Company culture is an important part of every organisation, it means creating a healthy workplace that encourages people to share ideas, feel accepted and able to express themselves and grow their skills and abilities. It means guidance and growth for the individual. It means teamwork.
The right company culture can help employees stay motivated and engaged. Language is a big part of creating the right environment and strong, considerate leaders need to encourage positive conversation and exchanges between teams and management. In his recent article 11 Things Smart People Won’t Say Dr. Travis Bradberry, Co-author of Emotional Intelligence 2.0 and President at TalentSmart, outlines eleven things that should never be said around the office.
“This is the way it’s always been done”
Technology-fueled change is happening so fast that even a six-month-old process could be outdated. Saying "this is the way it’s always been done" not only makes you sound lazy and resistant to change, but it could make your boss wonder why you haven’t tried to improve things on your own. If you really are doing things the way they’ve always been done, there’s almost certainly a better way.
“It’s not my fault”
It’s never a good idea to cast blame. Be accountable. If you had any role—no matter how small—in whatever went wrong, own it. If not, offer an objective, dispassionate explanation of what happened. Stick to the facts, and let your boss and colleagues draw their own conclusions about who’s to blame.
The moment you start pointing fingers is the moment people start seeing you as someone who lacks accountability for their actions. This makes people nervous. Some will avoid working with you altogether, and others will strike first and blame you when something goes wrong.
While these are important pointers for staff members, managers need to create a work environment in which staff are confident to own up to their mistakes and invest in furthering their talent. Only a motivated employee who feels appreciated and secure within their job is going to deliver the right outcome and will be able to approach every task with a positive attitude and an open mind. To find out more about what language shouldn’t be heard around the office head to Dr Travis Bradberry’s full article here.
And if you're wondering if your marketing is as healthy as your company culture, take the test below and find out. Your marketing team will thank you.
