Leaders, 4 Ways To Create A Workplace Culture Your Team Will Love

By Susie Hall , President of Community & Customer Engagement at Aquent

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Building a strong workplace culture is not a new problem for leaders. In fact, over a decade ago, a?Deloitte study ?found that?“94% of executives and 88% of employees believe a distinct workplace culture is important to business success.”?And yet, only 15% of the employees surveyed believed that their culture was embedded in their organisation.

Today, work culture has become a leading factor for job applicants — so much so that Forbes deemed 2022?The Year of Workplace Culture . For in-house design leaders at high-profile brands, culture-building is an even greater challenge, especially in huge companies where even a large design team (100+) is comparatively small inside a workforce of many thousands. Worse, many companies apply broad corporate initiatives, like performance management, communication tools, and employee recognition, to design teams who instead crave creative environments and opportunities to learn new skills in their areas of expertise.

Economic change, layoffs, reorgs, and the influx of new hires (onboarded remotely ) all have a huge impact on culture. And, of course, remote and hybrid work arrangements complicate efforts to connect teams to one another and the business. But those connections are necessary to forging an authentic work culture, which today’s candidates demand.

Recently our?InsideOut Design Leader ?Community gathered to discuss the power and the pitfalls of building inclusive, collaborative workplace cultures. Read on for real-world advice on creating a workplace culture your design and creative teams will love.

1. Lead by Example

Employees are watching to see how much leaders value culture.

To convince teams that they value connections, leaders must find the time and budget for them. One senior leader carves out the first six minutes of team meetings for breakouts of 2–3 people to make space for catch-ups; another invests in quarterly in-person meetings with activities that bring culture to life. Making space to connect around non-work-related topics sends the message that people are as important as the work they produce.

Executives can influence culture through their actions and by sharing their experiences. Origin stories of the senior leadership team and the company can inspire and connect teams to core values and help them see career paths for themselves. Most importantly, managers who?lead with vulnerability ?and who regularly recognise and celebrate cultural differences show that they value authenticity and deeper, more meaningful relationships.

Continue reading this article on our Aquent Australia blog?here .