Workplace culture refers to shared values, norms, and beliefs that characterize an organization or enterprise. It is like a social operating system that influences how employees interact, communicate, and collaborate. Of course, improving workplace culture goes a long way in influencing how employees interact with clients and their communities at large. A company’s culture can either positively impact the organization by making it thrive or adversely affect it by causing it to suffer.
As a leader, you need to continuously strive hard to improve or upgrade your operating system to help your organization achieve its short- and long-term objectives. Of course, there is no specific strategy to improve workplace culture, but so far, most leaders have focused on carrying out a culture audit, which helps them identify the existing cultural problems and take the proper steps to overcome them.
A strong workplace culture is essential for the success of every organization. While there can be many strategies for improving workplace culture, the most effective ones often start from the top. Here are a few key ingredients that the management could use to enhance workplace culture;
Define a clear and inspiring mission for the organization.
One of the most crucial things the top management can in improving workplace culture is to define a clear and inspiring mission for the organization. Employees are more likely to be at their best and work according to their full potential if they believe in the organization’s missions. A clear and inspiring mission will make employees think they are part of something larger than themselves, pushing them to work even harder. In addition, when employees become aware of their organization’s mission, they start to understand exactly how their efforts can contribute to its overall success.
Define the core values of the organization.
An organization’s core values are clearly stated principles regarding its vision, mission, and regulations. However, core values that promote growth, development, commitment to open communication, and balanced life will likely reflect positively on your organization’s culture. For example, when employees feel free to share their ideas and feedback without fear of retribution, they are most likely to come up with great ideas to help the organization achieve its short and long-term goals. Similarly, when employees feel they have opportunities to learn and grow within the company, they become more committed to using their existing resources to work according to their full potential. In addition, when employees feel like they can balance their work and personal lives, they become mentally sound and motivated to do their best at work. So, defining the correct core values is a crucial step for top-management to help improve workplace culture.
Encourage employee recognition
Encouraging employee recognition can also help improve your company’s culture. Of course, employee recognition is different from employee appreciation. While appreciation helps make employees feel valued for their talents, contributions, and positive attitude toward work, recognition focuses more on showing appreciation through actions. An example of employee recognition is officially appreciating the best worker in every department with a car gift, cash, or a trip to a beautiful resort at the end of the year. Nevertheless, employee recognition is essential as it goes a long way to raise employee engagement. According to statistics, an estimated 78% of employees claim they become more engaged in their workplaces whenever they receive strong recognition from their organizations. However, aside from rising engagement levels, employee recognition encourages innovations and high productivity levels and also goes a long way to attract and retain qualified employees.
Create positive experiences for employees.
Creating positive employee experiences can also help improve your workplace culture as a manager. Company culture and employee experiences are intrinsically connected. Employee experiences, however, refer to the combined feelings of your employees about their experiences within the organization. Therefore, factors, including conversations, interactions, work tools, and processes, can form the overall experiences of employees. Positive experiences will contribute to a great employee experience. In contrast, negative experiences such as lack of team connection, inability to access working resources, and degrading comments from superiors could result in a poor employee experience. So as a leader, you need to be intentional about fostering positive employee experiences, which can, in turn, result in greater employee engagement and increased enthusiasm.
Give teams autonomy
The importance of autonomy in teams within workplaces can never be overemphasized. As a leader of an organization, you must give team members self-governing powers to build a culture of teamwork and contribution. So instead of trying to micro-manage all the teams within your organization, it’s better to encourage team autonomy while simultaneously setting the tones and expectations of these teams. For example, it would make more sense to guide the teams within your organization instead of always telling them what to do. Your responsibility as a leader is to mentor, inspire, connect, and trust your units instead of dictating what must be done. After all, autonomy goes a long way to paving the way for creativity and innovation.
Organize one-to-ones periodically
Another important way of improving workplace culture is to organize one-on-one meetings periodically. Such meetings are a perfect opportunity for you to converse with your employees and discover the problems affecting them individually and within the organization. During such meetings, you must allow them to speak openly while you carefully listen to them. Remember, you could use the outcomes of such meetings to upgrade or improve your organization’s procedures, leading to greater employee engagement and higher productivity levels.
