Maintaining Control of the Small Business Workplace Culture

It’s important to stay on top of who is having the dominant influence on the workplace culture

You hear a lot of information about the value of workplace culture in creating success or contributing to failure in today’s workplace. In any given moment workplace culture may not make or break your small business but over the course of time workplace culture will have an impact on your business bottom line.

Workplace culture can be defined as the physical, social, psychology and structural makeup within the workplace. A workplace culture can be established consciously by leadership or evolve, sometimes organically, from any place and along any vertical – from leadership down, middle management out, or employees across, up or down.

Workplace Culture can encompass a several elements:

1. business values and/or philosophy
2. management and leadership styles
3. structure of the workplace including the physical environment, hours of work and the way work is performed
4. workplace employee, management and co-worker relationships
5. how employee is treated and/or act (which may be function of a, b or c)

Dominate Influences in the Workplace

One element of workplace culture that can be a great contributor to success or can pull an organization down is the element of co-worker relationships.

Research shows us that when people like one another they create a positive work environment, and this can lead to reduced turn over and better performance. But sometimes friendship between co-workers causes disruption. In a 2010 Randstad study of US workers, a majority of workers, 60%-77% reported that workplace friendships fostered higher job satisfaction, aided in motivating employees to work, increased feelings and actions of support, reduced turnover, created employee engagement and increased productivity.

On the other side of the coin between 34% and 44% workers reported that workplace friendships feed gossip, fostered favoritism, blurred professional boundaries and created conflict of interest. A small number, between 16% and 25% suggested that friendships cause others to feel uncomfortable, harm productivity and reduce constructive feedback and openness at work. Negative consequences were reported more frequently by Baby boomers and employees in management positions.

In a small business with only a few employees the impact of co-worker relationships can be significant. Whereas in a large organization there are many individuals contributing to the overall workplace culture, in a small business of even 50 or fewer employees and certainly 10 or fewer employees a few key people can really set a tone. When these people form strong bonds or relationships with one or two other employees this can shift the balance of power in creating a culture from the business owner or leader to the employees setting the tone on the ground.

Many employees spend more time with their co-workers than with their personal friends. It is not uncommon for co-workers, and in particular the millennial generation to form personal relationships with coworkers. Many new employees upon joining a new organization will send a social network request to connect immediately or exchange contact information and exchange texts. These methods of connections can easily create a sense of intimacy and the potential for a deeper connection that results in strong bond and sometimes a genuine friendship. In life friendships are vitally important but that does not mean they are always in your best interest when they occur in the workplace.

Take note of these factors when trying to determine if a workplace friendship is having a strong influence on your workplace culture:

1. Pay attention to how often pairs or small groups of co-workers support one another’s ideas or work together to block the ideas of others.
2. Listen to how often co-workers spend working time talking about ‘personal’ time including past, current and future. Co-workers who are friends can dampen productivity for an entire team or workplace when they spend too much time dominating social conversations or discussing and sharing personal plans
3. Note how often specific employees request or are assigned, request or volunteer to work the same shift, the same work location or on the same project. When working in pairs of two they may be productive so you may want to give that a shot but in teams of 3 -5 they may have too much controlling interest
4. Some co-worker friendships may result in the development of great ideas, and they may spur one another on to better ideas, but other times they may take one another down a narrow path that comes from too similar thinking or blindly supporting one another’s ideas

Creating Your Preferred Workplace Culture

1. Clarify the top 3-5 business culture elements that are important to you. You may strive to be great at everything but at any given time you may want to select those 3-5 elements you want to deliver first and foremost. Part of this clarity is not only what you want to deliver but how. Communicating this message to employees can help you set your cultural tone.
2. Identify the people in your workplace who exemplify the culture you want to build. Praise and promote these people and let them know just what traits they hold that you want others to emulate
3. Be present, pay attention and let everyone know you are paying attention. The best way to stay ahead of cultural erosion is to be there to shore up the elements you value. Repeating and living your own values helps communicate them throughout the organization

What Can a Leader Do to Minimize the Impact of Dominant Friendships?

If you notice that employees seem to be spending too much time together behind closed doors or speaking in whispers or even chatting openly, generally or about personal matters, address the issues of productivity. Distracted employees are less productive. As a manager do not begin by addressing the issue of a friendship but instead address the issue of productivity. Speak to the employees separately say you believe their productivity may be slipping and ask what they believe is impacting their workplace performance. If necessary, indicate your observation is that they are spending too much time socializing and not enough time at work.

If negativity, gossip or favoritism is beginning to dominate the workplace you may need to take control of the culture by discussing with your employees the role of boundaries in the workplace. Pointing out workplace expectations for behavior and company culture is good first step. Separating the two employees in terms of hours, location, projects may be necessary to minimize their influence.

Individually you may have a great employee who plays a positive and productive role in your organization but sometimes when two people come together something shifts and you lose their individual contributions.

Your culture can benefit because of positive relationships and even friendships among co-workers. People need emotional support and a feeling that someone has their back and workplace friendships can contribute to this culture. Encouraging healthy workplace collaboration can increase engagement and productivity and benefit your workplace culture. As the leader of a business it is important to stay on top of who is having the dominant influence on the workplace culture you want to establish and grow. If you want to set the tone or cultivate a certain culture, then be certain you are paying attention.

Related articles: 

What I Learned Trying Different Management Styles

6 Strategies for Motivating Employees

5 Steps to Manage Conflict of Interest Scenarios