In order to deal with bad company culture, first you need to have an understanding of what actually is a bad culture within the company.
Searching out for job also requires to first know about the culture of the company so that you can be comfortable with the work culture of the company.
The culture of the company creates a huge impact on your day to day happenings.
Being able to identify when is the culture turning bad is one of the best skills that one can ever possess while working in a professional environment.
So, here are some of the signs that a company has a serious culture problem:
Signs that a Company has a Serious Culture Problem:
Here are some of the signs which will tell you that a company has a serious problem of work culture in it:
1. When the company beats about the bush:
Believe it, not every company can have a ping pong table at the same time.
The small scale companies might not have that so, if you are going for an interview in a small scale company, make sure what they say is all true to your and their knowledge.
The company might not have all the policies which otherwise they have been bragging about all through.
If you find the company is unnecessarily bragging about something then just do not believe it. This clearly gives the sign that the company certainly does not have a good work culture.
2. The place seems very dumb and dead:
If you enter the office and you find everything at a place, no working environment but the employees are sleeping and working in a lazy manner, then it means the culture of the office is not at all acceptable.
If the employees already working are actually sleeping than working then you can yourself very well understand that what wrong culture does it represents.
This type of culture in the office never lets you grow, in fact, it only takes you down to the zero levels from where rising becomes a lot more difficult.
So, if you find such a scenario in the office then it is better not to join such a company.
3. You have got gossips in your ranks:
Who do not like gossips, but certainly if these become part of the company’s culture, it creates difficulty for the employees to survive in the organization.
This is because the gossips only turn into the rumor which spoils the image of the employees.
So, make sure that you remain away from the gossipy environment because it would only tarnish your image than just adding more stars to it.
If you enter a company and you could find everyone having a different word then mind it, no one is clear and the company is running on the basis of the rumors.
If the employees within the company are not well aware of the changing rules or anything related to the company, then how can one expect others to have confidence in what the company is providing them?
4. Strange Interview Process:
The interviews in a company is a very important process as a wrong hire can cost the organization a lot of time and money. There are few companies in which the interview process is prolonged too much and that too without clear information. This surely gives hints that the interview process is totally unorganized and corrupted.
So joining in such a company would be big NO NO as they lack good work culture and structure. This is also a sign of a bad work culture.
5. Boredom and Unhappiness at work:
The work culture of the company should be happy and freshening only then the employees feel energetic and confident. Moreover having a refreshing work culture would impact the employee to work more efficiently and help in improving organizational productivity.
It also encourages employees to think creatively and work more smartly that could help them as well as the organization in a positive way. Now if any company lacks such traits, then surely its a sign that the company has a bad company culture.
6. Providing Perks won’t make culture good:
Providing extra perks to employees like refreshing rooms, snacks, and free lunches is a great way to reward and appreciate employees. But several employees internally suffer of heavy workload and torture from their bad managers.
Having such a negative phase inside the organization with external beautifying colors doesn’t sound good company culture. Moreover, it gives rise to bad work culture.
7. No Flexibility:
The relationship between employers and employees need to be professional but they also need to maintain a good understanding between each other.
Having a little flexibility at work at times when needed, proves to be very beneficial for the employees. This gives them a sense of gratitude and loyalty to the company. Lacking this feature is a sure sign of bad work culture.
8. Messy Office:
The one and sure-shot feature which hints about bad work culture is a messy and unstructured office. Working in a messy office will surely turn you lazy and unorganized in nature, no matter how good you are initially.
9. Office Cliques:
Even if you are not new in the organization, there are few teams or coworker groups which chill out together without even asking you. Your boss, your manger could also be part of it. Leaving you as an outsider alone will surely ruin your attitude toward work and the organization culture and this can affect your productivity as well.
Having good relationships, unbiased with almost everyone in the company happens only if your company supports good work culture.
10. Tough Competition:
Lack of nepotism and an unbiased way of selecting the candidate is very much important and necessary. Whenever there is a chance for promotion or any good opportunity, the equal chance should be given to all the employees, and the right procedure should be followed correctly so that worthy candidates could be benefitted. This is possible if that company does not possess a bad work culture.