Corporate culture is the manifestation of the relationship between leadership and their employees. It is sometimes referred to as organizational culture. It concerns how policies and communication from the top of a corporation can directly influence the level of employee engagement and satisfaction at multiple levels of an organization. When a company’s management does not show initiative to improve operations surrounding these types of complaints, it can create a culture of silence & resentment within the workforce. Healthy corporate culture creates a cycle of satisfaction and productivity that both benefits the bottom line and improves employee engagement for a balanced, stream of operations. When your corporate culture has declined significantly, an internal audit is necessary.
Signs You Need a Corporate Culture Audit
How do you know when your business or organization needs a corporate culture audit? The fact of the matter is that you don’t have to be an educated risk assessment investigator to identify the signs. Many employees can trace their workplace woes back to an internal process or another employee they do not like. Sometimes it’s difficult to discern whether your organization needs a corporate culture audit. Here are 8 of the most prevalent signs that leadership should watch out for when it comes to declining corporate culture.
8. High-Pressure Environment
There is a plethora of high-pressure jobs that can create tension in the workplace, like media conglomerates, financial firms, and law offices. When stress is part of the job, many employers go the extra mile to ensure that their employees can have good work-life balance, such as paid-time-off, vacations, and comprehensive benefits. In high-pressure jobs where these things are not available to employees, the workforce regularly experiences burnout and lack of engagement. When leadership is ignorant or inattentive to these issues within their corporation, it drives corporate culture down and contributes to the overall detriment of the workplace.
7. Employee Apathy = Poor Corporate Culture
Every employee has substandard days for a myriad of reasons, but when the workplace is constantly plagued by low energy and low morale, it spreads like a cancer throughout the organization. Employees who are engaged in the workplace increase productivity and customer experience. When apathy spreads throughout the workplace, it usually indicates that the root cause is pervasive, effects everyone, and needs to be neutralized as soon as possible.
If your organization is running into the same problems
quarter to quarter, this is a major red flag. The nature of the problems are insignificant—whether
it’s a problem with internal processes or multiple complaints of harassment,
the fact that the problem continues to thrive within the workplace indicates
that there is a fundamental issue with internal processes or personnel. While
each issue may have resolved initially, the root of the problem was never
identified or addressed. A healthy cycle of corporate culture cannot grow in
such an environment.
5. Poor Investments in People
When it comes to hiring and promoting employees, sometimes
leadership does not always make a sound investment in a single employee. It
happens in every business, where a new hire or promoted employee does not meet
expectations as predicted. This can bring internal operations to a screeching
halt, whether executives elect to correct this poor investment via termination
and turn-over, or to ignore the issue and allow that employee to continue
stalling the corporation’s mission.
4. Questionable Ethics
“Questionable ethics” does not mean that it’s apparent that
there is illegal or ethically unclear practices taking place within the
workplace—otherwise it would be much higher on this list. “Questionable ethics”
actually refers to individual employees’ understanding and ability to explain
their company’s values. Regardless of intent, corporations are sometimes vague
about their mission or values, using rosy words that denote a company with
integrity and passion for bringing their products and consumers together. This
can make it difficult for employees to intellectualize company goals and
vision. When the workforce does not have a clear, common goal to achieve as a
whole, employees can easily become detached and apathetic.
3. Lack of Accountability
When corporate culture is healthy, there is a mindful unity throughout the workforce, in which individual employees are content, engaged, and working towards the same goal. When the corporate culture is poor, individual employees at all levels refuse to take responsibility when something goes wrong. Lack of accountability for a mistake or oversight leads to a great deal of finger-pointing and shrugging in meetings and over email, and slows down the wheels of progress within a corporation or organization.
2. Bad Behavior in Leadership
Corporate culture audits can catch some of the most elusive culprits of tainting corporate culture: Executives and leadership. The old adage goes, “The fish stinks from the head,” meaning that most distasteful things within a company or organization can be traced back to leadership. Whether it is a supervising manager or an executive, bad behavior on behalf of leadership always trickles down into the rest of the workforce, because the supposition is, “If the boss is doing this, it must be okay.” This applies to all levels of bad behavior, from theft to malingering and everything in between.
