Drum roll…..

Mocean!

Not a bad place to start when writing a blog on culture.

The Lotus Award recognised our own culture as a business as well as the work we do for our clients in the areas of employee engagement and employee experience. So first a bit about our workplace culture. Our mantra is ‘Be more Mocean’. We have four simple behaviours that we created between us that ‘nail’ how we want to exist for each other, our clients and the planet.

• Shake things up

• Behave with integrity

• Protect the planet

• Do brilliant things

That’s it. These behaviours are driven by a simple purpose – to give people more enjoyable days at work.

That’s us. But it’s not the same for everybody and 2020 has shown us not only how important it is to define your own culture but also that if you look after it, it will look after you. In fact we would suggest that the businesses that have fared the best during the pandemic are those that have maintained their investment in the components that go to make up a strong culture.

So what do we mean by culture?

For us culture means creating a safe and rewarding workplace that encourages and recognises boundary-pushing effort, creativity and achievement. And it is made up of a number of key components that include:

• Purpose – What is the singular vision that everyone believes in?
• A clear set of values that drive the behaviours that define how the business operates.
• A strong culture of recognition – celebrating good and calling out unacceptable behaviours.
• A diverse and inclusive workforce.
• Enlightened leadership – leading with empathy and intelligence.
• An emphatic commitment to employee well-being.

All of these components are key ingredients, particularly in challenging times. There is a greater need for them when for many the working community has been reduced to a set of squares on a Teams or Zoom call.

Keeping people motivated. Leading and inspiring remotely. Understanding that different people will cope (or not) in different ways. Understanding the new responsibilities of leaders and above all maintaining a focus on your employees’ mental health and well-being. All these things will determine the nature of your business’s culture.

But businesses are different and everyone needs to find their way. And that’s where we come in!

For clients such as Babcock International, Microsoft, BT and RBS, we help them to define the workplace culture they want, devise programmes of workplace culture change and then we bring it to life for their employees in a vivid and compelling way with creative internal communications. How, by getting to know the business – thoroughly – through the eyes of the leadership and more importantly through the eyes of the employees. Only then can we help deliver what’s right for the business.

At the end of the day your culture will define and deliver the overall employee experience and it won’t be a surprise to learn that a happy workplace is a productive workplace. If you would like us to help you on your culture journey, we’d love to chat.

Mocean, making waves in employee engagement since 2014. #makingwaves

Mocean is a multi-award-winning creative agency specialising in sustainable corporate events, brand activation and strategic storytelling.