How to fix your workplace culture

We all understand that work culture is important as it enhances productivity, increases retention and make your company more attractive to new hires. Culture is based on the set of beliefs and values, and it fundamentally affect your actions your employees do at work as well.

IDENTIFY WEAK CULTURES

You must first identify what is your current culture you have. Are your employees constantly engaged, or are they very confused about what is expected of them? Do you constantly see signs of verbal gossips, or verbal and physical abuse? Are you also hearing whether feedback is useless since Management do not consider that as well and that they are underpaid for all the roles and duties they are assigned within the Company?

You will then want to understand what is it that cause your employees this mindset? What exactly is the actions that have resulted in this behavior traits. Through understanding what are the infrastructure that have resulted in this culture, you might want to act on it.

LISTEN TO YOUR EMPLOYEES

The best person to explain to you why the culture is being set today, is to have a quick chat with your employees – whether is it a focus group session, one to one communication or data in the form of quantitative or qualitative. You will want to make them feel validated and that they matter.

START FROM MANAGEMENT

Fundamentally, for the culture to be set right – your management must set the good examples as well. You will want to understand what has caused or resulted in this culture. Do management take feedback seriously and do they recognize excellent work? 

FIXING THE INFRASTRUCTURE

You must understand that people are resistant to change – generally be it management or employees. You should set priorities on what are the things to change. Evaluate how big your actions can cause based on just one change. You could also identify the influencers in the team and start the change from them. Generally, once accepted by them – acceptance rates from the others would be higher as well.

If your common feedback that everyone is overworked, then it is time to propose realistic deadlines and workloads. If you need to hire more to distribute the workload more evenly, you might want to consider that as well. It could be good to set in accountability to ensure that your employees are aware of what they are responsible for. It is especially important for management to show recognition of excellent work done to constantly motivate employees.

If communication is a problem, you might want to ensure feedback sessions are conducted regularly and for management to have more transparent communication with their employees to reduce confusion and hence, frustration.

REVIEW THE PLANS

Constantly seek feedback and ensure you are going on the right track. There will never be any harm on hearing more perspectives.  Give your changes some time to be implemented, and do not rush the process. Gradually, you should assess if there is any change in the work place culture and constantly tweak to finally have the culture you require in your team.

3 Easy Workplace Remedies

Presenteeism is a common condition that plague today’s workforce.

The feeling of being irreplaceable at work, and the subsequent guilt that follows, are some of the factors that force employees to appear even when they are on MC. When sick employees insist on being physically present, they turn the office into an active workplace epidemic for everyone else. One sneeze can trigger the whole department into blowing their noses, and one mistaken cup can pass around a viral bug that could last for weeks.

Personal reasons aside, there are times where it is not as easy as simply requesting for medical leave. There might be a crucial presentation, a last minute proposal, or even a meeting with a big client. When it comes to responsibilities that rely solely on the affected individual, he/she must adapt to today’s working expectations. While the best solution will ultimately lie in having proper medication and rest, adjustments will always have to be made.

In order to counter last minute illnesses or defer said symptoms for a couple of hours (until the meeting is over), here are some easy and effective workplace remedies.

Mix Coca-Cola With Salt

The fastest bug going around today belongs to the flu family, and under it comes a myriad of symptoms: sudden itchy throat, stomach blockage, and phlegm production. These can seriously hinder work productivity, especially if talking plays a big part.

One quick and cheap hack is to get a can of Coca-Cola and mix it with salt. If there is a McDonalds nearby, purchase a cup of Coca-Cola and make use of their free salt packets. Attempt to finish as much of this sweet & salty concoction as possible.

Coca-Cola works particularly well for bacterial-causing issues because of the soft drink’s acidity. The mixture of both carbonic and phosphoric acid allows it to have medicinal properties. It started out as a patent medicine back in the late 19th century.

2 Pills A Day Keeps The Doctor Away

Move aside, Panadol. Other than the usual OTC pills that treat everyday maladies, consider purchasing active charcoal tablets and Vitamin C pills — the orange ones that dissolve in water. The first is proven to be highly effective when combating situations of food poisoning or stomach bugs. Charcoal is able to absorb the toxic components, and temporarily stop the pain and runs. The only downside is that it needs to be taken frequency in relatively high amounts for it to work, around 500mg (2 to 3 tablets) every hour for adults.

As for Vitamin C pills, they act as a prevention measure for the rest of the company when someone gets sick. The moment a sneeze cuts through the air, consider these pills to ensure that the daily vitamin intake is sufficient enough to boost a healthier immune system. As the adage goes, prevention is always better than cure.

Go Into The Darkness

Have a headache? A quick solution to migraine relief is to find a dark corner and stay still in the darkness for awhile. Try to shut out as many of the light sources contributing to the environment and let the darkness soothe the headache away. If this is physically impossible, eye masks are also a quick cheat for one to experience total darkness in the office.

While it may sound a little unorthodox, light plays a big part in triggering or contributing to migraines. Brightness can be especially painful when the body becomes sensitive, and there is nothing worse for a headache than a direct glare of sunlight. This is also a healthier alternative to migraine medicine!

Allow Employees to Take Naps during Work

Allow Employees to Take Naps during Work

In the recent years, afternoon naps are no longer strange and link to laziness. Some companies start to understand and see that sleeping in on the job to allow employees recharge energy for the rest of the day. Your bosses will never want to do the team or any one starts going into food coma after lunch hours. As much as there are some companies which have accepted such way to recharge, there are a number of companies who may find it unacceptable but it does aid in promoting a healthy environment for employees to work in. The best nap time is approximately 15 to 30 minutes, which helps in increasing alertness and memory.

Successful Power Nap

Effective and successful power nap will help if the environment can let you fall asleep fast to have a comfortable rest. Since there is a limit time for such naps, always keep any electronics or communication devices out of reach. With the periodic vibrations and light alerts from the phone will make it even harder to sleep well. Your sense of hearing will naturally send signals to your brain to do something – check out the phone in case if there is any urgent matter – you will never get to rest properly.

Body works best when you get to keep it in routine. Regulate your nap routine and your body will tell your brain to take a break naturally. For example, you may want to try sticking your nap to the same time and place. Your body clock will instinctively send a signal to you.

Safe and Designated Place

Companies can always build a dedicated corner especially for employees to take their naps. Dedicate certain time of the day for rest and encourage employees to switch off their computers to avoid interruption. Keep such session as comfortable as possible – you may even want to consider employees bring in their own pillows and with a dedicated corner will mean that you can design the space conducive to go into relaxation mode, such as the temperature of the room, the colors of the walls and the furniture.

Try it today!