Year: 2020

Conflict can be defined in many ways and can be considered as an expression of hostility, negative attitudes, antagonism, aggression, rivalry and misunderstanding. It is also associated with situations that involve contradictory or irreconcilable interests between two opposing groups.

A few definitions of conflict are as given below:

“A simple definition of conflict is that it is any tension which is experienced when one person perceives that one’s needs or desires are or are likely to be thwarted or frustrated.” Follett simply defines conflict as, “the appearance of difference, difference of opinions, of interests.”

Chung and Megginson define conflict as, “the struggle between incompatible or struggling needs, wishes, ideas, interests or people. Conflict arises when individuals or groups encounter goals that both parties cannot obtain satisfactorily.”

According to David L. Austin, “It can be defined as a disagreement between two or more individuals or groups, with each individual or group trying to gain acceptance of its view or objectives over others.”

Louis R. Pondy has given a very comprehensive definition of conflict.

According to him the term conflict is used in four ways in the literature to describe:

(i) Antecedent conditions of conflictual behaviour such as scarcity of resources or policy differences.

(ii) Affective states of individuals involved such as stress, tension, hostility, anxiety etc.

(iii) Cognitive state of individuals, that is their perception or awareness of conflictual situation.

(iv) Conflictual behaviour ranging from passive resistance to over aggression.

Thus, we can say that fighting, hostility and controversy, all of which can be called conflict, are nearly every day fare for individuals and groups, although they are not always evident. It is an absolutely predictable social phenomenon and it should be channeled to useful purposes.

Features of Conflict

A state of conflict is characterized by the following features:

1. It arises when two or more individuals or groups think differently.
2. It is caused by different perceptions that different individuals hold about the same object or goal. While A thinks a course of action is right, B does not hold the same opinion. This leads to conflict of opinion on the same subject.
3. It usually arises because of scarcity of resources. When people compete for scarce resources, they hold different views about how best they can utilise those resources to achieve the organizational goals.

Philosophy of Conflict

The concept of conflict has evolved over a period of time from classical philosophy of conflict to interactionist philosophy. There are three approaches on how management views conflict.

These are:

1. Classical approach

According to this approach, management views conflict as bad and destructive for organizational performance. Conflict of opinion meant to result in anger and resentment. This creates disorder in the organization and effects its smooth functioning.

Conflict was, thus, dysfunctional (negative) in nature. If there was conflict in the organizational interest and individual interest, it gave importance to organizational interest as individual interest is considered subordinate to organizational interest (as advocated by Fayol). Conflict is thus, destructive as it cannot bind the management and workers together.

Management should, therefore, design organization structure in a manner that everyone understands the policies and rules clearly. Authority-responsibility structure should be well-defined so that everyone knows his limits of discretion. This would lead to quick resolution of conflict, if at all it arises.

2. Human relations approach

This is also known as the behaviouralists approach to conflict. While the classical approach views that organizations should not have conflict at all, the human relations approach assumes that conflict is unavoidable. It is bound to happen because of differences in opinion and perception amongst individuals.

As conflict cannot be avoided, it should be resolved in a friendly way. Conflict, thus, naturally occurs in all organizations but should be resolved for the benefit of the organization and individuals.

3. Interactionist approach

While the human relations approach accepts that conflict is inevitable and, therefore, acceptable, the interactionist approach takes a broader view of conflict. It encourages conflict in the organization as conflict promotes diverse opinions and beliefs. This promotes new ideas and easy adaptability to environmental changes.

Conflicts keep the group members lively in discussions and creative in idea generation. Thus, conflict is promoted as it promotes organizational performance.

Causes of Conflict

Conflicts arise due to the following reasons:

1. Differences in perception

Differences in perceptions, values and attitudes of individuals or groups over the same problem leads to interpersonal or intergroup conflicts. For example, one group of individuals may want that all employees use HP computers to maintain standardisation while another group may promote different brands of computers to maintain individuality. Differences in views lead to conflicts.

2. Excessive competition

Organizational resources (men, material, money, space etc.) are scarce and each unit wants maximum share of it. Competition amongst units for maximum share of resources leads to conflict.

3. Differences in goals

Different goals of individuals or groups leads to conflict amongst them. In order to maximize profits, production department may want to produce limited varieties in large volume so that costs are minimized. Sales department, on the other hand, may feel that selling products of different sizes, colours and models can increase sales and, thus, minimize costs. Differences in group goals leads to conflict between the two. It may even affect the quality of products.

