Atlanta Culture Lab is dedicated to helping companies increase productivity by improving their employees’ lives. ACL is a forum that promotes workplace culture (people + place) as a way to drive productivity. We profile companies implementing innovative workplace design and HR policies. The content and case studies in this forum are intended to be a resource for metro-Atlanta companies looking for
ways to build or harness culture. ACL will offer inspiration and direction to help you create and implement culture. We want to help you connect the dots and explore the culture-centric space in Atlanta. Culture can be created…
There are many companies, from start-up to large-cap, who are not intentional about culture. Thus, there is an opportunity to plan and build culture from scratch. Culture can be harnessed…
Other companies have a culture that has naturally evolved and is unintentionally contributing to productivity in a good way. In this case culture can be promoted and harnessed to ensure that it continues to be a positive contributor to the organization. Understanding your culture:
Culture is a very nuanced environment. It is the product of people interacting in a specific setting over some period of time…people being the biggest variable. The biggest step towards understanding your culture is understanding what drives your core employees’ productivity. The personnel at an accounting firm might be driven by focus and adherence to a particular set of rules, whereas the personnel at a creative advertising agency might be driven by creativity. Not every employee in a company is driven by the same thing (i.e., some ad agencies have accountants), so one size doesn’t always fit all. But, the adage, “get in where you fit in”, does appear to be an ironic panacea for making people happy in the workplace. Ultimately we can interpret this to say, recruit the right fit for your culture…so if you’re an ad agency, hire an accountant that at least identifies with your creative core employees. It doesn’t stop at hiring like-minded people though. Once created, culture must be curated…this is where the HR policy comes into play. Creating policies that insulate a desired culture or progression thereof is extremely important. Conversely, companies must be flexible enough to do away with HR policies that are negatively impacting culture. So where does space enter the equation? Effective companies have diverse talents who need a variety of spaces to work in. Why should our workplace environment be any different? We all have extrovert and introvert tendencies driving our behavior and affecting our workplace. These tendencies influence how happy, engaged, and productive we are. Because productivity comes in many forms, so should workplaces. Creating a functional space that appeals to a variety of needs but also generally aligns with your culture is possible. Your workspace can amplify and reflect your culture, which fosters it by attracting and retaining the right people. This promotes a self-sustaining environment in which people are happy, engaged, and highly productivity.
