Building a strong workplace culture in your RTO

In every workplace, the culture of the company is imperative to the organisation’s success. The company culture has an impact on nearly every aspect of the business.

So why is it so important for your RTO to have a positive workplace culture?

Having a positive workplace culture equals a happy workforce. A happy workforce means higher productivity and higher retention. It is an integral part of the organisation, as it creates your identity. Having values and goals that everyone understands and align with is an important first step to creating a positive culture.

It is important to also understand that you cannot enforce a strong workplace culture. It has to be something that everyone buys into and believes in. An organisation is a team and not a hierarchy. So how do we start? What do we need to do? What are the benefits?

Think of your workplace as a family. We spend a great deal of time together at work, several days a week. Sometimes these days can be long and busy and being part of a team that supports each other is a great way for everyone to love what they do and not feel like work.

‘The only way to do great work is to love what you do’ – Steve Jobs

And this stems from an organisation having a culture that supports this. Think why so many people loved working for Steve Jobs. He worked hard, respected everyone’s voices in the company, listened to everything (even if he didn’t want to hear it!), encouraged honesty and openness, and gave the same back.

So what are some tips for building a positive and strong workplace culture:

Grow off your current culture: Ask everyone what they like and, more importantly, what they do not like about their current workplace culture and workplace environment. Use these suggestions to help create a positive culture.

Emphasise employee wellness: This can be a foundation for a strong positive workplace culture. If employees are not at their best – mentally, emotionally, and physically – then it can be hard for them to contribute to a positive culture. Ensure you have the tools and resources required to enable them to have a healthy outlook, both at work and home.

Having meaning: Imagine coming to work, every day, and not having meaning to the work you do. You need to provide a purpose and meaning for employees to have job satisfaction. Have a positive mission statement. A set of values that are relatable and achievable. Ensure employees understand how their role contributes to the organisation and how they positively have an impact to the company and clients (or students).

Encourage positivity: Simple gestures can make a world of difference. Saying ‘thank you’ to an employee can go a long way. Having a positive attitude, even when situations are tough, can encourage others to stay with you throughout it. Smiling, positive body language and positive expression all play vital roles in encouraging positivity in the workplace.

Create goals: How can we achieve something if we do not know the end goal? How do we start if we do not know what we need to achieve? This is something that many leaders know but struggle to communicate. It can leave others feeling unsettled, unsure where to begin or end and the road they need to take to get there. Having clear goals and paths allow employees to feel confident and positive in achieving them.

Social connections: As we said earlier, we spend a considerable amount of time together at work. How do you grow a strong, positive workplace culture if there is no interaction between them? We need to provide opportunities for social interactions in the workplace. Simple things like having a team meal once a week, social get-togethers outside of work hours, or just encouraging communication in the workplace can all be simple ways to get things started.

Listen: And we mean really listen, not just hear what an employee has to say. You may not always like it but having an open and honest relationship with employees encourages a positive workplace. And who knows, even the negative can turn into a positive. If we listen to what our employees have to say, it provides us the opportunity to continue to mould and grow a workplace where everyone wants to come and work.

These are just some of the basic things we can do in our organisation to create a strong, more positive workplace culture. A place where everyone wants to come to work, and a place everyone wants to work.

With so many challenges thrown at us in this age, being an organisation that provides a strong and positive culture enables you to handle any situation thrown your way.