A work culture incorporates certain values, beliefs, missions, goals, and personal attributes into the work environment and expectations. Of course, different kinds of businesses have different types of work cultures. For instance, large corporations, like McDonald’s, have a culture that emphasizes good customer service, fast paced production, and rigid employee policies. We can contrast this with a Ma and Pa business that treats their employees much more gently and on an individual basis. For example, a small business may let an employee come in late when their child has a bad morning.
Over many years of managing my support staff, I have developed a work culture that is between a Ma and Pa business and a large corporation. At the core of this unique culture is mutual respect for all of our personal lives and working together to achieve one major goal: To empower me to live a life of my own choosing in all aspects.
The following explains different concepts of the work culture here that have evolved over the years to diminish problems and promote individual growth.
A small number of employees:
- Since I only have 4-8 staffs, I appreciate and value each one of them. This shows, because I can give them pretty accommodating and consistent schedules, work on their individual employee goals with them, mentor them according to their future careers, and give them periodical raises based on their own merit.
- Although I require my staff to wear scrubs and tennis shoes, I enable them to express themselves through different colored hair, tattoos, body piercings, and LGBTQ orientations.
- It is true that everybody is required to perform a lot of the same duties, but I try to give everybody the opportunity to utilize their interests, talents, and personal quirks after I get to know my new staff.
- When I have spare time, I cultivate new learning moments for my staff. This can be based on their future careers and/or interests. I do my best to respect their personal life, by creating an accommodating and consistent schedule, contacting them only about work related issues, not becoming their friends, and not caring about what they do during their time off.
- I expect staff to actively respect the fact that all of the shifts have to always be covered regardless.
- Staff need to respect each other’s personal life by working all of their assigned shifts, pitching in with covering shifts when it’s needed, and not assuming that one particular staff will do it all.
- Staff always need to keep the primary goal in mind when working and considering asking for time off. This goal is to empower me to live a life of my own choosing in every aspect possible.
Core Values:
- We value and respect each other’s personal life.
- We value each other’s differences in cultures, religions, and sexual orientations.
- Although staff usually don’t work physically together, staff are expected to work together to cover hard-to-fill shifts when contacted about them. No need will be ignored, since this is disrespectful.
- This is a peaceful environment, so drama is kept down to a bare minimum.
- This is a thoughtful environment. We need to give it care in the ways we approach each other regarding challenges we may be having.
- We help each other as much as possible without going over (Enter name here) and/or my heads.
Analogy:
Although this job isn’t a family business, it has some similarities with Cake Boss on TLC. Carlos/ Bakery receives orders for cakes that are supposed to look like all sorts of things. These may have included a Viking ship, playground, circus, a tax preparer, cartoon character, photo album, and gingerbread house. The staff cannot choose what they will make, they must fill the orders to the best of their collective abilities. Frequently, one of two people can’t make a custom cake, so the individual bakers and artists need to come together and use their own talents and skills in order to create the cakes on them.
If someone calls in suddenly, the bakery is at risk of not delivering a cake on time. This is not only bad for business, but it negatively affects the event for which the cake is for. Imagine a fancy wedding without a wedding cake. I would think this would be awfully embarrassing and stressful for the bride and groom on the day that was supposed to be one of the happiest days of their life.
If you are thinking some of my work culture expectations and values are overly strict, think about all of the jobs that need absolutely reliable staff. There are surgical teams, people setting up events, flight crews, staff at our health clinic, restaurant staff, and thousands of other jobs that need employees to show up to work. This job is no different on that front.