By CPA Trendlines Research
Good office culture is a tricky combination of professionalism, humanism, teamwork and the pursuit of results. They all add up to productivity, employee retention and a pleasant work environment.
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Here are some suggestions for constant nurturing of culture.
- Recognize good work. Work worthy of recognition includes the final product of teamwork, the attitude of a given individual, someone’s brilliant idea, someone’s outstanding effort and milestones for the firm.
- Let flexibility be a job benefit. What do people need to get their job done while getting on with their lives? Flexible hours? More remote work? A long lunch break? More personal days off? Keep asking people what they need.
- Encourage continuous learning. Improve your firm by helping your people improve themselves. Offer all possible support, from expenses to time off to mentorship.
- Flatten hierarchies. Encourage informal conversation between staff and partners. Discourage bosses from being bossy. Let staffers do some leading.
- Develop traditions. Let your firm be known as one that goes out to lunch once a month, or dedicates days to joint charity work, or holds regular contests of some sort. Let a spontaneous social event become a tradition. Traditions happen! Let them! They are the cornerstones of culture.
- Invest in well-being. Offer opportunities (even compulsory ones) for therapies, counseling, checkups, days off during busy times, limits on workloads and prohibitions of long days. Look for what’s needed and offer solutions.
- Promote work-life integration. Work-life balance is one thing, but find ways to let everyone bring their lives to work. Family-friendly schedules to facilitate care-giving, child care, etc. No work on weekends, or even a four-day work week. Allow pets, maybe even children, in the office.
- Offer good tools. Good software. Investments in automation. Do what’s possible to make work easier and more productive. Ask people what they need. And don’t discourage resulting high productivity by assigning more work! Rather, recognize success and offer some kind of reward.
- Use mentorship and coaching to bring people closer together. Pair new people with experienced people. Form small teams wherever possible and advisable. Ask people what they themselves need and what they think other people need.
- Diversify the culture. Over time, hire people from different backgrounds, and let them be themselves. Don’t expect everyone to fit the same mold. Appreciate individuality.
Good culture makes an office feel like home and people feel like family. This reduces stress, creates a sense of belonging and makes the workday more enjoyable. Don’t lose employees because of a toxic culture!