount to brand building more so for service-oriented businesses. All these together help a brand stand apart from its competitors.
Building a great work culture requires a massive investment of time, energy and effort. Automation can take care of some aspects, but most others will need constant collaboration, discussion, learning and unlearning. For a new company or even for an existing one, building such a culture may seem like an uphill task however, it is worth the effort. Moreover, culture is not static, and organisations need to be agile enough to quickly adapt to changing business circumstances.
Given its critical role, it is time to give work culture the due it deserves and make it an important part of a company’s business strategy.
The author is Chairman & MD, TRUSTlab Diagnostics