Cultural Fit and the Positive Workplace

One of the four cornerstones of the Blue Jelly Positive Workplace is Culture & Image.

As we start the ‘Great Return’, Culture & Image are two massive driving factors in people’s desire to get back in the workplace. People are being attracted back to an office because they feel vested in the organisation’s mission. People returning to the office under duress will likely leave.

At Blue Jelly we break the cornerstone of Culture & Image down into three subsections:

• Collaboration
• Brand Awareness
• Cultural Fit

Today I would like to talk about Culture Fit.

Regularly emphasised in job ads (Great Company Culture) and interviews, it certainly is another workplace buzzword, but just because a word is overused doesn’t mean it isn’t important. Most of us have felt like a square peg in a round hole at some point in our working lives!

But how does it relate to the workplace and specifically the physical workplace?

Well to be honest it is a slightly tough subject to put into words without focusing on stereotypes in industry sectors, age brackets, and job roles, but I’ll give it a go.

Culture starts at the top, the characteristics of the leadership team tend to be replicated in the teams they create and individuals they hire – everyone at Blue Jelly rolls their eyes when Paul Horne and I start talking about cycling. But how can this be personified in the physical workplace?

Well, I previously discussed brand awareness and obviously that contributes to culture but isn’t the be all and and end all. A further aspect of great importance to workplace culture is the personality and working style of the leadership and individuals. Is it a high volume of phone calls (and banter) or are they focussed on detail within data and drawings?

Are they researching detail-heavy subject matter or are they collaborating, brainstorming, and #BlueSkyThinking?

So the people, their roles, their output, and personality will be key in driving culture; the aesthetics of the physical workplace need to reflect and enable this to happen. As always, the people within the space will define what the space needs to be and do.

In the workplaces we produce we listen to, and help identify, our clients’ requirements and ensure that company culture is at the forefront for each build. We can create a Positive Workplace that will not only make the best use of the space you are occupying, but also enhance your employee satisfaction, productivity, and motivation. Contact me today to receive your copy of our Blueprint for your Future Workplace guide and to discuss the start of your Blue Jelly journey.