1. Lack of Diversity
The number one indicator that your company or organization might need a corporate culture audit is a lack of diversity in the workforce. Any corporate culture that is homogenized with regards to race, gender identity, sexual orientation, or even age lacks the inherent ability to grow and change. Leadership in the workplace—management and executive positions—are dominated by cisgender, straight, white men, who are statistically projected to hire other individuals who are also in this category. Individuals in this category are hired, mentored, and promoted more than others, which feeds into a cycle of stagnation that will ultimately hurt the company or organization. The value of diversity comes with the support of trusted employees from many walks of life—employees who have had different life experiences and have a perspective that can reinvigorate an organization’s vision or mission—ensuring that the pursuits of the workplace are growing and changing along with the rest of the economy.
June is LGBTQ Pride Month in the United States. Throughout the country, members of the LGBTQ community are celebrating their identities and their histories. However, there is also an uptick in romance scams on dating apps devoted to the LGBTQ community. Rather than the talk-show topical model of romance scam in which the scammer earns the affection of the victim and then repeatedly asks for money for support, there is something more sinister in these LGBTQ dating app scams: Extortion.
What Does a LGBTQ Scam Look Like?
Most LGBTQ dating apps are aimed at gay and trans men, but there are a few that are marketed towards lesbians and trans women. Online dating in the LGBTQ community has its own set of unique and terrifying aspects, but just like heterosexuals, the threat of having intimate conversations and photos shared with friends and family is always a strong motivator in an extortion case. LGBTQ dating app scams can seem very much like those aimed at the straight community—two strangers connect on a dating app, begin chatting, and when the conversation becomes intimate, they exchange photos. Once the scammer has intimate photos of the victim, the extortion begins. The scammer may threaten to send the photos to friends, family, or even your employer unless their financial demands are met.
How to Stay Safe
Sometimes the threat can go even deeper if the victim is “closeted,” in the sense that their sexual orientation is not public knowledge. There are countless horror stories of LGBTQ individuals who have endured the process of being “outed” before they are ready—being disowned by their families and friends, having their identity made public without a support system, and being subjected to online bullying and harassment. While these cases can have many relevant factors, the tips for protecting yourself against them remain the same:
Never share personal information with someone you just met on an online dating app. This includes your cell phone number, personal photos, email address, or social media profiles.
Always verify the person’s identity by conducting due-diligence. Run the person’s profile picture through a reverse image search to ensure their photo is only associated with one online identity. If you see repeating patterns in the series of photos displayed on their various profiles, this could also be a red flag.
Check large swaths of their writing against scammer websites. There are a handful of websites devoted to exposing the vernacular of known online scammers by compiling their pre-written responses into a database.
Never pay scammers to destroy photos or to delete conversations. Scammers will always ask for more money once they’ve received the first payment, and there’s no guarantee they will destroy the evidence.
If you have spotted or been the victim of one of these LGBTQ dating app scams, report it to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
When it comes to business agreements and contracts, it is essential for corporations to gather all available information to support their case when allegations of failure to meet terms arise. Promissory estoppel, a legal doctrine that prevents a party from reneging on a promise, often plays a significant role in such disputes. In these complex situations, a private investigator can be a valuable asset, offering a range of services to help uncover essential facts, gather evidence, and strengthen a corporation’s case. This article explores the critical role of private investigators in fact-finding during investigations involving promissory estoppel, emphasizing their contributions in building robust cases for corporations.
Uncovering Hidden Information in Promissory Estoppel
Private investigators are skilled in conducting thorough investigations, utilizing various techniques to uncover hidden information that may be crucial in a promissory estoppel case. By employing surveillance, background checks, and other investigative methods, private investigators can identify and locate relevant individuals, witnesses, or potential evidence. This information can shed light on the intentions, actions, and credibility of parties involved in the agreement, helping corporations build a stronger case.
Gathering Witness Testimony
In promissory estoppel cases, witness testimony can be invaluable in establishing the validity of a promise, reliance by the injured party, and the extent of damages suffered. Private investigators have the expertise to locate and interview potential witnesses discreetly. They can elicit detailed and reliable statements that provide insights into the circumstances surrounding the promise, subsequent actions, and the impact on the injured party. These testimonies become crucial evidence that can significantly strengthen a corporation’s case.
Promissory Estoppel Document Retrieval and Analysis
Promissory estoppel investigations often require thorough examination of documents, such as emails, correspondence, contracts, and financial records. Private investigators possess the skills and resources to retrieve and analyze these documents effectively. They can scrutinize the terms of the agreement, establish timelines, identify inconsistencies or breaches, and evaluate the impact on the injured party. These findings help corporations build a comprehensive narrative and support their claims with compelling evidence.
