Unhappy staff are costing Aussie businesses big bucks

CULTURE SHOCK COSTS MEGA-BUCKS AT WORK: SURVEY

Unhappy staff are costing Aussie businesses big bucks, according to a survey by Talent2, Australias leading human resources and recruitment firm. 64% of employees say that a different culture at work would help them do their job better.

More than a quarter of the 967 respondents to the survey described the culture of their work as, "passive aggressive," behaviour that is typically characterised by blamestorming, procrastination and complaining. Others described their workplace as, jovial, schizophrenic, hyperactive, introverted and even manic depressive.

More than half of all Aussies say they would prefer to work in a company that encourages them to develop new skills in many different areas, move up the corporate ladder and constantly challenge them.

Susie Tooth, Head of Culture and Organisational Development at Talent2 says that the culture of an organisation is either one of its most valuable assets, or one of its biggest liabilities. If you are deciding whether or not to take a new job, or deciding whether to up-stumps and leave your current job, culture is one of the most important things we all think about.

"People are not machines, they are very much affected by the culture at work. If employees are unhappy at work this can increase the number of days off people take, this will affect productivity."

"The gut reaction is to blame the boss for a counter-productive culture at work, and in fact 25% of people do. In reality, everyone contributes to the culture at work. Individual teams have their own culture, and different departments will have their own culture too."

"Changing the culture at work cannot be done overnight, it is all about making small changes all the time. Things like keeping an open mind to lateral ideas, talking to people outside your immediate team and being open and honest about things that affect you are all great ways to change the culture and increase productivity at work."