The Telltale signs of a Healthy Organizational Culture
The Telltale Signs of a Healthy Organizational Culture 1
1. Talented Employees Inline
An organization that attracts employees in large numbers, exceptionally talented high calibers, has a good reputation and branding. It is a strong indication that the culture within is a healthy one.
2. Fun and Good Times
Employees enjoy having lunch together. They enjoy hanging around together even after working hours. They don't simply wait for check-out time to run outside the doors of the company. Moreover, employees' families enjoy attending family days and parties. It usually results from a healthy and happy culture, where employees are not fed up with the place and want to run out. It also means they speak highly about the organization among family members, making it an exciting and happy place for them to want to visit.
3. Two-Way Communication
Healthy cultures allow two-way communication. Two-way communication is communication that goes back and forth between management and employees. They enable employees to voice their opinions, discuss ideas, and share thoughts. Such organizations work on creating systems to sustain and encourage two-way communication.
4. Positive and Negative Feedback Exchange
Sometimes organizations depend on one type of feedback only. Management would either rely on negative feedback only, thus becoming highly critical in an attempt to rectify. While other times, management depends on positive feedback only as they try to sugarcoat matters and not upset employees. In both cases, this represents an unhealthy culture. Healthy cultures depend on both feedbacks according to the situation.
5. Effective Teamwork
When the organizational culture is healthy, team members work effectively as a team. They exchange information openly. They hold each other accountable without waiting for management to tell them what to do or what not to do. Team members choose to work in a team and make use of each other's strengths and talents
6. Open and Transparent Communication
Trust is the foundation of a healthy culture. Organizations that are built on trust allow for open communication. Management adopts an open door policy, disseminating information openly. Trust allows open communication on all topics. Thus, nothing is held back, and issues are dealt with openly.
7. List of Values
A values list provides a compass to healthy organizations. Values allow management and employees to make decisions and prioritize. It also helps in maintaining a healthy culture where all employees adopt the same values. Thus, each one of them acts as an organizational ambassador.
8. Clear Direction
In healthy organizational cultures, employees know where the organization is heading. What the company is trying to achieve, and where they as employees fit in the big picture. They understand their roles well, backed up with clear, well-defined job descriptions.
An engaged culture characterized by high levels of involvement, stability, adaptability, and a transparent mission, improves sales and customer happiness. The Queen's University Centre for Business Venturing adds to the evidence that culture and performance are linked. It discovered the following for firms with an engaged culture, based on data from employee engagement surveys and corporate results over ten years:
- 65% greater share-price increase
- 26% less employee turnover
- 100% more unsolicited employment applications
- 20% less absenteeism
- 15% greater employee productivity
- 30% greater customer satisfaction levels.
1Liz Ryan, Forbes, May 19, 2018, Accessed 20 August 2021, https://www.forbes.com/sites/lizryan/2018/05/19/ten-unmistakable-signs-of-a-healthy-workplace/?sh=421368385cad Comparably, Feb 19, 2020. Accessed 20 August 2021, https://www.comparably.com/news/8-sure-signs-of-a-healthy-company-culture/
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