11. A bully boss:
“Employees do not leave the organization but they leave their boss” is a famous quote which perfectly fits here. If your boss is too bossy in nature and is constantly mocking you every time, it is better you quit and leave such a toxic work culture.
12. No ideas or suggestions are considered from employees:
Accepting the feedback or advice from the employees is a good sign and always gives them a feeling of importance in the company. But if their ideas are not accepted and moreover disregarded then its a clear sign of bad working culture.
13. Broken Promises:
One of the usual traits of bad company culture is to make big promises and breaking them very easily whenever they want. Though identifying such companies takes time but ones you get them. It is better to quit them as soon as possible.
14. Lack of Process and Leadership:
If your company doesn’t have a proper leadership and process involved, then the achievement of goals and success of the company is merely impossible. This happens only when your company possess bad working culture
15. Employees hopping:
Employee hopings is a common sign of your company possessing bad or toxic work culture.
16. No proper Job Description:
To identify the work culture of the company, you can check their job description posted. Having an incomplete job description about the vacancy is a sure sign of bad work culture.
This clearly shows how irresponsible the company is and how lenient it is towards its hiring process. It shows how the work culture in the company would be.
17. No Praise:
Appreciation and praise are very valuable to employees. It helps them gain confidence and can boost their morale to work better and smarter.
Though they are paid enough for the work they do, appreciation acts as an extra perk. Lack of any praise or appreciation to the employee is a sure sign of bad work culture.
18. Over-Worked Employees:
If you are a hard-working and good employee then being in a bad work culture company will be very harmful to you. You will be given more responsibilities and made to work even without extra pay. The only best option would be to leave and join a company which respects you for the work you do.
19. Lack of Communication:
Communication is an important and essential medium in any workplace. Communication be it any form is very much essential and hold the key to your existence in the company. It helps you in teamwork, sharing experiences, learning things and interacting with your colleagues, managers, and bosses.
But most leaders or superiors of the company possessing bad work culture undermines communication a lot and do not encourage effective communication in the company.
20. Lack of Team Spirit:
As per Sarina Russo Job Access psychologist Tegan Charlton on Brisbane times, “You’ll see a decrease in team morale, when you walk into a toxic environment you might notice people don’t speak as nicely to people as they could”
Team spirit is an important trait of an effective and positive work culture. Lack of it among employees working in a company leads to bad work culture.
21. Hierarchy:
Hirecarchy is the biggest enemy of good and happy work culture. Every manager or senior should try to act as a leader than a bossy to maintain a good company culture.
22. Lesser pay and benefits:
Employees work very hard for the success of the company. If the company is able to grow big and reap profits, then it the responsibility of the company to make sure that their employees are paid well and given several benefits.
A company which possess good company work culture takes good care of its employees
23. Bad reputation:
One of the biggest and trusted source to know about the work culture of the company are the employees who are working in the company and the ex-employee of the company.
There are also several online sources that rates and post reviews about the organization based on public reviews. To understand better about the work culture of the company, go through them well.
Some Corporate Culture Problems:
Every company has some or the other issues and it is our duty to recognize it well so that the solution to the problem can be achieved in a positive manner.
So, here are some of the problems that corporate culture may possess at times.
1. Lack of respect for the employees:
If you find out that you are not being respected or any one of the employees is not getting the due respect then it is a clear sign which shows that the company does not offer the respect to its own insiders and if the individual is not respected, that place is simply not worth working in.
So, the lack of respect within the company also is one of the major signs which tells that the work culture is not enough to work within.
So, it would be your good choice in fact if you deny working in such an atmosphere.
2. No values:
The company is termed good when it has a healthy and a good work culture. The good work culture invites more and more skilled people but if the culture is not good no one wishes to work in such a company.
If you find the lack of values within the company then it clearly shows that the work culture is not at all suitable enough to work.
So, if there are no values within the company, then leaving it is indeed your good choice undoubtedly.
3. Lack of fairness in decisions:
If you find there is some partiality in taking decisions by the leaders of the company, its better not to go ahead with the same company to work.