4. Interdependence of tasks

When work is passed from one unit to the other, interdependence amongst units can lead to conflict. Output of first unit becomes input of second unit. If first unit fails to process its work on time, the second unit will have to wait and stay idle till it receives the process. This can cause inter-group conflict.

5. Habit patterns

Some people like to argue and debate. They enjoy conflict as a matter of habit. It acts as a motivator for them to improve their performance.

6. Personal characteristics

When group members differ in work attitudes, age, education, temperament and status levels, the potential for inter-group conflict is high.

7. Ill defined authority: responsibility relationships

When authority and responsibility of individuals and groups is not properly defined, people do not understand each other’s role. There is lack of consistency in work activities and communication distortions take place. This becomes a source for inter-group conflict.

The definition of conflict exists in the struggle among varying and opposing forces – it is this conflict that drives a story forward. Conflict examples in literature include man vs. society or man vs. nature. Conflict in your office works similarly to conflict in literature, but instead halts forward progress. It can increase anxiety and tension between staff and managers. As anxiety and tension increase, productivity often slows. It is imperative for every business leader to understand how conflict arises in the office, and what can be done to effectively manage it and keep everyone on staff working efficiently with the least amount of anxiety or tension.

Conflict is classified into the following four types:

1. Interpersonal Conflict

Interpersonal conflict refers to a conflict between two individuals. This occurs typically due to how people are different from one another. We have varied personalities which usually results to incompatible choices and opinions. Apparently, it is a natural occurrence which can eventually help in personal growth or developing your relationships with others. In addition, coming up with adjustments is necessary for managing this type of conflict. However, when interpersonal conflict gets too destructive, calling in a mediator would help so as to have it resolved.

2. Intrapersonal Conflict

Intrapersonal Conflict occurs within an individual. The experience takes place in the person’s mind. Hence, it is a type of conflict that is psychological involving the individual’s thoughts, values, principles and emotions. Interpersonal conflict may come in different scales, from the simpler mundane ones like deciding whether or not to go organic for lunch to ones that can affect major decisions such as choosing a career path. Furthermore, this type of conflict can be quite difficult to handle if you find it hard to decipher your inner struggles. It leads to restlessness and uneasiness, or can even cause depression. In such occasions, it would be best to seek a way to let go of the anxiety through communicating with other people. Eventually, when you find yourself out of the situation, you can become more empowered as a person. Thus, the experience evoked a positive change which will help you in your own personal growth.

3. Intragroup Conflict

Intragroup conflict is a type of conflict that happens among individuals within a team. The incompatibilities and misunderstandings among these individuals lead to an intragroup conflict. It is arises from interpersonal disagreements (e.g. team members have different personalities which may lead to tension) or differences in views and ideas (e.g. in a presentation, members of the team might find the notions presented by the one presiding to be erroneous due to their differences in opinion). Within a team, conflict can be helpful in coming up with decisions which will eventually allow them to reach their objectives as a team. However, if the degree of conflict disrupts harmony among the members, then some serious guidance from a different party will be needed for it to be settled.

4. Intergroup conflict

Intergroup conflict takes place when a misunderstanding arises among different teams within an organization. For instance, the sales department of an organization can come in conflict with the customer support department. This is due to the varied sets of goals and interests of these different groups. In addition, competition also contributes for intergroup conflict to arise. There are other factors which fuel this type of conflict. Some of these factors may include a rivalry in resources or the boundaries set by a group to others which establishes their own identity as a team.

Conflict may seem to be a problem to some, but this isn’t how conflict should be perceived. On the other hand, it is an opportunity for growth and can be an effective means of opening up among groups or individuals. However, when conflict begins to draws back productivity and gives way to more conflicts, then conflict management would be needed to come up with a resolution.

Everything you need to know about the causes of organizational conflict. Conflict is a psychological state of mind when people are in a state of dilemma whether to do or not to do a thing.

In organizational conflict, it may imply difference of opinion with persons or groups and sometimes they manage to show down and slow down other and plan strategies for that.

Conflict is an essential fact of organizational life. In fact, the very nature of an organization guarantees the emergence of conflict.

Firstly, organizations consist of people with divergent personalities, perceptions, and values. Secondly, these people are put on jobs with contrasting features that impart unequal degrees of status and frequently foster competition.

