Workplace culture is what makes a business unique. It peaks the interest of potential employees, and keeps them coming back every day with a smile on their face. Good workplace culture can make a business, while bad culture can break it.

Workplace culture has a lot of moving parts to it which makes sense, as it effects so much! Talent attraction, employee engagement, happiness and satisfaction–and of course performance. But workplace culture isn’t just for employees. Happy employees mean happy clients, and a return for business owners.

Fixing Bad Workplace Culture

Most of us have been there. There’s gossip amongst employees, supervisors are hostile and uncaring, everyone’s a stickler for time, and if you’re not on point 100% of the time you’re in big trouble. The lunch room is quiet, and maybe some attempts have been made to make it more relaxing, but no one uses what’s there for them.

If you’re a business owner and this sounds like your office – it’s time to step up your game and make some big changes. Consider the following:

Be Transparent

Open up to your employees. Don’t micromanage. Make sure everyone knows they can share ideas and feedback.

Give them room

Make sure employees have room physically and mentally to relax within their job, especially if they’re working to high stress deadlines.

Create your own language

Like with Apple, employees like to feel like they’re really part of something. Define what your company is about and make it interesting.

Identify your assets

There’s always one or two employees who embody the culture you’re trying to represent. Spotlight them at the company and reward cheerleader behavior.

Have FUN

Google didn’t become such a desirable company to work at for nothing. They offer gourmet food, massage rooms, nap pods, haircuts and on-site doctors. Think outside the box! Incorporating fun into the office shouldn’t be difficult, and will make everyone happier to work there.

Enjoy Building Your Team

Building a workplace culture should be a fun exercise. As a boss, get out of your head a little and do some research. What can you add to your office space that will get your employees to loosen up as well? Is it a video game system in the break room? Fun lunches? Daily, weekly and monthly rewards?

Believe it or not, helping your employees relax and have fun on the job won’t lower productivity—it will raise it! So get out there, do some research and build up your workplace’s culture. You’ll have more success than you can handle!