If you’re running your own real estate agency, you may be wondering what a good workplace culture looks like. Let’s have a look at what makes a good workplace culture shall we?
Like all businesses, estate agents have their own kind of culture. They have a unique look and feel, yet each and every one can be different. According to experts there is nothing to lose by having a diverse workplace culture.
Having a well developed workplace culture can improve your bottom line – not to mention raising morale and performance of the staff. A process such as this has to be lead from the top down however. A workplace culture is more than just some Friday night drinks or a Christmas Eve meal though.
Why is a happy workplace essential?
Until the last few years, the real estate world tended to be a dog eat dog kind of place. There was very little coaching, no sharing and certainly no caring.
Nowadays though, your staff will demand more. They want to be happy because they are aware that they can do good things for your company. When people spend 10 or more hours of their day working, they want to be happy in the workplace. If staff are unhappy, your company is less likely to thrive.
Creating a positive and vibrant workplace culture is the ultimate goal of many real estate agency bosses.
Starting from the top
A positive change in the workplace has to come from the example of a leader. That’s why it’s important to polish those leadership skills. Workplace culture coaches advocate that it’s important to create the kind of world you’d want to live in yourself. It is your responsibility as a boss to create that environment.
Culture in business is everything, and it starts from the top. You need to ensure that as the boss, you only ask of your workers, what you would give yourself.
Great ways to bond with your team might be, fitness training together, breakfasts, dinners after auctions etc. Don’t forget to go out and have a laugh – keep that sense of humour on top form.
Good business culture from the top can help a business to achieve its objectives. On the flip side, a poor one can prevent the company from achieving its strategic goals.
Leaders have a huge role to play in influencing organisational culture. How a leader thinks, acts and feels can send ripples through a business. When they act to build culture, the business nearly always benefits. Yes the business can also play a part, but the main cultural influence will ultimately come from its leader.
Is there an ideal “culture”?
The answer is quite simple. No. There is no ideal workplace culture, as each organisation will ultimately have its own. The right culture in some organisations may well be one of conservatism and competition, but not in all companies.
It may be unwise for example, for a smaller business to attempt to recreate the workplace cultures of larger companies. I.e. the local estate agents trying to replicate the culture of Google. Smaller businesses just don’t have the same resources to make it viable.
There is an important lesson here, as it was not the workplace culture that led to the success of Google; rather it was their savvy and switched on founders who were responsible for the success. They created an algorithm that revolutionised the internet.
Since this success, Google’s billions of dollars has enabled them to provide insane levels of benefit to employees. This creates the perception of a good workplace culture, but it is certainly not the culture that has enabled the company to make such a large revenue.