Articles From the Team

Workplace culture

Culture exists in every workplace.

From a hiring point of view, as the market becomes more competitive, law firms and businesses must create - or begin to create - an identity and as such, a unique culture.

Let's define the allusive term 'culture'

“Culture is made up of the values, beliefs, underlying assumptions, attitudes, and behaviours shared by a group of people. Culture is the behaviour that results when a group arrives at a set of - generally unspoken and unwritten - rules for working together” (Business Management Controls: A Guide By John Kyriazoglou).

What does this look like in practice?

It’s not only the physical environment, it’s the values that employees share and deploy in all of their working practices (and life!); the opportunities for self-promotion and self-development; it's sharing (and celebrating) the wins and the losses. It’s a million small things: formality, open-door policies, social occasions (albeit virtual social events at the moment). It’s the things that employers can do - cost-free - that defines their business.

Why is good workplace culture so important?

Simply put, it's the most important.

Yes, I’ve discussed a lot in previous blogs about what prompts people to seek alternative employment. Generally, this is progression (financial and career), work type, work quality and a number of other things. Yet, the reality is that each and every employee will share one common goal – the desire to be happy at work.

Happy for most means feeling included and a sense of belonging and working with like-minded people.

Remember that well known African proverb?: "If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together."