How to influence a culture change at your office

Success in the office can be a tricky thing to nail down. Managers are constantly trying to find the perfect formula that will yield the highest productivity, the best products and the most revenue.

But when it comes to maximizing output in any office, the real process may be more an art than a science. Sure, there are many cut-and-dried factors that go into how well your company performs, such as the qualifications of the employees you hire, but there is often more to it than that.

One of the most important and most difficult parts of a company's operation to quantify is office culture. This seemingly nebulous concept sets the tone for how your office operates. Creating and maintaining the corporate culture that you want to espouse is important, but how do you do it? Here are some pointers on giving your company culture a facelift.

How important is culture, anyway?
New managers especially may not understand the importance of something as seemingly ambiguous as a company's culture. But even though it may not be a tangible thing that you can clearly define, the culture that pervades your office can determine many things about how your company operates.

This contributes to more than just your employees' happiness, too. It's no secret that workers who are engaged and satisfied with their jobs perform more effectively at the office. Entrepreneur magazine noted that companies with happier employees outperformed their less engaged and less satisfied competitors by up to 20 percent. Additionally, happy workers can be up to 12 percent more productive and are also faster at solving complex problems, while those who are unhappy can actually be as much as 10 percent less productive than normal.

Control the space
Your office isn't just an empty space you and your employees occupy every day while you're performing your daily tasks. The layout of your office environment can have a strong influence on the culture of your company. For example, if you want to foster a sense of collaboration and open communication, you may wish to consider an open-concept office. You may not realize it, but the presence of walls and cubicles can form both physical and psychological barriers that can stand in the way of these collaborative efforts.

Back off the reins
As a manager, your job is to manage. But how you do that can have an impact on your company's success and efficacy. Your employees are by far your strongest resource, so stifling them with heavy-handed micromanaging may accomplish little more than keeping a lid on your staff members' latent creativity. Not only is this discouraging for your staff, but micromanaging a team of dozens of employees is a good way to quickly burn yourself out as well.

Be adaptable
A key part of a laid back and flexible office culture is your company's own adaptability. This can take many forms and is really up to you as far as what implementation looks like. The crucial component is that you simply offer your employees the freedom and autonomy they need to excel in their own way.

This content is brought to you by the Marketing Team at Beacon Hill Staffing Group.