Culture can be the hardest nut to crack in the workplace. Those organisations that have a positive culture thrive in their business and create a place of work where people want to get hired. We can only do that by creating confident and strong leaders who have the capacity and head space to think about their staff and not just be fighting within the rat race that the world of business is often in.
It is in everyone’s power to be a part of changing the culture by influencing others and acknowledge that how we go about doing things always has a knock on effect. Culture is embedded by each and every one of us and acts like Chinese whispers. All it takes is one judgemental comment to steam roll over all the hard work to positively connect. If we all took the responsibility to speak up, challenge bad behaviour and support each other to seek help when times are tough we would create a network of carers, motivators and champions and in turn of course, a positive culture.
The climate however, is more difficult to influence. Until we fix some of the real problems such as staff shortages, money restraints, lack of clients. I fear the climate will very much stay the same. External factors such as the cost of living crisis is also having a big impact on how staff and teams feel and react in their working day. We can only influence the climate of those people around us such as our teams and closer colleagues. Even with a negative climate we can create a positive culture. ”We are all in this together.” We need to get back to that mind set by being supportive and also encouraging our senior leaders to come up with better solutions (whatever they are). We can all play a part in that.
If you find yourself complaining about your working environment, culture and climate, ask yourself…what am I doing to influence it?
