How to Run a Workplace Culture Workshop That Benefits Your Bottom Line

If you're looking to hire the best people for your company (and keep them around for a long time), you must foster a positive and supportive workplace culture.

Not sure how to assess or improve your company culture? Consider running an organizational culture workshop.

Here’s everything you need to know about how to run a culture workshop that works.

What Is a Culture Workshop?

A company culture workshop is a learning opportunity for everyone in your company.

This type of workshop aims to cast vision, set goals, elevate company values, and help individuals understand how their unique roles play into the company’s mission-driven purpose. 

A workplace culture workshop also establishes standards for the kinds of behaviors that aren't acceptable at work.

Benefits of a Workplace Culture Workshop

We can list plenty of reasons why you should consider hosting a workplace culture workshop, but we’ve narrowed it down. Even if you don't think there are any problems with your company's current culture, there's a good chance you and your team have room to learn and improve.

Here are some of the top benefits you can expect from an organizational culture workshop.

Address and Avoid Toxic Behavior

Approximately 29 percent of workers said that their workplace culture either needs improvement or is downright toxic. Culture workshops help you and your team address toxic behaviors and prevent them from happening in the future.

Toxic Workplace Behaviors

• Workers are forming cliques and excluding colleagues.
• Higher-ups are showing favoritism and bias against certain workers.
• Gossiping.
• Employees fail to accept feedback or constructive criticism.
• Passive-aggressive communication.
• Managers don’t set clear expectations then yell at employees about poor performance.

You might not realize that these kinds of behaviors are taking place in your company, but they typically slide by behind the scenes. A workplace culture workshop helps you uncover potential problems, address them, and put rules and guidelines in place to create a more positive work environment.

Encourage Employees to Speak Up

Company culture workshops can be very encouraging for new-hires and frontline workers.

Employees don't always believe they can speak up about problems they notice or experience at work without a managerial title. They might also have a more challenging time fitting in, especially if new hires are the recipient of poor workplace behavior.

Hosting a culture workshop gives everyone a chance to speak up, address concerns, and acknowledges that everyone’s feedback matters. 

Close the Communication Gap

A well-run culture workshop can also serve as a bonding experience for employees and leaders. Most times, there’s a large communication gap between employees and managers, directly impacting employee engagement.

Managers become more than an aloof leader when they level with employees and solve issues together. An organizational-wide workshop provides a safe place for everyone to engage in healthy conversations to improve company culture. 

Boost Revenue

Forming a better workplace culture can also increase revenue, improve employee engagement, and elevate the customer experience. According to a study on how organizational culture impacts performance, an engaged company culture improves sales and customer satisfaction.

We’ve seen a return on investment from leadership development programs, and workplace culture programs can yield the same results. After all, if everyone is pursuing the same values, mission, and business goals, they will help your company move forward faster.

How to Run a Culture Workshop

Now that you’re aware of the benefits of engaging your teams in a culture workshop, how do you run one? What kind of organizational culture exercises should you use to make sure everyone's aligned?

Here are some tips to help you to run a workshop that provides a visible ROI.

Determine the Format and Scope

What kind of culture workshop do you want to run? How long will it be? Will it be hosted virtual or socially distanced? Is everyone in the company attending or certain teams? 

If possible, it's best if everyone can participate in the workshop to bridge the communication gap between C-level, management, and lower-level employees. Depending on your company’s size, you may need to divide participants into smaller groups, breakouts, or host several sessions to accommodate everyone's schedules. Do your best to intermingle teams and titles.

Plan Activities

What kind of corporate culture activities will you use to bring your team together? Here are some ideas for culture workshop activities that are effective and enjoyable:

• Ask workers to recite or describe the company's mission and values (if they can't, you know there's room for improvement).
• Create and share personal maps that outline each worker's values and goals.
• Play "Culture Crush" by asking employees to share desirable workplace cultures of other companies that they would like to see emulated at your organization.
• Nominate "Culture Stars" who uphold and emulate your company culture and celebrate them!

Address an “Issues List”

Make space in the workshop for addressing problems that negatively impact company culture. Be careful not to call out specific interpersonal issues between team members. Use underlying issues of past discord (e.g., gossip) to spark a positive conversation about changing negative norms in your company.

Ask workers to submit comments, questions, and concerns the day before. Then, identify common concerns into an “Issues List”  and brainstorm ways to resolve primary issues as part of the workshop.

Seek Feedback

Don't forget to ask for feedback when the workshop is over. Formulating a healthy and positive company culture means you’re willing to accept feedback, learn from your mistakes, and do better in the future.

Ask participants to fill out surveys or submit feedback through your LMS after the workshop. Take that information into account and use it to make your next culture workshop more effective.

Partner with Professionals to Plan Your Organizational Culture Workshop

If you're overwhelmed by the idea of creating and running a culture workshop, you don't have to do it alone. Unboxed Training & Technology offers off-the-shelf employee training programs that handle the heavy lifting of training your team. ReadySet Respect is prepped with five micro-learning courses, providing you with the resources you need for an optimal learning experience.

ReadySet Training equips you with action-oriented content that you can deploy today.

Do you need additional help with planning your culture change workshop? Contact our team to learn more about employee training programs and resources.