“Always plan for the future” is a statement we hear often. However, we learned the hard way during the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020 that plans often go awry when unexpected crises occur. Like olmost everything else, company Culture was affected greatly by the 2020 pandemic. Many organizations were forced to implement a work-from-home policy for employees. This often hampered companies' overall productivity due to their existing work culture being out of balance with the realities of working from home. In this article, the critical importance of a healthy company culture and how it can affect your business will be discussed.

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What is Company Culture?

Company culture can be described as the common values, objectives, beliefs, and pattern of work that defines an organization. It can also be termed, “the way of life of a company which depends on their coexistence and productivity.” Every organization has its workplace culture; which can be healthy and vibrant or toxic and stressful. There should be a constant check on the pulse of your culture because it can either make or break an organization.

 
A healthy culture is important in today’s organizationas for a several reasons. Listed below are six we feel are critical:

Employee Retention

A great workplace cultureis essential to keep employees at their current jobs. Many are yet to get over the recent experience of COVID-19 and are still uncertain what the future holds. Creating a healthy work environment that keeps employees engaged with their work will make them more focused and likely to keep their jobs. Any company that prioritizes profit over employees’ relationships will see more workers leaving their jobs.

Trust

An essential key to human relations is trust. The custom and culture in an organization determine how trustworthy the employees will be and how much they will trust management. There must be a high level of transparency amongst teams and, most especially, between the employer and employees. With trust evident, working remotely will be less of a problem, fostering teamwork, healthy communications, and increased efficiency.

Engagement

Low engagement can drive employees out of an organization. Employee engagement is one important factor in overall work satisfaction. For remote workers, this is especially important. 

Mental Health

Work-related stress is skyrocketing in many workplaces, but a healthy company culture should be able to mitigate this. Recognizing and eliminating external stressors and more importantly, providing support for mental health related issues will show employees that management cares about people more than the bottom line.

Community

In any organization, it is vital to have workers feel they are working for something bigger than just themselves. This can be achieved through building community. Interacting with the workers and recognizing both their individual and collective achievements brings them together as a community, where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts and workers feel less like cogs in a machine.

Productivity

Where a good workplace culture exists, productivity is always higher. In one example, to increase productivity, a hybrid work model can be employed. This model helps the transition from working on campus to remote-working. With businesses just recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, some companies have adopted this model, which allows some employees to either work on campus or transition from home to a coworking space. Coworking spaces create a way for workers to come together and work collaboratively. In Chicago as an example, coworking spaces have offered many benefits to employees in transition. If you make use of coworking space in Chicago, you could enjoy the following:

• Motivation and networking in work.
• Flexibility in the workspace.
• Creativity and networking—which include getting outside of the home to meet other people with the same spirit.

Conclusion