Some of the causes of organizational conflicts are:

1. Inter-Relation-Dependence of Departments

In a business organization various activities / functions are divided into various departments. There is a specialization work and there is inter relationship and interdependency of department, the departmental executives have to interact and communicate each other on variety of matters for the attainment of organizational objectives.

During this process there are the chances of difference of opinion, disagree on some matters, clashes friction and all this ultimately resulted into the conflicts which harmful to the organization.

2. Due to Scarcity or Limited Resources

Wherever the resources are limited every departmental head trying to get maximum resources their respective departments and this may give rise to conflict. Moreover if there is unequal distribution of resources, conflict may be arisen. Even if there is any error is made distribution of resources indifferent operative areas may give rise to organizational conflict.

3. Ambiguous Objectives and Goals

If the organizational objectives and goals are not clear cut and easily understandable conflict may arise and obstruct the smooth flow of work.

4. Individual Difference

Very individual is differ from the other individual. Every employee possess a different personality traits and characteristic or features. This ultimately resulted in behaviour, conduct and attitude of the employees and may give rise to organizational conflict. Individual differences is one of the main causes of the conflict.

5. Absence of Time Management

For smooth running of organization and timely attainment of objectives, makes the organization profitable. If proper schedules are maintained for various activities the developmental executives may try to shift their responsibilities on one another and start blaming one another it gives rise to conflicts among departments.

6. Lack of Accurate Forecasting of Eventualities

In modern times changes are taking place very fast in and around the business concern. The environment changes are indispensable and unavoidable in the world. If there is lack of accurate predictions of coming eventualities may give rise to conflicts in the organization. The adverse effects these eventualities creates, problems tension, clashes, friction, and conflicts among the people working in an organization.

7. Employees Dissatisfaction

The employees may be dissatisfied due to number of reasons such as wrong placement, no promotion, poor wages and salaries, lack of leadership and motivation, demotion, transfer, changes in duties or responsibilities, unhealthy working conditions, lack of welfare facilities etc. Such conditions depressed the employers. The stress, strain, tension, depression, frustration will be found among the employees at work place causes conflicts for other organizations.

8. Poorly Defined Responsibilities, Authority and Role

If the duties, responsibilities and authority of the employee is poorly defined, chaos and disorder may occur in the organization. If the role of the employee is also not clear, the role conflict is likely to occur.

9. Undesirable Demands of Trade Union / Workers

One of the leading causes of organizational conflict is undesirable, unjustifiable demands of organizational conflict between the management and workers.

10. Lack of Communication

If there is no proper communication between the employees definitely it gives rise to conflict among the employees. In the absence of proper communication network, misunderstanding, confusion doubts may be created in the mind of the employees which ultimately resulted into organizational conflicts.

11. Poorly Defined System of Payment

The poorly defined system of wage and salary payment is one of the leading cause of conflicts among the employees at workplace.

12. Lack of Discipline and Rules and Regulation

If there is no code of discipline, and formal rules and regulation for leaves, promotion, transfer, training, demotion, holidays may give the scope for chaos and disorder, irregularities, indiscipline among the employees which give rise to organizational conflict.

13. Faulty Performance Appraisal and Reward System

If there is faulty or defective performance appraisal and reward system is adopted, it definitely give rise to conflict among the employees and management.

14. Poor, Imbalanced Authority / Power Distribution

Whenever there is imbalance between authority and responsibility of the executives as well as employees give rise to conflicts. Moreover if there is authority hierarchy is not properly maintained there are chances of conflicts. The executives who gets more power may misuse it and conflicting situations may be arise.

People deal with conflict in a variety of ways, therefore you need different conflict resolution strategies.

We at Participation Company spend a lot of time talking about conflict resolution through active listening and training people to resolve conflict using a variety of strategies. This is how the Thomas-Kilmann measurement instrument and their five conflict resolution strategies came to our attention.

Kenneth Thomas and Ralph Kilmann developed five conflict resolution strategies that people use to handle conflict, including avoiding, defeating, compromising, accommodating, and collaborating.

This is based on the assumption that people choose how cooperative and how assertive to be in a conflict. It suggests that everyone has preferred ways of responding to conflict, but most of us use all methods under various circumstances. It is helpful to understand the five methods, particularly when you want to move a group forward.

