The culture of an office gives insight to practice values and policies that set the tone for how the organization functions and for how the staff interacts with one another. The challenge of recognizing and fixing office culture issues ultimately falls on management’s shoulders.

Characteristics

A healthy office culture creates an environment that allows for employees to concentrate on their work without negative interference. In this office environment:

• Employees enjoy their workplace with a developed sense of loyalty
• Productivity is increased
• Respect is shown to one another
• Praise is given and appreciation is shown
• Discussions are encouraged, both with and without management
• Policies and guidelines are noted and followed
• Management provides a sense of direction and guidance.

Components

The culture of an office is influenced by employee satisfaction and overall productivity.  Practices place a priority to develop a positive culture when they:

• Establish guidelines and office policies
• Set and explain expectations for employee positions and productivity
• Adhere to established policies
• Follow the standards set for the goals and objectives in a manner that creates an environment built on respect and ethical behavior.
• Manage the practice
• Encourage employee development and training
• Interpret the way staff have an effect on workplace culture
• Influence the workplace culture by creating a productive environment
• Identify constructive staff interaction with clients.

Communication

In order to develop a healthy office culture that is conducive to motivating employees and enhancing the practice it is important to understand their workplace environment. Management needs to:

• Talk to employees
• Ask about their expectations of the workplace
• Determine their goals for the position they currently hold
• Determine their thoughts for their future employment within the practice
• Discover what motivates them to succeed
• Get their input on ways to achieve a balance between the goals of the practice and the work environment
• Listen to employees
• Pay close attention to the information gleaned from talking with employees
• Managers that gauge perspectives and ideals from employee communications will be better able to create an office culture that is considerate of its employees’ expectations and goals.

Staff Involvement

Encourage staff to take part in the steps to create a healthy office culture. Look to them to:

• Contribute ideas to increase opportunities for staff camaraderie
• Create social groups within the office
• Organize and participate in events that encourage staff interaction.

Establish a Balance

When taking the steps to create a healthy office culture it is important to keep focused on the overall goals of the company. Office culture should never come at the expense of the work performance of a practice. Management needs to help staff maintain a balance between the work and the climate of the office.

• Determine methods that maintain a balance between productivity and work performance but still:
• Foster creativity
• Offer collaborative opportunities
• Establish a work environment where management and staff work effectively together.

In every practice there are sets of informal rules that create an office culture. These guidelines help to define the many different workplace characteristics that are visible in employee attitude, productivity and morale. Practices with an established atmosphere of office culture where employees feel valued and comfortable will find employee morale to be high and employee turnover to be low.

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