The culture of a workplace is vital to attract and retain talent and deliver on business objectives, but all too often it can be left on the back burner as operational demands take priority – glossed over as ‘fluffy’ or a ‘nice to have’.
Recently at Zadro, we implemented a program to proactively foster our culture; all too aware how important a healthy, happy workplace is to make Zadro an environment we all enjoy coming to each day, while delivering our best for our clients.
Anyone who knows Felicity Zadro will know that people are her passion, whether it’s her team in the office, her clients or any of the many stakeholders that she engages with. The culture of Zadro is dear to Felicity’s heart and the wellbeing of her team is something that crosses her mind every single day.
There’s a lot of literature available about the importance of culture and the impact it can have on the performance of an organisation. The benefits of nurturing a positive culture are far-reaching and can impact a business in so many ways, both qualitative and quantitative.
Some beautiful, food-for-thought quotes about the importance and impact of culture in the workplace:
Customers will never love a company until the employees love it first.
– Simon Sinek, Author of Start with Why
To win in the marketplace, you must first win in the workplace.
– Douglas Conant, Conant Leadership
I used to believe that culture was ‘soft’ and had little bearing on our bottom line. What I believe today is that our culture has everything to do with our bottom line, now and into the future.
– Vern Dosch, Author of Wired Differently with Wally Goulet and Tracy Finneman
At Zadro we recognise that the culture and wellbeing are not solely the responsibility of Felicity and the Zadro management team – we know that everyone can contribute to the office in a positive manner. As such, our first step was to find out what the Zadro team think with an internal survey!
A survey is a great way to confirm what we hypothesize the team is thinking or feeling, is in fact accurate, or, bring to the surface feelings to the contrary. It also gives the team a chance to have their say, feel they are heard, and participate in creating a workplace they want to be a part of.
Our survey also addressed the wellbeing of the team to ensure we are creating a mentally healthy workplace; incorporating learnings from a recent Institute of Managers and Leaders, Creating a Mentally Healthy Workplace breakfast workshop. The benefits of a mentally healthy workplace can be seen at individual, organisation and financial levels and include: improved productivity, increased staff engagement, lower staff turnover, and preferred employer status with current and potential employees.
The Zadro team are excited to proactively nurture our culture and continue to deliver the work for our clients that we take so much pride in, while we have a good time doing it.
If you’re interested in finding out a bit more about how you could review and potentially improve your own workplace culture, don’t be shy, get in touch with us for a chat!
Zadro on tour in the Hunter Valley!