You can opt to leave it out and search for some good company which offers a positive work culture. So, if the decisions weigh to one side only then it is not a good sign for the employees to work in such an environment.
Lack of fairness in the decisions is one thing that shows that the culture of the company is not balanced and the whole decisions are totally biased.
So, if you find a lack of fairness in decision making process then better not to work in such a company.
4. Not a healthy competition among the employees:
If the employees themselves do not work in a healthy competition then how can someone expect from others to keep a healthy environment.
It is not possible to work with a healthy and acceptable competition if the employees themselves do not share a common interest with each other.
So, if the work culture is not dominated by the healthy work environment then it certainly is not a right place for you to work in.
5. No employee’s friendly schemes:
If the employees are not happy working in a certain organization then it simply means that the work culture of the company is not at all good.
The employee-friendly schemes will attract more employees but if the company is not able to keep the employees happy with the new schemes and beneficiary policies for them then it certainly shows that the work culture of the company is not at all good and acceptable.
The company needs to have great working conditions so as to attract maximum of skilled workers. If not, then no one would like to provide his or her services to the company.
So, the company which has a friendly bent towards its employees is said to have a good culture as it is always said if the employees are happy the company will work in a happy and lucrative manner.
6. No cooperation among the employees themselves:
If you find the employees indulging into minute trifles then it means the employees do not cooperate with each other.
This shows a lack of unity among the employees of the company. In order to look at the work culture of any company, have a look at the manner in which the employees work with each other.
If they are cooperating with each other, means the company’s work environments is worth praising but if the internal environment of the company is not at peace, the work is not possible with the expected results.
Bad Company Culture Examples:
The bad company culture can be easily depicted by the above-given points, but how will you come to know that the company has a bad culture, is only by few ways or some of the examples given below.
If you find the following things while working in the company, it means the company certainly has a bad culture to work in.
1. The work is not delivered on time:
If the work done is always delayed and not delivered on time, it means that there is some glitch in the working of the company. Either there is a problem in the working style, or in the nature of working among the employees.
If the employees do not share the cooperation level among each other, the work of the company tends to fail without giving 100% result.
So, if you can see the clients getting angry over the company’s manager for the delayed work and also failing in giving the expected result then it certainly means that the work culture of the company is not at all good.
2. The remuneration is less than the work done:
If you are not getting the right amount of remuneration that you deserve, means the culture of the company you are working in is not at all acceptable.
No one would probably work in such a company where the employees are paid less than their worth and hard work they put in the work. This shows the company is exploiting the employees more by paying them fewer amounts.
So, if you find the remuneration is far less than the work done by you, just quit working in such company as it won’t help you grow by any chance.
This is one of the demotivating factors and it can only halt your growth in the company, which is not good for your professional growth.
Bad Company Culture and What To Do About It?
If you are facing a bad culture in the company, just make some efforts to solve them because at the end of the day no company is perfect whether it is a small scale company or a large scale company.
Here are some points that can help you how to work out with the bad culture and also what can be done to get rid of it:
1. Have a leadership quality:
If you are facing some biases in the decision-making process then you can take a charge and that can only be done by possessing leadership quality within yourself.
You need to take a charge for anything going wrong in the company. This is because if you fail to take a charge, you might have to be the sufferer which is not a good thing at the end of the day as it will only affect your potential growth.
2. Teach the employees cooperation:
The cooperative environment can help in solving the issues of the bad culture as the bad culture of the company only can let the skilled employees get out of it than staying in the company for a very long period of time.
So, if you find the culture of the company to be bad enough just, make sure you are stepping ahead to teach the employees the importance of cooperation. By this, not only you will be benefited but also the company at large will get lucrative results.
3. You may even quit working, as simple as that:
You may quit working in a company but you know what, not every company is perfect. So, instead of leaving the company just make sure you improve the condition and the working environment of the company instead of leaving it the same way.
You should take the company ahead as it not only will lead to the enhancement of your growth but also it will result in the growth of the company’s potential.
So, do not leave the company when you find something strange, instead talk and share your ideas to the management and everything will work as planned.
