The culture within an organisation is the most valuable intangible asset an organisation has. The workplace culture is a mix of leadership, values, beliefs, and behaviours that all contribute to create the atmosphere of how employees relate to each other and management. Organisation culture is often a set of unspoken rules around expectations for behaviour within a workplace. In short, culture could be described as the vibe of your organisation when it comes to work satisfaction, relationships, and career progression.

An organisation that has a culture that embraces on health and safety enhances employee well-being, increases job satisfaction, and maintains loyalty- all factors which lead to attracting, and retaining, great employees. In contrast a culture of mistrust will undermine the best laid plans for business growth and development, increase stress and create burnout.

Leaders demonstrating inappropriate or incongruent behaviours leads to mistrust which hinders effects to improve health and safety as employees are not comfortable to report hazards, seek support or engage in consultation. Workplaces that are profit driven, highly competitive, or critical, and tolerate harmful behaviours will undermine all other attempts to create physical and psychological safety at work. Furthermore, low morale leads to mistrust and negativity resulting in burnout and lowered performance. High employee turnover, lack of communication, cliques or gossip and low levels of enthusiasm could all be signs of a poor workplace culture.

Building a culture of trust through consistent actions and genuine care can take time, however, is well worth the investment. Ensure that all leaders are trained in evidence-based skills to create psychological safety, manage conflict effectively and not only engage in employee consultation but act on the feedback.

The infographic below provides a simple description of things to look out for and some tips for improving organisational culture – if you would like to use this at your workplace as a poster or share as an infographic you can download a high resolution print version below.

If you would like to talk with us about how HSE Global can help your organisation directly please get in touch!