Surveillance and Monitoring
In certain instances, surveillance may be necessary to gather evidence in a promissory estoppel investigation. Private investigators are experienced in conducting discreet surveillance operations to monitor the activities of individuals involved in the agreement. By capturing visual evidence or documenting suspicious behavior, they can provide valuable insights into whether the terms of the agreement were met, and whether the injured party suffered damages as a result. This evidence can play a crucial role in bolstering a corporation’s case.
Expert Testimony and Consultation
In addition to their investigative skills, private investigators can also provide expert testimony and consultation in promissory estoppel cases. Their extensive knowledge of investigative procedures, legal requirements, and industry practices allows them to offer valuable insights and guidance to legal teams. Private investigators can help attorneys understand the complexities of the case, interpret the evidence gathered, and provide strategic advice on presenting a compelling argument in court.
Hire a PI Today
In investigations involving promissory estoppel and potential failure to meet terms of a business agreement, private investigators can be an invaluable asset to corporations seeking all available information to build a robust case. Through their expertise in uncovering hidden information, gathering witness testimony, retrieving and analyzing documents, conducting surveillance, and providing expert consultation, private investigators enhance a corporation’s ability to present compelling evidence and establish the validity of their claims. By leveraging the skills of private investigators, corporations can navigate complex legal scenarios with confidence, ensuring that justice is served and contractual obligations are upheld.
When you’re at the helm of an enterprise in motion, it might not seem that a missing stapler could derail you, but what if this tiny example of employee theft is just the tip of the iceberg? In truth, a steady drift of office supplies should be seen as stark waves of warning—because they are a measurable metric for the health of your corporate culture.
Yes, someone raiding the supply closet might not seem like a serious form of employee theft, but don’t be fooled. When culture in the workplace begins to erode, it often marks a beginning of a steady slide into more troubled waters ahead. If you want to avoid future woes such as inventory losses, malingering, embezzlement, and fraud, then this article is for you. Let’s look at the facts.
Why Small-Scale Employee Theft Requires a Serious Response
While its true that missing office supplies can be the handiwork of a single trouble-making employee who slipped through the net of your recruitment screening process, it is important to ask yourself: might it suggest that there is a problem with your wider organizational culture?
Perhaps you’re a whiz at spotting employees engaged in the act of petty theft—you might even enjoy apprehending them. However, if you’ve come to expect their presence and encounter them frequently, then you are accustomed to an unnecessary reality. In fact, not only is it unnecessary, but you also have to wonder, what is the accumulated value of all of those drifting supplies? What if employees comfortable with stealing are finding other ways to rob you of your assets? Perhaps most poignantly, what will this be doing to the morale of your honest employees—are you losing high-caliber talent because your company culture has soured?
Fixing Corporate Culture to Eliminate Employee Theft
Sure, some people feel entitled to steal from the get-go, but in many cases, this behavior didn’t manifest in a vacuum. Employees who feel disgruntled in one way or another can often slide into feeling that the company owes them recompense. This might be due to poor leadership attitudes, an unhealthy cliquey environment, being overlooked too many times for advancement without understanding why, or feeling stressed and overstretched by unrealistic expectations and a lack of work-life balance—to name but a few examples.
Making matters more complicated, as soon as a company grows beyond a small team, it becomes increasingly challenging for the central leadership team to keep tabs on culture as it evolves. At times, it is the most trusted and long-serving managers who are unwittingly dropping spanners between the gears, while at others, a bad hire can become a bad apple that rots much of the barrel before being identified. This is exactly why those little office supply losses should be viewed as a canary in the coal mine.
If you’re lucky, then company culture breakdown is in its earliest stages and you can course-correct immediately. If you are less fortunate, you’ll at least be able to uncover serious problems and stop financial losses before they get any worse. In either case, a Corporate Culture Audit is an excellent place to start.
We Can Help
This savvy service from Lauth Investigations International will afford you a birds-eye view of your organization’s inner workings. Once armed with the facts, you can explore following our guidance on how to enhance the health of your corporate culture, launch fully supported investigations into any employee misconduct discovered, and eliminate any procedural vulnerabilities to minimize future risk. Are you ready to learn more? Then connect with our corporate investigations team today and lets get those office supplies back where they belong.
