In this day and age, little to no company is unfamiliar with the term of creative work culture/environment. It is the new and trendy thing to do after all. Not only does it keep your employees happy, but it keeps them motivated with their work. But what is it really? And why is it that they work? Below we’ll discuss what drives this creative initiative to better work performance as well as some misconceptions strewn about the topic.

The Misconception of ‘Creative’ Work Culture

It’s easy to look at the term and think of the stereotypical things such as; casual dress code, flexible work hours and hip furniture and recreational appliances. And some of those things may be disheartening, especially for corporations and formal companies as they do not promote professional appeal. However, this isn’t really the case. While those benefits also help offer a creative environment, they are not exclusively the only things you can do to drive passion from your employees. You can still wear a suit and tie, but have fun in the office.

Image via Shutterstock

The rise of millennial-run and young companies or even competition with those aspects helped drive the idea that these are the things that the younger workforce wants. But in reality, they are not at all necessary. Casual dress codes and recreational activities within the office are in fact, a source of motivation, sure. They inspire a fun experience in the office. And yet, they don’t necessarily tie in to productivity nor creativity. And actually, they may even pose a risk of disturbing any sense of diligence, turning your employees lax and apathetic to their work should these initiatives not be well-deployed.

What is a ‘Creative’ Work Culture?

Image via Source

Besides simply catering to an employee’s enjoyment of their work experience, creative work culture is where they and you earn the rewarding sense of accomplishment in your work. A culture based on making you work the best you can while being able to take pride in it. This sounds obvious like something all companies should strive for, but the truth of the matter is that countless companies still disregards this aspect in their work culture design.

Google’s Work Culture

As a prime example of work culture, we take a look at Google. Fittingly enough, if you google Google’s work environments, you’ll be introduced to a torrent of content singing high praises for the work experience the company provides. This is to be expected from ‘The Best Company to Work For’ in the world. However, people often mix up the work perks and benefits Google provide with what makes them earn that title.

Image via Source

While free food, massages, and education reimbursements are a large part of what keeps their employees happy, what makes working at Google so satisfying is actually none of those things. The constant strive to achieve greater heights, transparency and a sense of openness among work peers. Those are the true elements that create Google’s efficient yet friendly teams.

Differentiating Important Aspects and Optional Perks

It’s all too easy to misinterpret what truly matters among the glitter of benefits. Because most of the time, the trade-off for these work benefits may be pure capital and is barely profitable, but they offer ease. Investing in benefits only require you to pay up, but never really to get attached or add in personal touches.

You can cramp your workplace with all the benefits you want, but it won’t add up to anything if the culture amongst the workers themselves is still cold and impersonal. Important aspects that you can consider should include:

• Promote transparency from the higher ups
• Encourage healthy disagreements and debates
• Encourage direct and honest communication
• Go out of the way to help one another
• Let workers earn personal feedback from their superiors
• Grant autonomy and inspire responsibility

Image via Source

In its core, a creative work culture should exist to serve freedom of work for your employees. To make them appreciate and take ownership of the things they do. Thus, the term ‘creative’ comes into play. Which is to say, your workers are given freedom to be creative with what they do and feel like said work is their own rather than a chore handed by superiors to be done.