Pay Attention to Your Workplace culture, says Executive Access Research Group's survey

A company that can successfully build and maintain a productive workplace can have an edge over companies that do not pay attention to office culture. This and much more interesting findings about workplace culture were revealed by a recent survey conducted by Executive Access Research Group on 'Culture and its impact at work place’.

As per the survey most professionals believe that the culture they see at their organizations can be best defined as 'performance oriented'. Dwindling sales revenues force firms to be more customer focused and add more value hence a culture of 'Customer Focus' comes a close second followed by 'Innovative' and 'Entrepreneurial' cultures.

Ronesh Puri, Managing Director, Executive Access said, “Culture isn’t one aspect of the game, it is the game. The impact of culture, whether positive or negative, is felt in all aspects of an organization as it simply determines the way people act. In a turbulent economic scenario most organizations try to move towards a culture which is performance and innovation oriented. In a dynamic ecosystem, an organizational culture also needs to evolve and change.”

Another important factor is attrition. Positive Attrition is good as it helps infuse new blood and perspectives in an organization. A major factor that keep attrition under check in both services and industrial sector is 'empowerment and independence'. As per the survey 42% respondents in both cases believe that the best way to arrest high attrition is by bringing in empowerment and independence for employees. Creating clarity in the roles and career paths of employees comes a close second while 'competitive pay' at 10% is the least influential factor.

Traditionally, people still enjoy empowerment and independence in the services sector. This is owed to the dynamic and volatile work environment of this sector. Consumers have not only become more demanding, but also more aware of the business environment. The need for customized solutions and ideas is the need of the hour and a run of the mill approach is a potent impediment to this sector. Having the freedom to ideate and partner with a customer to provide efficient services is still the main motivating factor for employees of this sector.”

“The nature of this industry, being so rigid and mundane provides breeding ground for an employee to look for a clearly defined career path. The industrial sector has grown immensely in terms of volume and diversity, but the nature of work still remains regimental. Employees are of a particular mindset which is self restricting and they prefer to evolve steadily, than to have a dynamic routine of work. The element of job security is crucial and it supersedes all other factors that contribute to an employee’s reason to continue in a company,” added Puri.

In the services industry, all initiatives or benchmarks for employees, attribute to the value addition that an employee brings to the quintessential- customer. Efforts are being made by companies to encourage employees who make their customers’ experiences more valuable and gratifying. An entrepreneurial spirit directed towards bringing forth rich customer experiences is the ideal culture of most companies in this sector.

The major trend of both the consumer sector and services sector has been observed to be performance oriented at 39% and 26% respectively. Since the shelf life of these products is very less, agility and tenacity are perceived to be important qualities for all employees in the consumer industry. The overall culture of the industry is very result oriented and ultimately, performance matters! High volumes, several products, demanding and cognizant customers, intense competition and a dynamic ecosystem are major attributes of this industry.