Conflict Resolution Strategy 1: Avoiding

Avoiding is when people just ignore or withdraw from the conflict. They choose this method when the discomfort of confrontation exceeds the potential reward of resolution of the conflict. While this might seem easy to accommodate for the facilitator, people aren’t really contributing anything of value to the conversation and may be withholding worthwhile ideas. When conflict is avoided, nothing is resolved.

Conflict Resolution Strategy 2: Competing

Competing is used by people who go into a conflict planning to win. They’re assertive and not cooperative. This method is characterized by the assumption that one side wins and everyone else loses. It doesn’t allow room for diverse perspectives into a well informed total picture. Competing might work in sports or war, but it’s rarely a good strategy for group problem solving.

Debra wrote an illuminating article on how conflict resolution failure can lead to revolution. It’s what can happen when people feel like they aren’t being listened to and start being assertive.

Conflict Resolution Strategy 3: Accommodating

Accommodating is a strategy where one party gives in to the wishes or demands of another. They’re being cooperative but not assertive. This may appear to be a gracious way to give in when one figures out s/he has been wrong about an argument. It’s less helpful when one party accommodates another merely to preserve harmony or to avoid disruption. Like avoidance, it can result in unresolved issues. Too much accommodation can result in groups where the most assertive parties commandeer the process and take control of most conversations.

Conflict Resolution Strategy 4: Collaborating

Collaborating is the method used when people are both assertive and cooperative. A group may learn to allow each participant to make a contribution with the possibility of co-creating a shared solution that everyone can support.

A great way to collaborate and overcome conflict is to reach out and touch them.

Conflict Resolution Strategy 5: Compromising

Another strategy is compromising, where participants are partially assertive and cooperative. The concept is that everyone gives up a little bit of what they want, and no one gets everything they want. The perception of the best outcome when working by compromise is that which “splits the difference.” Compromise is perceived as being fair, even if no one is particularly happy with the final outcome.

The practices, principles, policies and values of an organization form its culture. The culture of an organization decides the way employees behave amongst themselves as well as the people outside the organization.

Types of organization culture

1. Normative Culture

In such a culture, the norms and procedures of the organization are predefined and the rules and regulations are set as per the existing guidelines. The employees behave in an ideal way and strictly adhere to the policies of the organization. No employee dares to break the rules and sticks to the already laid policies.

2. Pragmatic Culture

In a pragmatic culture, more emphasis is placed on the clients and the external parties. Customer satisfaction is the main motive of the employees in a pragmatic culture. Such organizations treat their clients as Gods and do not follow any set rules. Every employee strives hard to satisfy his clients to expect maximum business from their side.

3. Academy Culture

Organizations following academy culture hire skilled individuals. The roles and responsibilities are delegated according to the back ground, educational qualification and work experience of the employees. Organizations following academy culture are very particular about training the existing employees. They ensure that various training programmes are being conducted at the workplace to hone the skills of the employees. The management makes sincere efforts to upgrade the knowledge of the employees to improve their professional competence. The employees in an academy culture stick to the organization for a longer duration and also grow within it. Educational institutions, universities, hospitals practice such a culture.

4. Baseball team Culture

A baseball team culture considers the employees as the most treasured possession of the organization. The employees are the true assets of the organization who have a major role in its successful functioning. In such a culture, the individuals always have an upper edge and they do not bother much about their organization. Advertising agencies, event management companies, financial institutions follow such a culture.

5. Club Culture

Organizations following a club culture are very particular about the employees they recruit. The individuals are hired as per their specialization, educational qualification and interests. Each one does what he is best at. The high potential employees are promoted suitably and appraisals are a regular feature of such a culture.

6. Fortress Culture

There are certain organizations where the employees are not very sure about their career and longevity. Such organizations follow fortress culture. The employees are terminated if the organization is not performing well. Individuals suffer the most when the organization is at a loss. Stock broking industries follow such a culture.

7. Tough Guy Culture

In a tough guy culture, feedbacks are essential. The performance of the employees is reviewed from time to time and their work is thoroughly monitored. Team managers are appointed to discuss queries with the team members and guide them whenever required. The employees are under constant watch in such a culture.

8. Bet your company Culture

Organizations which follow bet your company culture take decisions which involve a huge amount of risk and the consequences are also unforeseen. The principles and policies of such an organization are formulated to address sensitive issues and it takes time to get the results.

9. Process Culture

As the name suggests the employees in such a culture adhere to the processes and procedures of the organization. Feedbacks and performance reviews do not matter much in such organizations. The employees abide by the rules and regulations and work according to the ideologies of the workplace. All government organizations follow such a culture.

