Take a look around your office and describe what you see. Would you characterize this environment as “fun”? Are your employees moving at a fast clip between one task and another? As they move, do they look straight ahead, or down at the floor? Are they smiling and laughing? Are you overhearing conversation, music, or grim silence? Do employees keep cartoons pinned to their cubicle walls, or do you have a “no cartoons-no laughing-no photographs-no signs of life” policy? Walk around. As you do so, observe subtle reactions to your approach. When employees see you, do their expressions change slightly?

In a healthy and thriving workplace, you should see motion that’s fast but not frantic, eyes that stay elevated at or above eye level most of the time, open and fluid facial expressions, and signs of individual personality. In a questionable workplace, the mood and visual theme will be quiet, blank, and monochromatic.  Employees will leave their personalities at home. Their faces, clothing, and workspaces will lack expression and their reactions to each other, and to you, will be nearly impossible to discern.

Shaping Workplace Culture: What if this isn’t a “Fun” Business?

You may not be in the business of selling party balloons, but regardless of your industry, there’s a reason why you staffed the office with people instead of robots. People are smarter than robots. They use their human brains to innovate and generate ideas that can help you company grow. And best of all, they bring passion and commitment to their work that only humans can. So if your office environment rejects passion, discourages risk taking, crushes innovation, and forces employees to act like robots, you aren’t taking advantage of the most brilliant resources available to you. You’re wasting them.

Shaping Workplace Culture: Don’t be Afraid to Change the Mood

Some managers balk at relaxing the culture of the workplace, since they fear it might foster nonsense like daydreaming and lollygagging. After all, time is money, and every minute an employee spends chuckling at a posted cartoon is a minute lost to shareholders.

But reconsider this attitude. Or for the sake of science, make a few subtle changes and see what happens. Start by letting in more natural light. Add some color to the landscape. Encourage the general noise level in the office to rise slightly. A low-grade background soundscape of conversation and quiet music never ran a company out of business. Consider encouraging a weekly unofficial happy hour at a clean, appealing restaurant within walking distance of the office. And most important, stop reining in personal expression in the workplace. Let employees show their human side and you’ll remember why you decided to hire humans in the first place.

For more tips on retention, motivation, and shaping workplace culture, arrange a consultation with the Texas staffing pros at Expert.