Inefficiency. Poor communication. A lack of flexibility. These are descriptors that no employer wants associated with his or her business on employee review websites or social media channels. They all indicate a workspace that is less than ideal for creativity and innovation; in short, they indicate a potentially toxic environment where great ideas are more likely to meet a brick wall than come to fruition.
The fact is that most job applicants today are looking for more than just a rewarding paycheck when assessing a company; they want to see that the company has a strong set of cultural values too. And a company’s workspace is one of the clearest indicators of this.
Here are some factors that could be contributing to a poor company culture in your organization:
Cubicles: It’s time to consider knocking down your drab cubicles and replacing them with an open environment. Research from the American Psychological Association shows that offering an open work space leads to greater learning and productivity than can be found in closed spaces.
A lack of camaraderie: Notice how employees are treating one another in your enterprise. Are they stopping to greet one another in the hallways? Or do they walk right past each other en route to their desks? Part of the reason employees aren’t friendly toward one another could be due to the absence of a strong internal communication platform where they can exchange friendly messages back and forth.
Limited remote working: The modern workspace can be accessed from any location. Employees should be able to communicate and collaborate from home just as easily as they can in the office. If your business makes it difficult to access communication tools outside of the office, and instead requires workers to be at the office at all times, it could be contributing to worker unhappiness.
Here’s the good news: Even if you identify with any of the aforementioned pain points, it’s never too late to change your company’s culture. One of the best ways to do this is to invest in a robust Web conferencing suite that can break down barriers between employees.
Click here to learn how Onstream Media can help!
