The office culture is a very important aspect of the workplace. It is the very identity of the workforce and is rather delicate. You cannot force it but then again, you cannot just allow the chips to fall where they may. It is important to be aware of how the company looks to the outside world. The way the office operates shows the public eye if they are dealing with a good and reputable company or one that does not give much thought to how they are perceived by others. The culture of the office is also what drives the employees. It affects their mood, and more importantly, their productivity. If the culture is extremely laid back, there is nothing to say that the workers are not just lazy but a super strict and structured culture could result in a high employee burnout rate.
To be productive, you need to work till all hours of the night
A very common myth in the office is that to succeed, you need to work till your fingers bleed. So many workers today are putting in too many hours in the office while simultaneously ignoring their family and friends. Whenever they are invited to a party or a dinner, you can already expect the response to be in the line of “sorry, I can’t. I have to work” or “I’m sorry but I have a deadline approaching”. This would be fine if it was a one-time thing but the problem arises when this becomes the norm and not the exception.
Working smarter is the answer, not working harder. If someone has the job of printing out a thousand brochures and they also need to separate and make up each set of brochures, imagine how many hours are wasted if they had to do all of it by hand. Would it not be easier and quicker to buy an all-in-one printer from Ohana Office Product Net 30 that can complete that task in way less time than it would for a person? Yes, many companies do encourage their workers to work smart and not hard but it is easy to miss that point when an employee who takes his own time to do a task and has to stay late to complete his job is congratulated because it looks like he is working so much. Meanwhile, someone else who has the same job and is able to complete everything in much less time is not even given a second glance, what’s more he is looked at unfavourably for leaving earlier. This type of mentality should be thrown away. High productivity does not necessitate longer hours.
A fun office indicates the low performance
There is a very odd viewpoint that an office where the employees spend time together, have fun and are not mindless zombies all the time indicates that they have a poor performance. For some reason, people think that an office can only be stuffy and professional with no leeway at all. There should be no bonding activities, dinners or anything fun and exciting because if there are, then that means that the company is not serious about their job. That is just a load of rubbish. Ask anyone and they will tell you that just about everyone would rather work in an office where the company showed care for the mental health of its workers by having the occasional fun activity for the purpose of destressing.
There are plenty of big companies that have annual family days where all the employees and their families are treated to an all-expense paid weekend at a nice resort. They have meals together, unwind and have fun playing games. Even the smaller companies that cannot afford to do something on such a large scale have simpler activities like dinners, karaoke nights and game nights. Events like this help to boost morale and show the employees that they are appreciated and valued. Who wouldn’t thrive in an environment where they are looked at as family rather than just a replaceable body?
Good workplaces do not have a conflict
In every family there is conflict. Nobody agrees with an opinion all the time and there is nothing wrong with that. The same can be said about the workplace environment. Sure, there are bound to be disagreements and arguments, but that is life. If you can go home and have an argument with your spouse whom you know like the back of your hand, why would you not expect to experience the same thing with your coworkers whom you might not know that much about? Conflict is good, it shows differing opinions and different viewpoints. How boring would it be if everyone just agreed with a single opinion?
Conflict is important because it shows that everyone is thinking about the best way to handle a situation and not just waiting for someone to give them the answer. As long as whatever disagreement is handled with empathy then it just becomes an environment for people to grow and mature. The higher-ups of a company should ensure that the workplace is a safe and conducive environment for the employees to settle their differences and just butt in and try to make peace. Not every disagreement can be settled by throwing something new and shiny from Ohana Office Product Net 30 at the employees to distract them. Just like at home where siblings have to learn to get along with the others’ differences, it is the same in the workplace.
Conclusion
In conclusion, a conducive and safe office environment is very important because it creates a space where the employees can thrive. The perfect balance between structured and fun can even result in employees being excited to come to work the next day rather than dreading it. When you love what you do, you never work a day in your life and the perfect office environment can ensure that employees look forward to each new work day.
