What is workplace culture and why does it matter?

Jun 27, 2022

Group of colleagues collaborating in a workplace meeting room

Your company’s reputation can make or break your business. And one way to build a strong reputation amongst your employees, clients, and customers is with a positive workplace culture.

Workplace culture should be built around your mission and create the ideal atmosphere for working and collaborating. Get it right, and it’s the difference between your team dreading Monday morning and feeling motivated after the weekend.

A positive culture in the workplace won’t form on its own, though. You need to make it happen. 

What is workplace culture?

Workplace culture is the working environment you provide for your employees. 

You should aim to build the culture around your company’s morals, ethics, and ambitions. And having a strong corporate culture will make your team enthusiastic about their work — which is good news for productivity, retention, and job satisfaction. 

It’s not enough for your workplace culture to start and end in the office. Your team must feel part of that culture when working from home and travelling for work, too.

Why a positive culture in the workplace matters

Building a strong workplace culture isn’t a high priority for many businesses. Yet 94% of executives and 88% of employees believe a distinct workplace culture is essential to business success. 

Establishing a workplace culture will feed into everyone’s work — bringing a positive attitude to how your team approaches their tasks. Once your team feels part of the workplace culture, everyone feels the benefits: 

  • Recruitment and retention boost;
  • Increased job satisfaction;
  • Stronger lines of communication;
  • Adds to each person’s sense of ownership;
  • Strengthened company reputation.

Boosts recruitment and retention

69% of people searching for jobs won’t accept an offer from companies with a bad reputation. And a great way to build up your company’s reputation is with a strong workplace culture. 

Increases job satisfaction

Employees deliver their best work when they feel a genuine connection with their place of work. By having a strong culture in the workplace, your team will know their work is valued. 

Creates stronger lines of communication

Knowing that everyone in the company shares the same values and beliefs makes communication easier. It can also open up more business opportunities, too.

Builds a sense of ownership

Employees who know their work is valued and contributes to a greater good have a stronger sense of responsibility. Your team will take more ownership over their tasks and deliver higher quality work. 

Adds to your company’s reputation

Positive company culture is something potential hires, customers, and investors talk about. Delivering a positive employee experience is only good news for your company’s reputation.

How to build a workplace culture

Workplace culture isn’t something you should expect to form naturally over time. Instead, you should aim to build it up from the company’s core mission, values, and ambitions. 

Set the tone from the top

Everyone has to be on board to create the right culture in the workplace — including all levels of management. Those in the highest positions need to be visible, approachable, and open about the business.

Hire the right people

A company culture won’t last long without the right people. Your interview process must seek to find individuals who fit the company’s values and beliefs.

55% of employees believe having shared beliefs and values is vital to a company’s success. That’s almost as many who believe a company’s success depends on a well-defined business strategy (57%). 

Promote diversity

Diversity and inclusion should be a core part of any workplace culture. Recruiting individuals from different walks of life brings fresh perspectives that can open up new business opportunities.  

Be transparent

A healthy working environment won’t last long if there’s a lack of transparency. It’s essential to keep your team updated on the latest company news and be open to questions. You can achieve this with regular company-wide meetings that offer a dedicated time for questions.

Offer inclusive benefits and perks

Your employee benefits package must offer perks that appeal to everyone in the company. A feeling of inclusivity is essential to building a strong workplace culture.

Opportunities to travel

30% of employees would accept a lower salary in favour of more opportunities to travel for work. 

And remember that inclusivity is essential when it comes to travel too. If you’re trying to choose between company cars or a car allowance for your team, remember: everyone in your team may not hold a full licence. It’s far better to offer a travel plan that everyone can use, such as Bolt Business

Why business travel is a big part of corporate culture

Many workers have to travel to be successful in their roles. That will limit their time in the office and put them at risk of not feeling a part of the workplace culture. That’s unless you build a mobility plan that compliments your culture. 

You should refresh your company’s mobility plan so that it:

  • Makes employee safety and wellbeing a priority;
  • Strengthens communication;
  • Increases employee trust; 
  • Keeps individuals engaged with the company; 
  • Builds relationships between workers, clients, and customers. 

And with Bolt Business, you make it easy for your team to travel in several ways — a choice that will boost your corporate culture. 

Maintain a strong culture on the road

65% of employees want to work for a company that positively impacts the planet. And your workplace culture must reflect this to keep your team motivated and satisfied in their work. That means giving your team an environmentally-friendly way to travel for work and partnering with companies that share those values.

That’s where Bolt Business comes in. 

All Bolt Business trips in Europe are carbon neutral. We achieve this by contributing to various carbon-offsetting projects around the world. And there are many green ways to travel too, including: 

  • Getting picked up in an electric vehicle; 
  • Hopping on an electric scooter
  • Riding an electric bike. 

Making such a diverse range of travel options available to your team will help boost your company culture and make your company a more desirable place to work.

Read the Gelateria La Romana case study to find out how Bolt Business helped increase employee retention and cut travel costs by 25%.

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