Blog

Creating a Better Work Culture

March 16, 2021

Success in today’s global business environment can be more effective when executives manifest themselves as agents of change who reshape corporate culture to better apply knowledge and create a competitive advantage. Building on three aspects of corporate culture—collaboration, trust and learning—companies can continuously innovate and create new and valuable products and services through applying new ideas and knowledge. This can also inspire consultants to create effective cultural change in order to meet and exceed the challenges of today and the future. These practices can represent a complete answer to changes in today’s global market environment.

Collaboration provides a shared understanding about the current issues and problems among employees, which helps to generate new ideas and solutions within an organization. Trust towards the leader’s decisions is also a necessary to allow for open sharing of knowledge. Moreover, the amount of time spent learning is positively related to the amount of knowledge gained, shared, and implemented.

Executives can facilitate collaboration by developing relationships in organizations. An executive can contribute to a culture of trust by considering both the employees’ individual interests and the company’s essential needs. Also, executives can identify individual needs of employees and develop a learning culture to generate new knowledge. The next sections present a set of actions that can be taken by executives to build an effective corporate culture and the benefits to the company overall.

Building a True Collaboration Culture

To build a collaborative culture, executives need to improve the degree to which employees actively support and provide significant contributions to each other in their work. This can take the form of the higher-ups leading by example, consistently giving constructive feedback while allowing for people to learn from mistakes and making space for social events. In doing this, they can develop a collaborative environment in which employees are comfortable with collaboration between departments, they are supportive towards each other, and there is a willingness to accept responsibility for failure.

Creating a No-Fail Trust Culture

To create a trust culture, executives need to maintain the volume of reciprocal faith in terms of behaviors and intentions. This takes the form of displaying honesty, vulnerability, and open communication. It also allows for employees to be themselves and feel comfortable voicing their opinions. In doing this, leaders can build an atmosphere of trust and openness in which employees are generally trustworthy, have reciprocal faith in the abilities, intentions and behaviors of others, and can make meaningful choices between the interests of the organization and the interests of individuals.

Cultivating a Successful Learning Culture

To foster a learning culture, executives need to enhance the extent to which learning is motivated within the workplace. This can take the shape of formal and informal development programs, like training programs, role rotation, and external seminars and workshops. In doing this, they can contribute to the development of a learning workplace in which employees are always learning and improving their skillsets.

This dynamic perspective of organizational culture points out the vital importance of corporate culture in shaping a company’s employee assets. Corporate culture constitutes the foundation of a supportive workplace to improve knowledge and performance. Fostering an environment of collaboration, trust and learning is a major internal resource for business success, and without a grasp on this idea, executives are bound to fail.

Mostafa Sayyadi | Contributing Writer

Blog

The End of 9 to 5? How Work Schedules are Changing

By assistantdesigner@theedgeleaders.com on

May 5, 2020

- Blog

Is the traditional 9-to-5 workday obsolete? Many would say so. There seems to be a consensus among both employers and employees that a shift needs to be made in how the traditional workday is structured. The present-day model doesn’t really promote a healthy work-life balance or stimulate productivity. Too much of a routine can be dangerous. Longer, more rigid hours don’t always equal more work being done. Employees may be coming in for 40-hour weeks, but if they aren’t using that time wisely, then businesses actually lose out in the long run.

The History of the 9-to-5 Workday

The idea of working from 9 to 5 is a product of socialism during the 19th century. It wasn’t until 1890 that the U.S. government started to track workers’ hours. Up until that point, employees could work up to 100 hours a week and there were no laws protecting children. In 1926, Ford Motors was one of the first companies to adapt the 9-to-5 model and helped to make it more mainstream. In 1938, the U.S. congress passed the Fair Labor Standards Act, which made the workweek 44 hours. In 1940, it was readjusted to the five-day, 40-hour workweek that remains the basic standard today.

The Mindset of Millennials and Entrepreneurs

A 9-to-5 simply isn’t for everyone. If you feel trapped easily, especially sitting in a cubicle, dislike routine and/or mundane tasks, and have a problem with authority, then maybe a job in a more creative setting, or of an entrepreneurial nature, would suit you better. At the top of the list, millennials seem to feel the most dissatisfied with the traditional workday structure, placing greater importance on factors like flexibility, impactful or purposeful labour, and economic security. They’re also more willing to seek employment on their own terms and work freelance.

Structured Benefits

The 9-to-5 model does, however, have some major benefits. While some find the routine repetitive, others may find the predictability comforting. Stability and financial security are two of the main reasons many people in years past stayed at the same job for decades. A 9-to-5 job gives people a set schedule they can plan around, as opposed to shift work, where employees don’t always know what their upcoming schedule will look like from one week to the next.

The Possibility of a 4-Day Workweek

One alternative suggestion that’s been gathering support in recent years is for a “compressed” four-day workweek. Employees would work four 10-hour shifts instead of five eight-hour shifts, with Friday becoming a third day of the weekend. Experts have argued for and against it; some say that it would motivate employees to work harder, doesn’t disturb workflow, cuts down on time-consuming commutes (which in turn reduces workers’ spending on gas or transit), eases burnout risks, and promotes other activities. The counterarguments to the new working pattern are that longer standard workdays would be more draining and stressful, and a revamped workweek would potentially affect working parents, who have to deal with things like daycare services.

Our lives are much more than just our jobs. “Work to live, don’t live to work” is a common mantra. The 9-to-5 model may have worked in decades past, but times are changing. Our world is constantly evolving, and so is society. Thanks to recent advances in technology, many businesses can run from a home or out of a remote location. The traditional ways that most workplaces have run are quickly becoming a thing of the past, as the workweek becomes increasingly fluid.

At the end of the day, however, work schedules hardly matter if you have purpose in your life. Regardless of the time of day or week, the hours will fly by if you’re doing something you enjoy.

Rhea Braganza | Contributing Writer