Functions of Organizational Culture

1. The first function of culture is that it has a Boundary-Defining role which means that culture helps to create distinctions between one organization and others.
2. Culture helps to create a sense of identity for the organization members.
3. Culture facilitates the generation of commitment to something larger the than one’s individual self interest. Culture encourages the members of the organization to give priority to organizational interests over and above their personal interests.
4. Culture enhances the Social System Stability. Culture is also known as the social glue that helps to hold the organization together by providing appropriate standards for what employees should say and do. It provides a list of social do’s and don’ts for the employees.
5. Culture finally, serves as a sense making and control mechanism that guides and shapes the attitudes and behaviours of employees. This function is particularly important in the study of organizational behaviour. Every organization has its own set of assumptions, understandings and implicit rules to guide the day to day behaviour of the employees. The newcomers will be accepted as fully fledged members of the organization only when they learn to obey these rules. Conformity to the rules is generally the primary basis for rewards and promotions.

Thus, culture is beneficial to the organization as it enhances organizational commitment and increases the consistency of employee behaviour. Culture is beneficial to the employee also as it reduces ambiguity. Employees become very clear as to how things are to be done and what is more important for the organization.

Change is one of few certainties in our work lives. Regardless of industry, company size, or leadership team experience, your team or organization is bound to experience several major transitions.  If you are in a leadership role, you are in a unique position to anticipate and plan for change so as to maximize its benefits and mitigate disruption in your organization.  Why does this matter?  Because research tells us that initiatives with excellent change management are six times more likely to meet objectives than those with poor change management.  Just increasing your change management rating from “poor” to “fair” means you are three times more likely to meet objectives.

Below are six common barriers to effective organizational culture

1. Individual Change Resistance

Most people don’t enjoy change.  The status quo tends to be more convenient and comfortable, so our resistance to a new process, strategy or organizational structure (no matter how logical or promising) is almost inevitable.  Part of our human nature involves us being very sensitive to certain kinds of perceived threats in our social environment, which by extension includes our workplace.  Harvard Business Review outlines ten reasons why individuals tend to resist change:

• Loss of control, especially over processes that have been built up over time.
• Excess uncertainty, which we seek to avoid at all costs.
• Surprise changes with little to no room for mental preparation.
• Changes to everyday work habits and routines.
• Loss of face, particularly for those who have built their reputation on the status quo.
• Concerns about competence as it relates to the new environment.
• More work, especially in the transition period.
• Ripple effects, as the change begins to affect other departments and even customers.
• Past resentments that can spring up against the person responsible for or affecting the change.
• True risks, to both your team’s happiness and livelihood.

Addressing these perceived threats at both an individual, as well as the team and organizational levels, is key to successful change management.

2. Lack of Communication

At its core, successful organizational change is really a successful communication exercise.  In fact, one study found that the single biggest reason for organizational failure to successfully implement any kind of change is “clear and frequent communication.”  When combined with your team’s natural resistance for change outlined above, this barrier makes sense. In fact, every single one of the 10 reasons for individual change resistance can least be partially mitigated through intentional and proactive communication.

Communication should take center stage in both the planning and implementation phases of change management.   Whenever a project or new direction is planned, communication should begin before its actual implementation or execution. Set clear expectations, communicate potential timelines, and report organizational progress to plan at regular intervals.  During unplanned or crisis-driven change, keeping everyone on the same page is just as critical. In a recent article, the Harvard Business Review outlined additional strategies to communicate effectively during times of intense organizational change.

3. Lack of Strategic Direction

Communication is key but will be unsuccessful if it lacks direction or a cohesive message. From the moment you begin to plan or implement any type of organizational change, first clarify your objectives.  Think of your objectives as the roadmap that will guide you to your intended destination.  Ideally, your change management strategy should include the following five components:

• An overarching goal or intended outcome of the process.
• Clear, measurable objectives related to the overall outcome.
• An estimated timeline of achieving your objectives.
• Regular benchmarks or check-ins to evaluate your progress toward goal.
• An outline of strategic communication to keep everyone involved on the same page.

With the right strategy, you will improve your chances of getting buy in so staff are more likely to take a productive vs. disruptive role in the change process.

4. Lack of Consistency

We all experience it, and we can all become frustrated by it. Cognitive dissonance describes what happens when your ideas, beliefs, or behaviors contradict each other. You see an ad, but the product doesn’t deliver on its promises. You experience one of your role models commit an unethical act. You hear great things about organizational change, but all you can see is the increased workload it will bring you for the next six months.

During organizational change or transition, some cognitive dissonance is inevitable. Your team will experience an initial increase in their workload and painfully discover many ways in which the new way of doing things (such as a new business software platform) is actually more time consuming or initially cumbersome than the old one.  If the gap between the perceived benefits of the change and the real work it will take to accomplish change is too long or too great, progress stalls and problems can arise.

Observing positive benefits that were promised actually materialize helps to generate buy-in on and maintain energy for change on behalf of your employees. That’s why planning so you can achieve a few early “wins” and then reinforce them frequently through communication, is so important to a successful change process.

Encourage your implementation team to speak out. Left alone, contradictions between hoped for benefits and lived reality will fester and cause resentment, which in turn will undermine the change. Then, align your communication with expectations to make sure that people experience as much consistency between their expectations and actual outcomes as possible.

5. Cultural Barriers

As soon as a project involves or affects multiple people from diverse groups, cultural barriers can emerge.  For example, if your organization is geographically dispersed, it is likely that people working in different regions will disagree not only on the impact of the change itself, but also regarding the “right” way to go about implementing it.  The often-cited 6-D Model of National Cultures by Gert Hofstede offers some insight into ways in which people in from various cultures may differ in how they perceive the world and approach their work.  Various sub-cultures within your organization can have similar effects on whether or not your change management process will be successful.

Overcoming cultural barriers to change management requires an in-depth understanding of who all the stakeholders in a change process are and what they care most about.  Frequent communication, proportional representation within your implementation team, and upward feedback channels are key to managing change in a way that integrates instead of alienating diverse groups of stakeholders within your organization.

6. Lack of (Perceived) Leadership Buy-In

The old cliché that states, “change starts at the top but happens at the bottom” still rings true.  Few organizational changes are successful without strong support and sponsorship from people at the highest levels of the organization.  Here, perception is key. You might have the necessary buy-in from the CEO, but that matters little if front line employees don’t actually know about it. Wherever possible, involve top leadership in high visibility activities that range from all staff kickoff meetings to regular small group feedback sessions. The more active and visible your organizational leaders are throughout the change process, the better.  Ideally, everyone in management should be involved in the change and actively sponsoring it.

Companies with impressive employee retention rates and high employee satisfaction levels, all have one thing in common they understand the importance of a strong workplace culture. They also know that you must truly invest in your people if you want to get the best out of them.

A poor workplace culture could actually end up costing an employer money, as it could result in absenteeism, employee stress, poor health and a high turnover of staff.  Therefore, working hard to achieve a good culture is not only beneficial for those you employ, it’s also good for the productivity of your business.

These things are easy to talk about, but often less easy to achieve. So, what does a good company culture actually look like?

Responsive to employee needs

Aside from salary and pension schemes, employees have become increasingly interested in ‘lifestyle benefits’ that respond to their personal circumstances and aid a healthier work/life balance. These can include things such as flexitime working, work from home options and study days.

Ongoing development

Does your company promote continuous employee growth and development? It’s important for an employee know their employer is invested in their personal and professional development take the necessary steps to do so. Promoting a culture of continuous development can be done so by developing mentoring schemes or training days.

Social calendar

A good balance of social interaction alongside business activity is good for morale. A healthy calendar of social events outside of the office can help instigate inter-team bonding as well as creating a buoyant atmosphere.

Open, honest feedback

Employers need to create an open culture that allows employees at every level to share their ideas, suggestions and concerns. With structured feedback strategies in place, employers can then monitor employee satisfaction levels and help alleviate issues as they arise.

A little extra

Alongside the more traditional benefits, employees usually respond well to other smaller, more personalised perks – such as free breakfast, early Friday finish or a charity partnership that’s chosen by employees.

Innovative approach

This applies to the innovative ways in which the company conducts business, but also the way it engages with its staff. Is your company striving to be a thought-leader in its sector? Do employees have the chance to attend industry events to keep up with the latest trends and advancements in their field? Do they feel able to incorporate new ideas and technology into their work?

Committed leadership

A great workplace needs buy-in from all team members – but particularly from those at management level. Clear, committed and inclusive leadership will be an essential component in maintaining a great company culture. Make sure the leaders in your organisation understand the culture and are able to effectively communicate and uphold it.